A Re-Recall
Last year, Stellantis issued a recall for Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo Tonale hybrids that had faulty brake systems. Specifically, the brake pedals could snap while in operation. A total of 21,000 vehicles were affected – 17,000 of which were Hornets, while the other 4,000 were Tonales.
It has just come to light that the issue continues to persist – and this time, with an additional number of affected vehicles. That's according to a recall safety report, freshly published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last week.
Additional 6,000 Affected Units
According to the NHTSA, there are an additional 6,000 units on the affected list of vehicles with snapping brake pedals. Specifically, 2,688 Tonales and 3,286 Hornets, and again, like before, are limited to the PHEVs, bringing the total affected cars to 27,000.
According to the report, both the Tonale and Hornet PHEV units built for the 2024 model year "may have been built with a brake pedal assembly that may collapse while braking." Those were their exact words, not ours.
The NHTSA further describes the issue as: "A brake pedal arm that collapses during normal braking may prevent the driver from being able to activate the service brakes."
The suspected period of the issue began on February 23, 2023, when the first 2024 models were built for the US market. To determine the number of affected models, the supplier and vehicle production records were used.
Built-in Safeguards
As scary and precarious as "snapping" brake pedals sound, the NHTSA listed possible things to do in case it happens to owners. One of the suggestions is to use the (hopefully not defective) electronic parking brake to slow down the vehicle. In some extreme situations, they claim that the Automatic Emergency Braking system should kick in if the car detects the possibility of an accident, provided, of course, that feature isn't disabled (please don't do that).
The report also highlights that as of November 24, 2025, there is only one report of an accident related to the issue, but the tally for injuries remains at zero. As for the fix itself, the report says, "The remedy will be to reinforce the brake pedal arm by adding a bolt and a nut." This will be done by dealers for free, of course.
James Riswick
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