Owners filed 1,984 complaints about the 2015–2025 RAM 3500 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 52nd-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2018 model year drew the most (801), and the single most-reported problem area is brakes, named in 37% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2018, with 801 complaints, led by brakes (500).
- Spike years: 2017 (2.3× the typical year), 2018 (6.0× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: brakes complaints came at a median of 16k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 35 complaints mention a fire and 64 mention a crash; owners reported 38 injuries and 1 deaths.
RAM 3500 complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 136 | Transmission / powertrain (32), Engine (27), Brakes (24) | 28k mi | 3 | 5 |
| 2016 | 134 | Steering (29), Wheels (21), Engine (21) | 23k mi | 12 | 5 |
| 2017 | 310 | Brakes (142), Service Brakes, Hydraulic (46), Electrical system (33) | 32k mi | 9 | 1 |
| 2018 | 801 | Brakes (500), Service Brakes, Hydraulic (141), Electrical system (136) | 42k mi | 15 | 2 |
| 2019 | 134 | Fuel System, Diesel (27), Fuel system (22), Engine (21) | 36k mi | 10 | 5 |
| 2020 | 116 | Fuel system (33), Engine (27), Fuel System, Diesel (23) | 27k mi | 6 | 7 |
| 2021 | 62 | Electrical system (17), Transmission / powertrain (11), Engine (10) | 60k mi | 0 | 4 |
| 2022 | 189 | Transmission / powertrain (114), Electrical system (23), Engine (23) | 27k mi | 4 | 5 |
| 2023 | 17 | Exterior lights (3), Engine (3), Electrical system (3) | 14k mi | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 43 | Electrical system (11), Brakes (11), Transmission / powertrain (6) | 15k mi | 5 | 1 |
| 2025 | 42 | Electrical system (27), Brakes (19), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (9) | 1k mi | 0 | 0 |
Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower partly because owners have had fewer years to report problems.
Most-reported RAM 3500 problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 737 | 37% | 16k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Electrical system | 308 | 16% | 30k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 270 | 14% | 21k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 191 | 10% | 60k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Engine | 183 | 9% | 35k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Speed control / acceleration | 169 | 9% | 27k mi | — |
| Steering | 127 | 6% | 29k mi | Power steering repair cost |
| Wheels | 105 | 5% | 18k mi | Wheel bearing replacement cost |
One complaint can name several problem areas, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What this data can and can't tell you
These are unverified reports that owners submitted to NHTSA, counted by model year. They are not defect findings, and they aren't adjusted for sales: a best-selling vehicle collects more complaints simply because more of them are on the road. Use the counts to compare model years of the same vehicle and to see which systems owners complain about most, not to compare how reliable two different models are. See the full methodology.
Other RAM models in the index
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, consumer complaint files (nhtsa.gov), model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-23. Free to cite with a link to this page.