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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2021 Ram 1500 — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 681 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

681
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
27
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
4
Involved Fire
owner-reported
23
Injuries
across all reports
Years to Avoid

Ram 1500 — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

1,770 complaints

1,453 complaints

1,545 complaints

880 complaints

662 complaints

1,485 complaints

634 complaints

681 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Engine 276 reports
Electrical System 197 reports
Unknown Or Other 103 reports
Power Train 98 reports
Service Brakes 73 reports
Fuel/propulsion System 69 reports
Forward Collision Avoidance 52 reports
Steering 50 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Steering ODI 11708022 12/31/2025

In early October 2025, my 2021 RAM 1500 experienced a steering malfunction in which the vehicle attempted to steer on its own without driver input. This created a loss-of-control scenario and posed a serious safety risk to me and surrounding traffic. The vehicle was removed from service immediately and taken to an authorized RAM dealer. Stellantis Customer Care and Fleet Case…

Air Bags ODI 11707858 12/30/2025

I own a 2021 Ram 1500 (“Build to Serve” edition). The airbag/SRS warning light came on around January 2025. The message states that the airbag system needs service. This indicates that the airbags may not deploy properly in the event of a crash, putting my safety and the safety of my passengers at risk. I took the vehicle to the Ram dealership and they confirmed an airbag sys…

Fuel/propulsion System ODI 11562702 12/30/2023

My RAM truck stalled about 2 months ago. When towed it to the dealer they diagnosed a high pressure fuel pump failure which was due to an open recall. I had attempted to take care of the recall multiple times but I was told that the part was not available yet. Now that it caused a bigger issue with the truck, it has been over 2 months and the truck is just sitting on the deale…

Electrical System ODI 11562598 12/29/2023

Truck leaks water from rear windshield, water runs down to receiver module for the key FOBs and causes truck not to turn off. Leaks from headliner into safety eq on windshield causing GPS issues, visability as water runs down inside of windshield. RAM will not fix under warranty. truck is well withing 3yr /36K miles

Engine ODI 11445421 12/29/2021

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

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2021 Ram 1500, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

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Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2021 Ram 1500 reliable?
Owners have filed 681 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2021 Ram 1500, most often about engine. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Ram 1500 years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.