Owners have filed 4,482 complaints on the RAM 2500, covering 2013–2021. The system named most often is Service Brakes (1,956 reports). Worst years by volume: 2018, 2017, 2014; cleanest: 2021, 2020, 2013. 110 reports describe a crash, 48 a fire, 2 a death. On average the car was 4.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on RAM 2500
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 4,482 2500 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 1,956 Read
While driving in stop & go traffic traveling at speeds less than 15mph, when I stepped on the brake pedal to slow / stop my RAM, the brake pedal failed to activate the brakes and the vehicle continue in a forward motion causing my RAM to collide with the vehicle traveling in front of me. After the collision, my RAM…
The contact owns a 2020 Ram 2500. The contact stated while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the contact swerved to the left to avoid crashing into a deer. The contact stated that when he attempted to return the vehicle to the right lane the vehicle's front end continued to turn to the left as the rear end of the…
Service antilock came up and break pedal sensitivity change from soft to hard and caused me to missed my stopping force and hit a vehicle
Electrical System 659 Read
When pulling a camper the truck shut off (there was no function of the gas or brake pedal) causing the camper to jack knife and hit the rear tail light. When the camera caught up to the truck wet spun 180 degrees at 65 mph then flipped. No airbag went off and the seatbelt did not stay locked. My son who was sitting in…
At a stop light after 10 min of normal driving on country and city roads my truck started smoking from front passenger wheel well. Smoke intensified and quickly turned black. Immediately pulled over and found flames burning through front passenger wheel liner and from around passenger side battery and intake filter.…
The contact owned a 2021 Ram 2500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V798000 (Electrical System). The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle with a fob key from inside his residence, he did not hear the engine start. The contact looked outside when he noticed there were…
Power Train 248 Read
In June 2021, this vehicle literally drove away while in the park gear. It was running and accelerated across a state highway, down an embankment and 200 feet into a cornfield while pulling a trailer. I immediately called Ram and they did perform an investigation. They subsequently offered to buy the vehicle back,…
The vehicle was placed into park and the "P" began flashing by when I stepped out of the vehicle it began moving backwards. I jumped into the vehicle and the gear selection showed the vehicle in reverse so I replaced the vehicle into park but the door struck an object which bent the door towards the front end of the…
The contact owned a 2020 Ram 2500. The contact stated while her employee was driving up a low-grade inclined road, and towing a light trailer at approximately 35 MPH, he had noticed white smoke issuing from under the hood. The contact stated the driver had not noticed any warning lights. The contact stated that her…
Vehicle Speed Control 246 Read
The ABS and HCU are bad in my vehicle. It appears to be a widespread issue with this year model. A recall should be issued by the manufacturer to correct this safety issue. I recently collided with a barrier wall because my ABS system was not functional
The contact owns a 2017 ram 2500. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at about 75 mph, on cruise control and accelerated to overtake another vehicle, the throttle stuck without warning. He managed to pull the vehicle to the side and putting it in neutral, and was able to stop the vehicle. The contact…
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 2500. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to respond and the cruise control mode remained engaged. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated and would not stop. The contact manually pressed the cruise control button to disengage it…
Steering 225 Read
Fire on sliding portion of read window. Short on connection point of wiring harness for defroster. Dealer verified and confirmed. All has been documented. Also has had PCM and other electrical components real places two times now, along with other electrical issues that are still ongoing since time of purchase back in…
While driving up snow covered inclined driveway. Truck started to spin and stopped going forward. Starting to slide backwards the engine shut off and I lost power steering and power brakes. Managed to re-start while sliding backwards but the engine shut off again resulting in a sideways crash into a tree. Thus causing…
The contact owns a 2019 Ram 2500. The contact stated that while her son was driving approximately 24 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated and suddenly the steering wheel became inoperable causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and crash into a parked vehicle. During the failure, the brakes were…
Engine 131 Read
Diesel truck computer system shuts down truck for minor def system error code to 5mph within 85 miles to get to a dealer to reset computer code. This will cause deaths from truck not going any faster than 5mph on freeway. Just because the def system sees an error and might cause a bit more exhaust, to shut down your…
After starting the vehicle, fire smell came into the cab. After exiting the vehicle smoke was coming from the engine. The engine caught on fire and car was totaled within 10 minutes
I started my pickup and pulled out of garage put in park to close my garage door and with 2-3 minutes at idle, smoke was coming into the cab, got out of vehicle and opened hood and found flames coming from fuel injection pump area, was able to get fire out before it burnt the truck completely
Structure 58 Read
Tailgate was repaired in February 2025 for issue under 22V-904 and then after the repairs were completed my tailgate dropped again resulting in damage to my tailgate
Truck has 5000 miles on it. Twice now the tailgate has come open while traveling. Yesterday 6/22/20, I got home from travel towing camper, and unloaded back of truck. Closed tailgate and double checked it to make sure it was closed, do this now after first time. Towed camper to storage and while making turn in storage…
Well driving down the inner state at 65 miles an hour a frame snapped and the drive train and axel fell out truck veered to the left in consequently I hit the guard rail this happened and a dry flat straight interstate I -20i mile marker number 4 in north augusta south carolina the mechanic that towed the truck said…
Fuel/propulsion System 56 Read
2020 ram 2500 diesel 1900 miles began to lose power while traveling 70mph on the expressway. I attempted to accelerate to no avail. I was traveling in the fast lane and caused serval vehicles to abruptly change lanes as to not make contact with the truck. I attempted to exit the road, changing multiply lanes, the…
Lost control of pedal no acceleration this has happened multiple times taken to dealership on multiple occasions. They can’t find a code for issue. Uconect reports the issue when it happens. It is a intermittent problem that occurs in some heavy traffic at times
I was hauling a 24' enclosed car trailer from san diego to las vegas. It was loaded with a car that I had just picked up from the painter and was looking forward to getting it back home. As we were going through the victorville area on interstate 15 the engine appeared to have a misfire or stumble. Shortly after that…
2500 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Air Bags | 6 | 8 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 5 | 4 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 8 | 9 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 35 | 4 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 12 | 6 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 13 | 3 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 13 | 3 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 12 | 4 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 6 | 7 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 1,255 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.6 |
| Worst single series | 54 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.6 years |
A model average of 3.6 hides a worst series at 54. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the 2500?
By complaint volume, 2018, 2017, 2014 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which 2500 years are the cleanest?
2021, 2020, 2013 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the RAM 2500 have?
4,482 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2013–2021. Of those, 110 describe a crash and 48 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.