2021 Ram 1500 complaints

I was driving my new 2021 dodge ram 1500 classic and smoke started to come out from under the hood so I pulled over bc I thought it was overheating and then it caught on fire whilst I was still in it I immediately dialed 911 and by the time they arrived my whole truck was on fire from front to back the truck got totaled and I currently don’t know where it is this happened in September of 2022 and the dealership that sold me the truck are refusing to do anything as it was still under warranty.

Front piece of panoramic sunroof blew out. Going 70 mph on highway. No other vehicles near me. Temp was approx 62F out. Overcast. No overpasses. Blew out without warning and without previous issues.

The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact stated while attempting to use the windshield washer function, there was no washer fluid coming out as needed. The contact parked the vehicle in the garage and notice that due to 5-degree weather, the windshield washer fluid line had burst. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 40,500.

Car has turned off on multiple occasions while driving and emergency brake engages. Very dangerous. Forums show this is a common issue but does not produce an error code. Something must be done.

I was at service station to get gas, and the nozzle clicks off no matter what speed I try, even though my tank shows being 1/2 full. Gas also runs out getting on my hand, the truck, and the ground. This is my first report of the problem, but it has occurred several times over the past two months. I had wondered if it could have been the nozzle malfunctioning, but I pulled up to the next pump and encountered the same issue. Had we been on a trip and unable to add fuel we could have been stranded. Had we been on an Interstate and got stuck in traffic for an extended time, we could suffer the consequence of running out of fuel. The result could be tragic had the overflowing gas found an ignition source. Finally, the presence and smell of gasoline on me and my clothing is irritating and disguising

On 12/16/21 with mileage at 10,380 my truck lost power and engine turned off as i was making a left turn at a speed of somewhere between 5-10 MPH. After a complete stop i was able to turn the truck back on and everything seemed normal. I did called FCA the following day and was told to have it checked at a dealership near me but Covid hit my family around that time so i didn’t take it in for service. on 2/27/22 with 14,800 miles the truck stalled again as i was making a left turn at a busy intersection. The truck stalled on me again for the 3rd time but i didn’t document date or mileage. Currently i have a little over 32,000 miles and truck has stalled 3 times and not once did i get a check engine light.

- Driver side lock stays locked when unlocking the vehicle. Unable to enter and access the vehicle. It will also stay in the unlocked position when locking the vehicle. Vehicle is accessible to break-in. - The safety of passengers, such as my children, is at risk in the event I need to quickly access the inside of my vehicle's driver side if it's locked. For example, if my vehicle needs to be turned off in an emergency or the truck needs to be quickly driven or the gear be changed (say, if accidently not placed in park and the vehicle begins to move), etc. - Dealer has not confirmed issue. - Vehicle has not been inspected. - No prior warning messages or prior symptoms

Tailgate Opened by it self while driving down the road.

Vehicle stalled and shut off while merging into traffic. Dash lit up and ebrake engaged. No check engine light after incident.Extremely unsafe and could have caused an accident on coming traffic had to swerve out the way to avoid an accident. No prior warnings and has happened twice now.

While making a right turn at 5mph, motor shut down and emergency brake was applied. 22k mile on a ram bighorn. Serious safety issue

Was making a slow 10-15mph right hand turn out of my neighborhood and the truck stalled. Power was still on, park brake came on while in motion. Had to shift back to park to restart. Once restarted, no caution or warning lights on the dash.

I was making a right hand turn at about 5-10 mph and the truck stalled. All dash lights were still on. Truck was in Run position, engine just stalled, it put itself in park and emergency brake was engaged. Restarted truck with no warning lights or possible cause of fault. Thankfully there was no traffic or I could’ve been hit.

The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled and lost motive power and failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the fuel system was replaced; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but no failure was found. The vehicle was towed to a different dealer for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and case was filed. The failure mileage was 14,000.

Pulling into my daughter's school this morning, I made a right, then a left into the parking lot/drop off line and the truck shut off completely. The parking brake came on, locked the truck up and automatically shifted itself to Park. Went to ACC mode. I pushed the start button again and all power went off. Pushed a third time and truck restarted. No codes no lights. Took truck to dealer where they hooked up to the CPU and showed no codes. Service advisor said they are seeing this a lot and there is no known repair from Chrysler/RAM. This is first instance where truck shut off. A month ago I got a parking bake default and it would not disengage. I had to turn the truck off then back on to get the brake to turn off.

I bought my truck brand new with 500 miles on it Oct. 14th 21. I made it to around 70k when the truck would stutter and hesitate to drive. Took it to dealership and said No codes, nothing wrong after 2 days of "checking it". Brought it back at 76k and truck would hardly drive, but yet said they couldn't figure it out and sent me on my way. Was driving home at 85k and truck stalled going 75mph while on a 2 lane highway. The truck rolled to about 30 mph and completely died and locked up steering wheel and activated the E brake as I was almost safely off the road. After trying time and time again, I finally got the truck to start and off the road. Called dealership and was told they wouldn't tow it as it was out of warranty at this point. So I had no choice but to limp it to them 400 miles away. They let it sit over weekend and went to test drive it and drove as it would normally. Sent me back out with it, only for it to happen again at 99k and stall. Same process as before and had to lug it to them out of my pocket. They Finally agreed to replace fuel pump, but out of my pocket conviently since they sent it back numerous times and now out of any warranty. At 105k, I took it back to dealership with same issue as before and was told there was nothing to do and sent me on my way. At 111k it stalled on highway at night and almost caused a major crash as the E brake set it's self while traveling at 45mph in a construction zone. Limped to dealer yet again, and they replaced the EVAP

UNKNOWN when driving either Freeway or City there is vibration in vehicle involved often. also the cargo bed slightly shakes and brakes feels like it is tight when releasing you can feel somewhat rubbing the tires.

Unknown system is causing the vehicle to stall. Has happened three times, once in traffic. I will be cruising slow and applying slight brake pressure, then when I release the brake the engine will cut off, apply emergency brake and shift to park. I then have to start vehicle, disengage emergency brake and put into drive. This has happened on three different occasions making me doubt the safety of the vehicle. Dealer service state no codes were shown and can not duplicate. This needs to be addressed.

Engine fuel pump failed and sent metal shavings throughout the fuel system.

Car was in drive, I was in traffic (0-5 mph) and the auto brake system engaged. My seat belt was buckled and all the doors were closed. The engine turned to neutral unexpectedly. I was lucky to have enough momentum to pull over. The car then auto shifted itself to park and put its e-brake on. I had to disengage e-brake then push the start button. I’m thankful I wasn’t rear-ended. There was no reason the car should have engaged this safety system. I don’t know of a way to manually over ride this. I’m worried it will happen again and I won’t be so lucky to be able to pull over.

When traversing from one hwy to another on an off ramp at 39 mph the truck suddenly accelerated like the pedal was pushed to the floor, speed jumped to 55mph in a flash. I hit the brakes hard once and then again to stop the sudden acceleration. Truck had a mind of its own. Dangerous situation, fortunately no one was in front of me to run into.

While driving the radio console( a/c, etc) and odometer turned off for 3 minutes while the remained running. This has happened up to 6 times.

On 8/18/22, I pulled out from a stop sign and as I was moving over to my desired traffic lane, my vehicle shut down, we heard one ding from the dash board, no warnings appeared. I was on a major roadway (north decatur ave at the 215 North Beltway) and was fortunate to be able to move to the far righthand lane. Since there was a sidewalk I wasn't able to get my vehicle out of the roadway. I notified the State Police, activate emergency flashers and we exited vehicle because traffic was traveling through the area at a pretty good speed (45 mph zone). Notified Ram roadside and requested tow to dealership. Attempted several times to restart truck, the starter would only spin but would not fire (sounded like no fuel but I had 1/2 a tank). State Trooper pulled in behind us and activate emergency lights to protect us. Called Ram Service writer who said it sounded like High Pressure Fuel Pump failure. Truck eventually towed to Chapman Ram on Boulder Highway, Las Vegas NV. We were lucky to pull off to right lane, could have been an accident for sure. On 8/20/22, Ram Service Writer messaged me that it was the High Pressure Fuel Pump. On 8/29/22 Service Writer notified me the metal shavings were in the fuel lines and injectors so parts were on order. This failure sounds very similar to the HPFP recall that Ram issued for earlier rams. We were lucky to get out of traffic and were very fortunate the State Trooper was able to stay behind us until we were towed.

While driving on the freeway the truck lost all engine power and power steering. I was traveling with the flow of traffic but had to quickly try and get my vehicle onto the shoulder and away from other vehicles still traveling at freeway speeds to attempt to restart the truck. This created a very unsafe situation due to not having any sort of power steering to assist in turning the vehicle off the road. I was able to shift the vehicle into neutral and coast to the shoulder in order to return the shifter to park and restart the vehicle

On 8/13 while driving at low speed through a residential neighborhood my 2021 RAM 1500 suddenly display a warning message and switched from drive into park while the vehicle was still moving. Wheels and steering locked causing me to loose control of the vehicle while it proceeded to skip until it came to a stop in the middle of the road. Luckily I did not hit anything or anyone. Would not restart and had to have it towed to local RAM dealer (J-Star Anaheim CA). They diagnosed a failed fuel pump which resulted in metal in the fuel system, but could not explain why transmission went from drive to park while vehicle was moving. If this failure had occurred while driving at freeway speed the results would have been catastrophic. Vehicle is still at J-Star being repaired. I am fearful of using it even after the fuel system is fixed. Need a software fix that prevents the transmission from switching into park while vehicle is moving. Vehicle needs to allow the operator to maneuver to side of road in the event of a failure.

While driving the vehicle multiple times the engine has completely shut off and had zero power. The most recent time was traveling down the freeway at the speed limit and the vehicle shut off and lost all power steering.

The transmission in this vehicle will stick into 3rd gear. I have to pull off the road. Turn it off and then it shifts. Going into 4th gear is lunges and at times I can fell it slip then engine light comes on. Also if I’m sitting idle and put it into reverse it lunges backwards or dosnt engage at all. I turn it off and turn it back on and reverse works. I have noticed on freeway driving it will suddenly downshift and I smell a burning coming through the vents. Dodge has opened a case and I was advised when it was diagnosed that it has Premature 4th gear failure and it would need a updated transmission. I was also advised by the dealership that this is becoming common problem in the 2021 ram with the v6 motor and dodge delivery vans which they had about 15-20 vehicles at this dealership and I was advised it would take 3-4 months before repairs could be completed with the trans work they had. I called other dealerships and they advised the same time frame. Dodge has opened a case on my vehicle and for the past 2 months I have gotten the run around. I was advised by Clarice 3 weeks ago they were going to contact the dealership to order the transmission. I called for a update and was advised no parts were ordered and I would have to bring it in again and leave it until they got to it and they will not give me a loaner to drive. This is become a serious safety issue. If this transmission overheats or fails it could catch on fire or cause a serious accident please help in this matt

This vehicle has an issue where it will stall. While making a right hand turn about 5 to 8 miles an hour onto a side street near my home the vehicle just shut off and rolled to a stop. It put itself in park and the auto e-brake engaged. At that point the dash info center said to shift into park and release the emergency brake. It started up and I was able to continue. I have also noticed that sometimes during a turn the truck almost stalled but recovered, You could see the rpms drop down to almost 0 but it recovered on its own. This has happened a few times. It is just not safe. 62k for an unsafe truck.

Sunroof exploded when driving on highway. Safety was put at risk with glass and being startled when driving. Contacted dealer and also FCA, pending contact back. No prior signs that glass was pending failure. Glass blew outwards from the roof.

The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving or making a turn, the vehicle stalled. The contact had to shift into neutral(N) or park(P) and restart the vehicle. Additionally, while driving, the parking brake engaged without warning. The contact had to manually release the parking brake. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.

Have a exhaust leak during start up ticking really bad... exhaust is coming inside cab with ac on. This truck only has 36000 miles and has already had several issues with this trucks electrical system and now this exhaust issue

Fuel is pouring out of the lines onto the engine. Not just a leak, but flowing out. This could cause my engine to catch fire.

On three separate occasions within two months, the truck completely shut down without any warning. The first time I was at a stop light, when light turned green, I stepped on gas and truck died. Nothing worked on the vehicle, there were no messages or warnings. The truck was towed to dealership, tried to replace RF hub but "unable to be performed"-swapped star connector cavity to C12 and communication achieved-RF replace procedures passed. Five weeks later, went to start truck in driveway and wouldn't start, truck was completely dead, had mechanic come to home ,test the battery ,and it was fine. He thought the remotes were not communicating; had to be towed to dealership again, truck sat there for a few days, dealership said it started up, they did diagnostics, found nothing wrong and handed truck back to me. One week later, started the truck with remote and as I was walking to the truck, it died, completely shut down and had to be towed again. Truck has been at dealership for 17 days, diagnosed that the RF hub needs to be replaced. This truck is unsafe and unpredictable as it could just shut down at any time, cause an accident where people could get injured or killed.

While starting to drive forward or backward turning, there is a shutter vibration felt slightly heard. It also has grinding shutter vibration at turn in intersection during the turn. The dealer on the 3 complaint visit replaced a front passenger CV Joint and bearing, upon picking the truck up it did it immediately again. Could not return as it was the service department closing time. There is also vibration grinding around 50 mph and up. Dealer states they can not duplicate issue. This is abnormal and concerns me as in a turn or higher speed, something breaks will put my family's lives and other motorist in danger. Also when using AC defrost vent stays open and will cause dew on the windshield.

While driving my vehicle a message came up stating (service Power steering) at which point I completely lost power steering. This almost caused an accident as I was towing 6500lb boat/trailer and had little to no control with my steering. The power steering lost function twice and after letting truck set for couple of hours the power steering functioned again. Note this is a Electric Power Steering (EPS) I am 2nd owner and vehicle is under mfg warranty but when I dropped it off at Dodge Dealership I found out that the truck was in at 5000 miles due to same issue and the rack and pinion was replaced. This issue has reoccurred at 8885 miles and poses a definite safety issue. . I am waiting for follow up from the service department to advise what the issue is, however after researching on line found this has been a common issue and I have not seen any recalls on the rack and pinon and EPS Power steering.

The Map installed by the factory in my new 2021 Ram truck displays incorrect speed limits at times. This is dangerous as it always shows 55mph even in a 25mph zone when it is malfunctioning. If you are in an unfamiliar area, and have not passed a physical speed limit sign, this incorrect information could cause a wreck if there are sudden curves or other dangers on that road. Ram refuses to fix under warranty saying it is third party software. I contacted the software company and was told that they have no warranty on their defective software and I would have to buy a new map for $149 and see if that fixes the issue. I questioned her further as she had said "see" if it fixes it and she said the speed limits that their software shows are not always correct and should not be relied on. She could not guarantee the new download would be correct. I am not sure how many accidents may have been caused by this defect but I would like this investigated and at the least make them add a prominent warning message that comes up anytime you activate the Navigation screen. At least that way the consumer would know not to rely on the info being presented to them as they drive.

My truck just stalls while driving. It's happened several times but yesterday was the scariest. I turned left onto a fairly busy road only to notice I had a message on the screen to turn on the truck. Since we were rolling at 3-4mph, I switch into neutral and hit the start button which started the engine. At the next red light, the engine turned off and the emergency brake applied itself. The car behind me almost hit us because we were parked at a green light now. I quickly got it started and pulled over. There were no warning lights or messages. The dealer doesn't know what the issue is. Truthfully I'm a little concerned with my families safety while driving this truck.

For my 2021 Ram Laramie 1500 the Auto Park engages on its on at random times. This has happened to me twice in the last 2 moths. No doors have been open and any passenger in the car has the seat belt engaged. Once it happened when no one but me was in the vehicle, the second time was with my family in the car. Fortunately it has only happened while leaving the neighbor hood and going less than 25 MPH. Each time, this happens, the AutoPark has been engaged and the light above D is flashing. While this is a neat safety feature it shouldn't happen while I'm driving and belted in.

Engine shuts off while driving 30-35 mph and automatically applies emergency brake

I was driving to work and made a right turn (I did not come to a complete stop). As I finished the turn, maybe going 5-7 MPH, I pressed on the gas pedal to accelerate and the truck did not respond. A second later the truck turned off and the parking brake automatically engaged, so I came to a complete stop in the middle of a road with other vehicles around me. I had to put the truck back into park, start the truck, and disengage the parking brake, and then was able to continue my trip to work. There were no Check Engine Lights on before or after it happened. I spoke to the local Ram and multiple other dealerships further away and they said they haven't heard of this happening to any other Rams, and just to watch it and if it continues to happen call them back. A quick google search will show that it happens frequently to other people over the last year or so, some of which are at highway speeds, which is very dangerous. I am fortunate this was at low speed, because your parking brake engaging at highway speeds could obviously be catastrophic.

I made a right hand turn from a stop sign onto an active roadway when my truck’s engine shut off. The truck rolled to a stop and the dial shifter automatically changed to park and engaged the e-brake. No warning lights were triggered in the dash. Research suggests this is an apparent problem with the 5.7l e-torque engine, however, no information is available from FCA/Ram

This has happened 3 times at low speed 2-4 mph. I was making a right hand turn and the truck stalled & shut off. Information on the dash told me to put it into park. I stopped & put it into park. The emergency brake automatically engaged. After disengaging the emergency brake, I started my truck up. No issues once I started it back up & resumed driving. It happened twice at a traffic circle in my neighborhood & once as I was turning right at a light. Thank goodness no one was behind me or it would have possibly caused a rear end collision. This issue has not been reproduced by a dealer or independent service center.

The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact stated while making a right turn the vehicle shut off and independently shifted into park(P). The vehicle was restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The key fob was replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and the contact filed a complaint. The failure mileage was 15,319.

The truck Shut down while driving 5 different times asking to be placed in Park. This creates a hazard as it stops in traffic. The truck restarts and resumes normal operation after these incidents.

The contact owns a 2021 RAM 1500. The contact stated that while driving his vehicle at approximately 2 to 3 MPH, and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle started to accelerate. The contact stated that the harder he would depress the brake pedal, the more aggressively the vehicle would accelerate. The contact stated that while he was in the drive-thru, the vehicle accelerated into a vehicle in front causing him to crash. The failure occurred on several occasions while in drive or in reverse. A police report was not filed. The contact sustained back injuries and was pending medical attention for an examination related to the impact. The contact stated that he then had his vehicle towed to the dealer, where it remained in their possession. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 8,600.

MY RAM TRANSMISSION FAILED TO SHIFT GEARS OUT OF FIRST GEAR. THE RPMS WENT TO 3000 TO REACH ONLY 16 MPH. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME ON PREVIOUS OCCASIONS. I HAVE 18,641 MILES ON THE TRUCK PRESENTLY. THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED TO ME AND RAM WOUND UP REPLACING MY TRANSMISSION AROUND 12,000 MILES. In addition, while making a right hand turn the parking brake automatically engaged and stopped the vehicle in mid traffic. I could not get the parking brake released. Eventually I had to hold down the parking brake button to restart the engine and to move forward to safety. The dealership was able to re-create this problem. The car was starting fine each and every day, however the dealership said that I needed a new battery which caused the problem. There are no red lights or warning signs of a low battery of my dashboard. This incident of almost got me T-boned at an intersection after making a right hand turn.

While driving at slower speeds, the truck unexpectedly stalled and emergency brake engaged. The car behind us had to slam on their brakes due to the unexpected stop. There were no prior warning lights, messages, or symptoms prior to the failure.

On two separate occasions while backing out of my driveway, my truck automatically jumped from 2WD, to 4WD Low/High both simultaneously and also locked the park brake. In both of these cases, I was able to place the vehicle in park, turn the vehicle off, let it set a minute or two and once restarted, the vehicle was in 2WD again and performed as it should. It was just concerning as to why it would do this. But on May 5th, I left home and was traveling down the road at approximately 20 mph, when the vehicle jumped into 4WD Low/High once again and the park brake engaged automatically. I always wear a seatbelt, but had I not had it fastened yet, I would have immediately been slammed into the steering wheel. It was towed to the dealership as it would never release from 4WD or the park break would not release either. They have had it since May 6th and cannot find anything wrong as it has since went back to "normal" as they said. But this is a major safety concern if it will automatically jump into 4WD at 20 mph......what will keep it from doing this at 70 mph on the interstate? That will cause all sorts of issues and probably fatalities if this happens. I do not feel safe being told that nothing is wrong with the vehicle and that I can pick it back up, and drive it until it happens again and they will see what they can find then. It might be too late at that point.

2021 Dodge Ram Big Horn purchased at Golling Chrysler in Michigan, you know the auto capital of America. It has been in the shop four or five times in the past year (well over 30 days in shop) for the identical problem, slams on brakes for no reason - I named my truck, “death trap”! This problem has occurred on at least seven occasions and my dealer representative admonishes me for being annoyed with them that they can’t find the problem, since in their words, “it only happened seven times“. You might wonder why it’s been named death trap? Well, when your truck is driving normally, and then it stops, slams on the brakes, practically gives you whiplash, your chest is squeezed by the seat belt, and you’re stranded in the middle of an intersection or an entrance on a multi lane highway, or out of a parking lot, and you have no way to make it go until you have to sit for two or three minutes pushing buttons resetting restarting, its earned the name “death trap”. I am one of many many owners with this identical problem. Golling Chrysler seems to think it’s OK to keep sending me home in a death trap. Workers have mocked me, insulted me, and endangered me. I had to resort to calling Chrysler Corporation and now I have a case!!?. Didn’t take long, within five minutes of telling my story to the Chrysler representative my case was put into escalation mode and they actually used the word “buyback”. What are they going to do after they buy it back from me, sell it to some poor other vict

Truck randomly shuts down and the engine light goes on and a warning about a throttle body issue,

Vehicle randomly stalls while driving. Occasionally will also deploy emergency brake when it stalls