Owners have filed 82 complaints on the RAM Promaster City, covering 2015–2022. The system named most often is Power Train (22 reports). Worst years by volume: 2015, 2016, 2017; cleanest: 2020, 2022, 2019. 2 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire. On average the car was 3.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on RAM Promaster City
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 82 Promaster City complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 22 Read
The contact owns a 2015 ram promaster city. While the vehicle was parked, the contact was notified by the police that it independently rolled forward while shifted in park. Due to the failure, the vehicle struck a pole. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was inspected by a chrysler technician who stated…
The contact owns a 2022 Ram Promaster City. The contact stated that occasionally while shifting into drive or reverse, the RPM increased to 4,000. On several occasions, the failure occurred while the brake pedal was depressed. The contact stated when the vehicle was shifted into neutral, the RPM decreased to normal…
Vehicle unexpectedly shutoff at highway speeds in rush hour traffic, service hill assist, ABS, airbag, check engine and service transmission messages coincided with issue. Vehicle suddenly went into 'limp' mode while accelerating in traffic. Vehicle would not stay in gear
Electrical System 19 Read
On March 19, 2025 upon driving my car home from a 1 hour commute I sensed a unique, uncommon smell - like some sort of electrical component burning. I parked the car in my garage, turned it off and went inside my house. Within 5 minutes the engine was producing gray smoke followed by fire. The car went up in flames in…
The speedometer stopped working
The entire dash went black and is no longer operational
Engine 17 Read
Cracked cylinder head requiring full engine replacement at ~80,000 miles. Out of warranty. This is one of two vehicles, purchased at the same time from same dealer in 6/2021 with the same engine failure at ~80,000. Second vehicle is [XXX] . It is likely that these two vehicles came off the assembly line fairly close…
Cracked cylinder head requiring full engine replacement at ~80,000 miles. Out of warranty. This is one of two vehicles, purchased at the same time from same dealer in 6/2021 with the same engine failure at ~80,000. Second vehicle is [XXX] . It is likely that these two vehicles came off the assembly line fairly close…
Engine oil leak at the oil filter. The oil filter monting surface has a defect (not flat) allowing oil to push out. It is currently available for inspection, but it is scheduled to been seen by the dealer to be replaced under warranty. Safety - issue was noticed before enough damage was done to be unsafe. The leak was…
Exterior Lighting 5 Read
The contact owns a 2021 Ram Promaster City. The contact had initially received a recall notice for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V728000 (Exterior Lighting). He then called the dealer and was informed that there was an additional recall on the vehicle for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V699000 (Seat Belts) however, the parts for…
Instrument panel speedometer. Daytime speed numbers small, orange and when sun is shining - you have to guess what speed you are traveling - particularly 34/40 mph - the needle doesn't show up either. At night the light is ok, but daytime driving it is impossible to fallow speed limits when you have to guess at…
The contact owns a 2016 Ram Promaster City. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the turn signals became inoperable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where an unknown part was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that there were no…
Structure 4 Read
The contact owns a 2020 Ram Promaster City. The contact stated that after experiencing a flat tire, it was discovered that the spare tire could not be removed or released from the spare tire mounting section of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who cut the tire storage section of the vehicle in…
The contact owns a 2019 Ram Promaster City. The contact stated that after experiencing a flat tire, it was discovered that the spare tire could not be removed or released from the spare tire mounting section of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who cut the tire storage section in order to remove…
Sliding door on the passenger side unlatches while driving .no logical connection to driving speed or bumpy road . Happened twice while driving in the city around 30 mph and ones on interstate around 60 mph .service department did two attempts to recreate the issue by driving the car about 90 miles but it didn't…
Steering 2 Read
I was descending a steep hill making a left turn first time it happened and I heard a noise and I felt chattering in the steering wheel. Second and third occurred on flat ground making 90 degree turn all three incidents happened on city streets
The contact owns a 2015 ram promaster city. While driving 5 mph, the vehicle leaked power steering fluid onto the ground. In addition, the transmission indicator illuminated without warning. It was diagnosed that battery acid was leaking onto the transmission cover, which caused all the transmission fluid to leak out…
Air Bags 1 Read
I was in a 40 to 50 mph collision on I-880 frw in milpitas, california. Full front impacted/ failure to deploy. Rain , rush hour , traffic , accident, my fault, I changed lane to avoid one accident and smacked into far right slow lane into back of a car. My dodge, promaster-2019 failed to deploy. I took the steering…
Equipment 1 Read
Two instances of rooftop tent opening without human interaction. Incident 1 // 9-17-21: Vehicle was parked and the front drivers side latch (attached photo) opened due to gusts of wind. Incident 2 // 9-19-21: When driving approximately 65 mph (cruise control) on Interstate 40 in Arizona, the front passenger side latch…
Promaster City 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Electrical System,engine | — | 1 | |
| 2021 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2020 | Structure | — | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2017 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2016 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2015 | Electrical System | 1 | — |
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 | 56 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.5 |
| Worst single series | 4 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.2 years |
A model average of 1.5 hides a worst series at 4. 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
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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 Promaster City?
By complaint volume, 2015, 2016, 2017 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 Promaster City years are the cleanest?
2020, 2022, 2019 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the RAM Promaster City have?
82 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2015–2022. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 2 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.