Complaint volume
657 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Ram 1500 Complaints
657 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Ram 1500, grouped by component category.
657 Total complaints
26 Crash reports
4 Fire reports
17 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are engine, unknown or other, electrical system. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 26 crash reports, 4 fire reports, 17 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 105 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 37,057 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to engine, unknown or other, electrical system?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Ram 1500?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Ram 1500
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Ram 1500 complaints?
26 Crash
4 Fire
17 Injury
0 Fatality
36 Towed
14 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Ram 1500 complaint categories?
ENGINE 83
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 47
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 44
POWER TRAIN 43
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 36
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 30
STEERING 24
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,ENGINE 22
AIR BAGS 18
STRUCTURE 15
657 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2022 | STEERING | Power steering intermittently fails. Loss of power steering while driving and service power steering warning message and beeps turn on during failure then shuts off when power steering restored. Loss of power steering nearly caused an accident. Symptoms started two weeks ago and increasing in frequency and severity. I am bringing truck back to dealer for investigation. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Vehicle has shut off on me a total of 7 time on me while driving since I purchased on Jan 2 2021. The first time this happened was about 2 weeks after I bought the truck. Each time has been about the same conditions. While driving at low speeds “around 5 mph” my truck automatically shut itself off. At this point it automatically engages the emergency brake. I then have to put shifter back in park, put my foot back on the brake to restart my truck then turn off the emergency brake. At this point I am able to shift back to drive and go. Two of the times this happened I was in a high traffic area where I almost got rear-ended. My vehicle does not throw out any codes and the dealership has not been able to duplicate. First time I took it to the dealer they had it for about 2 or 3 days. The second time they had it for 3 1/2 weeks. The 3rd time I took it in to a different dealer and they said they came across a bulletin somewhere that said the needed to change out the MGU, which they replaced yesterday. Hopefully this fixes the issue. A vehicle shutting down randomly is very dangerous. I have been reading a lot of forums and this seems to be a common problem that needs to get fixed or recalled somehow. The date and mileage on the next section are from the last time this happened. But like I said earlier this has been happening since early January 2021. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | Close call backing up Ram needs to fix this Y80 recall | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | I bought a new truck from a dealership with an open recall on it. I didn’t think anything of it, since they assured me they would fix it once they could. About a month after I purchased it, the dealer called me and told me they were not legally supposed to sell me the truck in the first place and that I had to bring my truck back to their lot indefinitely and leave it their until they could fix the recall, that currently has no remedy to it. I told them I was uncomfortable with this, and I didn’t think it seemed right. They told me they would call me back the next day, but it had now been a week later, and I have not heard anything from them since then. I’m not sure if this is the appropriate way to handle this, but I have been unable to get anymore information from the dealership, and the whole ordeal seemed very odd to say the least. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When starting to accelerate after turning at low speed, my 2021 RAM 1500 with the E-Torque engine will shut-off and the emergency brake will engage. A message will appear that says “Park brake engaged, press brake and push to release.” Truck has 5150 miles on it. This has occurred two different times while entering highway traffic. Very alarming as I’m sure you can imagine. The first time it happened I was on a lightly traveled road and was alone. Then today (1/9/22), It happened again, but this time on a much busier highway and my family was with me and we were almost rear ended. Not a fun experience and potentially deadly. After researching online, particularly on RAM owner’s website and forums I have found this to be a common complaint among RAM owners. They take vehicle to dealers and the dealers can’t replicate the incident and so they tell customers they can’t help them if it doesn’t happen when technicians drive the truck, yet they send customers away with a potentially deadly vehicle. I am getting an appointment with local dealer tomorrow but I expect the same answer. I sincerely urge the NHTSA to address this dangerous situation with Chrysler-RAM before serious injury or death occurs in these vehicles. Hopefully NHTSA can get RAM to acknowledge this situation and get something done before injuries or deaths occur. Maybe they will address this with a federal agency. They certainly haven’t with their customers. Thank you for your advocacy for the safety of the American people. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I was driving on the highway when all of sudden my truck shut down, I coasted to the emergency lane and was unable to restart my truck, I waiting about 10 minutes, restarted my truck and had to keep pumping the throttle to keep it running to get to my destination. I was able to have an OBD reader connected to my truck at a dealership and there were 3 codes stored all relating to fuel. This happened to me in twice in November of 2021 and again twice on January 7th of this year. I also received another code at the dealership on January 8th regarding another recall. These combined total of 4 shut downs have put me and my family in extreme danger, this brand new truck is unreliable and we are hesitant to drive it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | While driving to the highway out of my neighborhood my truck lost all power, I was able to pull over to the side, read the message, “electronic throttle control”, wait a few minutes and restart my truck and continue on my way, I had lost complete acceleration and my truck shut down, I had no throttle power, again later that night returning home my truck again shut down and showed the message “electronic throttle control”, again I was able to pull off the side of the highway, wait and attempt to restart which I was able to do after about 10 minutes, again I lost complete acceleration again I had no throttle power but was able to put on my emergency flashers and coast to the side of the road, this is the 4th time this has happened to us and the second time our new truck has been in the shop for this and other issues, our local dealership does not understand the severity and life threatening issues associated with this, we could have lost our lives has we not recognized the loss of power and safely coasted to the emergency lane. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ENGINE | My 2021 Dodge RAM 1500 eTorque just stalls while driving. It's happened twice in the last 2 weeks. Both times were making a left hand turn going approximately 10-15 miles an hour. The engine just stalls. No power steering and limited brakes. While rolling to a stop, the e-brake comes on automatically causing a violent stop. This is a known issue. It's been in the shop for 2 days now and they can't reproduce it and are giving the truck back today. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | My Ram truck with a Ecodiesel engine completely died and stalled. It would not restart. Luckily I was not on the interstate or highway. I was only in a parking lot, but had to have it pushed out of the driving lane and into a safe area. The truck is only 6 months old. After having the truck towed to the dealer, they notified me several days later that the fuel pump had gone out and likely damaged the entire diesel fuel system. This is one of the Bosch CP4 fuel/injector pumps that are currently on recall on HD Rams and under investigation by the NHTSA. There were no warning indicators or symptoms beforehand, it simply stalled and would not restart. The vehicle is available for inspection, but has not been inspected by the manufacturer, only the dealer at this point. The vehicle has been in the dealer repair shop for nearly a month now. Some of the parts needed for repair are on back order and the dealer cannot tell me how long it will take to get them in. The only good news at this point is that the dealer has said that it is under warranty. One key concern I have is that they are going to put the same Bosch CP4 pump back on. Considering, that by all the facts I can gather at this point, that CP4 pump is either defective or the wrong pump to use with U.S. diesel fuel, I don't feel good about the dealer putting the same pump back on the truck. Was hoping this could help with your agency's investigation, including looking at the 1/2 ton diesel Ram trucks that use the same pump as the Heavy Duty Ram trucks. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact stated that upon taking the vehicle to the car wash, he noticed that the headliner had turned blue. The contact stated that the inside of the rear end of the vehicle was corroded. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that water was leaking through the rear taillight on top of the cab into the headliner and rear end of the vehicle. The dealer installed silicon in the gap between the rear subframe and the rear taillight; however, the failure had been recurring. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately was 3,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 3,000 |
| Jan 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 2021 Ram 1500 Laramie crew cab with the Hemi etorque has 10k miles. Today traveling at approximately 35 mph I slowed to yield at a round about but did not reach a complete stop, as I went to go my truck went forward into a very busy round about and the engine shut off completely. I stalled, rolling into a 2 lane roundabout on a busy road, fearful for my life. Center screen stated to place vehicle in park before starting. I placed my flashers on and mid panic attack managed to think enough to restart the engine. I placed the shifter dial into Park and restarted without any issue. The emergency brake had become engaged at this time. I was able to release that and safely exit the roundabout. I did cause a backup and was left in a potentially lethal situation. Very very scary. No issues after this. Had my husband check truck when I got home, no error codes detected. I do not know if it is related but I do on occasion feel like there is issue with the auto start/stop feature “sticking or hiccuping” when I do not come to a complete stop (our area had many round abouts) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | When attempting to make a turn on a back street after a partial rolling stop the vehicle stalled out. The engine cut off and I was fortunate enough to be able to coast to the side of the ride without harming anyone else. The vehicle automatically applied hazard lights, engaged the parking brake once I came to a complete stop, and signaled for me to "push to start" the vehicle again. Prior to that occurring no warning signs were given that the vehicle was having any issues. I was able to restart the truck but this is the 2nd time something like this has occurred since owning this brand new vehicle. This created a potentially hazardous situation as the people behind me had no warning and if I were to cut out into a busy street I would have been hit. I'm fearful of this happening in a busy area while with my family. The dealership/manufacturer has not looked at this vehicle since the incident. I am scheduled to bring it in next weekend. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ENGINE | While driving the MIL chimed , check engine light is active along with low battery gauge illumination and low battery warning light , in park vehicle idling is erratic in drive or reverse idle is erratic also with spurts of motion, no active or stored codes are present but MIL is active | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Unknown Failure causing issue. Vehicle's Engine Shutoff while traveling down the road with no warning messages. Then message says to apply breaks and push "start", but it was in the "Run" and still coasting in Drive on the road. After it slowed to about 5-10 mph, the emergency break system engaged and the vehicle went to "Park" causing the vehicle to throw me forward in the seat and objects were thrown as if I had collided with something. My wrist was injured by this, but lucky I had no passengers or my dog with me. The local dealership is looking into it, but say there is nothing wrong. Upon doing some research, I see multiple people have stated this has happened to them as well. This is a significant risk to health and safety of vehicle occupants and other vehicles that may be traveling near them when this happens. Depending on speed it occurs, the outcome could result in death. I did attempt to connect my on-board diagnostic/monitoring system and found that the manufacturer has it block so I cannot see any possible codes or sensor readings of the vehicle. Then they say nothing is wrong when you take it to them to scan. That is also unacceptable. | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | As i slowed down to turn right and get on highway truck died and had to easy to side of highway and restart | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | POWER TRAIN | After coming to a complete stop where the auto stop engages and then trying to start and move again, the truck will stall, put itself into park and apply the emergency brake. The only way to resolve from here is to turn off/on the truck and release the parking brake. A big hazard when in heavy truck and people are expecting the truck to be moving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ENGINE | Vehicle stalls when I hit quickly hit the gas pedal halfway down while turning | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving at slow speeds, the vehicle lost motive power. The failure occurred on two separate occasions and nearly caused a collision. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,665. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,665 |
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | When I pressed the accelerator after the light turned green, the engine bogged, didn't respond and then stalled. The truck automatically shifted to park and engaged the parking brake. I tried to restart the truck multiple times and it would not start. Thankfully a passing tow truck driver stopped to help me get out of the busy road. After a few minutes, the truck started again and I was able to continue driving. Me being stuck in the middle of a busy road was extremely dangerous and a police officer had to direct traffic around my disabled truck. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | AIR BAGS | In an effort to avoid deer, driver swerved and crashed into woods where small trees were hit with the truck crashing and stopping in a small ravine. As a result of the front end damage (bumper, grill, etc.) and impact, front Air bags failed to deploy. Injuries incurred were a broken nose, left knee injury, left elbow injury, mid to lower right back injury, possible heart Afib (not previously known or detected prior to accident could have been exacerbated). | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Truck engine stalls and turns off at unexpected times when traveling under 25 miles per hours, the emergency brake gets engaged and the car just turns off in the middle of driving. It happens whether or not the Auto start feature is activated or not. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On Monday 11/29 around 5:30pm I was on the San Mateo Bridge (92) going eastbound with my children when the truck came too an abrupt stop and shut off! I was going about 65mph as it was the mid time for rush hour. Fortunately no one hit us from behind and I was able to kinda pull over into the emergency lane without going over the bridge and thankful the person behind also pulled over since he seen what happened and wanted to check on us. We did exchange information especially since Ram Customer Care and NHTSH doesn't seem to believe anyone about these problems since there hasn't been any recalls on this safety issue! This isn't the first incident I've had with this truck but so far was the most dangerous especially since my children were in the vehicle Yes I have been in touch with Ram Customer Care and nothing but ok take it back to the dealership uh no I'm done with that. It was already there twice for over a month period each time and they don't know what's going on since there is nothing that comes on the scan. When will something be done? When someone is injured or there's a fatality? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Gas mile sensor goes from 250miles to 60miles left in tank. It jumps up and down on the miles. It said I had 175 miles till tank to be empty. I was driving for 10 minute it drop to 10 miles and then car shut off. It had no gas. Transmission when driving it sometime doesn’t change gear. Rpm goes up 6000 7000 driving 15-20 mph. It happen more often when going up a steep hill and going on a flat road the gear won’t change | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | I was driving on the street and had to accelerate rapidly to avoid a collision and when I pressed down the accelerator pedal it got stuck and the truck accelerated and wouldn’t slow down, I immediately pressed on the brake and it did not slow down at all, I then managed to bring the accelerator pedal back up with my shoe and get it unstuck and that’s when The truck stopped accelerating. To the best of my knowledge it seemed as if the pedal was sticky or like a spring or something made it get stuck to the accelerating position. I did not notice any warning lights on the dashboard but this is a very serious concern because I was approaching an intersection when this occurred and also I always carry my baby in the truck with me. I have an appt with the dealership on 11/29/21 to diagnose concern. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The backup camera no longer works. I only have 2200 miles on my truck | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |