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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | On two occasions vehicle has stalled after making a stop and then turning onto another roadway. First incident occurred at approximately 60 miles on odometer on 09/01/2021. Vehicle stopped as stop sign prior to making a right hand turn. When engaging the throttle after the stop, vehicle stalled partway into the turn, and the console indicator stated to place vehicle in park before starting. The emergency brake also engaged. As I was halfway into the turn, traffic was momentarily clear, however, other motorists were approaching. I had to place vehicle in park, release parking brake, and then shift back into drive. The second incident occurred with the odometer at approximately 1816 miles on 10/16/2021. Circumstances were identical with the exception of roadway was in residential area, therefore there was no oncoming traffic when vehicle stalled in intersection. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | high-pressure fuel pump failure incidents that resulted in loss of motive power and stalling. Left stranded on an interstate, no warning lights until failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | I left my house 10/18/21 to go to work, drove the truck approximately 2 miles going into two separate curves and then stopping at a stop sign. As I accelerated forward and turning to the left the trucks motor suddenly just shut down and a message that said place vehicle in park and push brake in to restart engine. That is not exactly what it said I semi panicked as cars where behind me and one coming in front of me. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES | I purchased this vehicle on August 2021 with a towing package thinking I could tow an RV Trailer. The Vehicle did not have a brake controller. Went to the dealer who advise me that this item, Electronic Trailer Brake Controller - Mopar (82215278AE) is on back order (450 orders) and cannot per manufacturer advise me when this item will be in stock. The Trailer Brake Controller assist the vehicle when stopping by helping to brake the RV Trailer. The dealer did not advise me of this problem at time of purchase. I believe that vehicles, RAM Products will hit the road with no Electronic Trailer Brake Controller, (chip problems), for many years causing many vehicles accident and deaths. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Once again I'm having to make a complaint. While going 70 on the freeway the truck shut off out of nowhere. Almost causing multiple vehicle to hit me with my kids in the car! Some red light on the dash quickly flashed and right after the truck shut off. A vehicle behind be stopped and slowed traffic down thankfully and I was frantically able to start it and immediately pulled off the freeway and just thankful. I called my hubby to come switch vehicles cause I wasn't going to drive it after that. I'm still having issues with the truck staying on after turning it off happened about twice a week for a few minutes then I move parking spots and see what happens. Just a beautiful truck but so many safety issues. Oh and seems like the truck was slapped together. Mufflers aren't straight or even, interior door panels keep coming off, lining is already falling apart, front bumper goes to the right, and break system just turns on at times. Truck was bought brand new with 49 or 59 miles and currently has 26k yes I know high but that's no reason for this to be happening. I have videos of these things happening. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | I drove in to park, I pulled more to the right to give way to pulling out going car I did not notice 3-short protective steel pole that caused damage to running board & scratches on front passenger door. Had the early warning device sensor of side bumper sounded,Icould have avoided it. I Tested, even the front sensors were not working not even warning lights in the instrument screen. The following day I reported to Dealer's Service Mgr. & I kept testing it for several days & The Customer Care of Ram denied responsibility that it driver' negligence. My truck has several history of failed electronics devices the dealer corrected except this one because it's back sounding again. This Early Warning Device Sensors is accident preventive. It comes on & off like the backing camera & others. It normally sounding loud as I park but prior to incident, I don't remember it's sounding I parked but rear bumper sensors are good I always hear it loudly. I advised them of my intention to file claim for the damage. I can forward emails from dealer & Ram Cutomer Care | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | While slowing down to make a right turn and then trying to accelerate the vehicle stalled, turned itself off, put itself in park and applied the parking brake. This has happened twice now. The first time at approximately 4,000 miles and the second time just over 6,000 miles. This has been reported to the dealer, they flashed the PCM, but that obviously dod not correct the issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Was driving at slow speed making a right turn no brake or acceleration coasting through a turn and the 2021 Ram 1500 Larime with eTorque turned off and I had to pull to the side of the road. Engine was off, radio, lights and dash were all on and it went into e brake telling me to apply brake, turn off e brake and restart….highly dangerous. Appears to be a major issue with many of these trucks. Mine only has 1200 miles, it’s brand new. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ENGINE | Brand new under 2k miles. After being at a stop sign took a right turn, under 30mph car just trucknjust turned off. All warnings flashed, immediately stopped the engine and almost caused a multiple vehicle accident. After about a minute was able to restart and go. Has happened a few times. Dealer doesn't see anything wrong with it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | While traveling at approximately 15 mph I slowed to make a right hand turn. Truck was moving slowly enough, maybe 5-8 mph through the turn that I did not apply the accelerator, nor did I have any brake pressure applied to complete the turn. Before I could straighten the truck out of the turn, it stalled. Center screen stated to place vehicle in park before starting. The emergency brake applied itself and I had to place vehicle in park, release e-brake, and restart the vehicle. This has happened about 5 times now in the last 2 weeks, dealer says no recalls at this time, no problems can be found. I fear I am driving a very unsafe vehicle that is less than 6mo old and has 5800 miles on it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Vehicle stalled after stop at intersection. Engine shut off and auto shifted to park and applied the parking brake. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I was turning right at 2-3 mph when the engine shut off, vehicle shifted to park, and electronic parking brake applied itself. I had to shift to Park and release the electronic parking brake to restart it. The truck had been parked for approximately 8 hours following a 26 mile drive. Outside air temperature was around 70 deg F. Truck has been in my possession for 8 days and has about 1100 miles on it. It is an eTorque engine. Fuel level was about 3/4 tank. The truck had been running for about 5 minutes and traveled about 1/4 mile. The truck is completely stock. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | I was driving truck at 25 mph. I started slowing down to make a left turn. upon making left turn, power was lost and I tried to step on the gas but no power. truck full of gas with only 90 miles at time of occurrence. sign on the dash to put truck on park as it was loosing power. radio and lights remained on but no power. truck came to a complete stop. turned off and tried to turn back on and once it turned on emergency brake was automatically applied by vehicle. removed parking brake and truck was shaking and acting as if transmission or something was going to go out again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | ENGINE | While performing left hand turn, braked to make turn, truck slowed down and engine cut off and display indicated put in park, emergency brake engaged. Had to come to complete stop and put in park to start back up. Had to manually disengage parking brake. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | STEERING | Driving 30-35mph in city streets the truck suddenly could not be steered. The steering wheel could be moved lock to lock with one finger with seemingly no connection to the steering mechanism. The truck pulled to the right, striking several parked cars with the right front end of the truck. The police officer who made the report felt the steering wheel problem was the likely cause of the accident. There was no warning ahead of time such as dashboard warning lights, noise, smoke or other symptoms. The truck remains in a local body shop where the owner noted that he had never seen a similar steering wheel symptom in impacts much more extreme than 30-35 mph. Further inspection once the truck was placed on a lift reveals the steering column was snapped in two at the level of the firewall. Again, the body shop owner and his staff have never seen that occur before in any vehicle. Obviously a vehicle that suddenly loses steering control while moving is a clear and present danger for any occupants of my vehicle as well as anyone in nearby vehicles, thus my concern. I did report this immediately to FCA (Dodge) and they assigned an incident report but at the time I notified NHTSA 4 weeks after the accident, they had not ever gotten back to me. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | - Started the truck after sitting overnight. - Drove about .5 miles to a stop sign, started to accelerate and the truck stalled. It automatically applied the Peking break. - After turning knob to Park and manually engaging/disengaging parking break a few time, truck finally started back up. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | While making a right hand turn from a stop at low speed, my truck completely stalled all electrical systems and dash indicators turned off or failed and the vehicle coasted to a stop. I was able to restart the truck using the normal start procedure and there were no further issues. This could have resulted in a traffic accident with potentially fatal injuries. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact stated while making a left turn, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the parking brake applied independently. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and drive to his destination. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,915. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,915 |
| Sep 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Just purchased truck a few days ago. Only 350 miles on it now. On 9-27-21 at approximately 8:50am, I was taking my son to school. I stopped at a stop sign and then proceeded to make a right turn onto the roadway when all of a sudden the engine cut off. Everything else stayed on in the truck. It would not allow me to apply the brakes, start the engine, turn the steering wheel, etc. It traveled across the roadway, into oncoming traffic lane, and then came to a soft stop by itself halfway on the roadway. It activated the electronic brake therefore I had to deactivate the brake, apply brake, turn the shifter to park and then restart the engine, disengage the parking brake again, and shift back into drive in order to drive. All this while in the wrong travel lane. Dealer and FCA has been contacted and could not find the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | 350 |
| Sep 2021 | ENGINE | Vehicle stalls while driving leaving occupants stranded in travel lane. Restart times vary, with the shortest time to restart being ten minutes. Dealer service could not replicate. Our code reader found that a fuel pump circuit code PO627 was present. Dealer cleaned ground connection and released vehicle in five days. Three days later problem repeated and vehicle would not start (all video recorded) and it was necessary to have it towed back to dealer with only 153 total miles on odometer. I did not have my code reader so I couldn’t check before it was towed. Vehicle has remained at dealer for last 15 days with the problem unresolved | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES | I was involved in an accident in North Carolina in bumper to bumper traffic. At one point I had to hit my brakes when the peddle went to the floor and did not stop which caused me to hit a tanker vehicle in the rear end. I crunched up the front grill, hood, 2 quarter panels, radiator and undetermined other damages.. Just an FYI, the air bags also did not deploy. Consumer contacted the dealer and the mechanic came out to inspect the vehicle and claimed it was due to braking failure and the not deployment of air bags. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | POWER TRAIN | After accelerating onto a 30 MPH road, from a dead spot, engine RPMS spiked while Ecodiesel engine/ ZF transmission dropped into 1st gear with no warning. AFTER taking foot of accelerator and turning on warning flashers I noticed (HUD)heads up display that I was in 1st gear. I advanced gear shifter on steering wheel to 8th gear ASAP. Problem went away, but WHY INSTEAD of advancing up in gears and speed, IT WAS UNEXPECTEDLY DROPPED INTO 1ST Gear is MY CONCERN. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | PEB AND FCW with BRAKING did not work when truck hit a 90 gallon empty trash can at less than 6 mph. There was no damage to the truck nor the can. These systems are supposed to brake when the truck is about to hit something. If the can were a person, damage would have been done. The dealer service man said he thought it should have braked and scheduled to be looked at September 27, 2021 at 8 AM. There was no known warnings at the time of this incident in August 2021. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Ram 1500 Eco Diesel remains on after it was turned off. Has happened several times over the week to where we are scared to park in our driveway and garage. We don't have another vehicle right now since that is in the shop so we have no voiced but to take the risk and used it. Sensors come on when there is no object in site and truck breaks automatically where its causing a safety issue. I have video but I can't upload it since the system only takes pictures. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | AIR BAGS | Car accident just occurred that yielded in the truck being totaled (with driver injury) and air bags did not deploy. It is currently at the tow yard awaiting the insurance company's visit. It has not yet been inspected. There were no messages on the dash regarding the air bags prior to this accident. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |