2017 RAM 1500 Shifted Out of Park. This is my story.

[STrooperHemi]

I have been contemplating writing this post for a few weeks but with how FCA has responded or should I say not responded I feel I should let others know of my situation.

First off let me share the back story. Back in April or May I posted about the many issues I was having with my brand new Ram 1500. After months of an uphill battle and retaining an Attorney, FCA settled out of court with the issues I was having with the truck.

Fast forward to December 24th 2017 Christmas Eve, I was pulling out my garage with my son in the truck. I was about ¾ out of the garage when my wife (who was standing in the garage) noticed I had dropped my sun glasses. I put the truck into PARK using the rotary dial and began to get out. As I was getting out of the truck it proceeded to move forward in a jolting fashion (if that makes sense). I immediately pulled myself back into the truck and turned the wheel to the right as the truck was heading straight for my wife (who was screaming historically). The truck went straight into the right interior side wall of my garage before I could get my foot on the brake. Damage was caused to both the truck and wall of the garage. Both my wife and son where extremely shacking up and till this day refuse to set foot into the truck.

After the incident I called FCA immediately which didn’t help because it was the holiday so of course no one was available. When I was finally put in touch with someone they elevated my case to a case manager which didn’t help anything because till this very day NO ONE from FCA has spoken to me personally or has even tried to reach out to me regarding the incident. I called Ram roadside assistance and had the truck towed to my local dealership.

Within the following two weeks of the incident I contacted my lawyer and he took the case. At that point the outcome I wanted was for FCA to do a buyback of the vehicle absorb any negative equity that it had which my Lawyer agreed was more than fair given what happened with the truck. Right after retaining the lawyer a 3rd party company contracted by FCA (so not FCA themselves) reached out wanting to do a vehicle inspection. The company went to the dealership where the truck was located and ran diagnostic’s (which I still haven’t seen to this day). Once the diagnostics where done I had the truck delivered back to my residence where it sat for almost 2 months because I was afraid to drive it.

After multiple attempts from my Lawyer FCA finally reached out to him stating they felt that I was at fault for the accident because someone at the dealership (where the diagnostics where done) said I said “ I may have not put the truck in park”. You could imagine my frustration at that point because that was the most asinine thing I had ever heard. After multiple conversions between FCA and the attorney FCA agreed to have one of their own reps do the vehicle inspection with my attorney present.

So on 3/6 at 7am I dropped off the truck at my local dealership for the inspection to be done on the agreed upon date of 3/7. At approx. 2pm on the same day 3/6 I received a message from the dealership that the inspection had been completed. I immediately called my attorney confused as I thought the inspection was to be the following day in his presence. Needless to say we where both extremely upset and my attorney was floored that FCA would go behind his back.

Again my attorney reached out to FCA multiple times with only one response. So as of today I will be filing suit against FCA.

You would think with the gravity of the situation and the trauma it cause my family FCA would be more apologetic and try to rectify the situation.

I apologize for the long winded post and if I have offended anyone I also apologize. I just wanted my story to be heard.

I’m also wondering if anyone has had the same issue with their Ram coming out of park? And what you have done or what has happened with your case.

Thank you for reading.

 

[17CrewCab1500]

https://interestingengineering.com/dodge-ram-recalled-as-it-could-switch-gears-out-of-park

 

[STrooperHemi]

https://interestingengineering.com/dodge-ram-recalled-as-it-could-switch-gears-out-of-park

This recall is only for trucks with steering column mounted shifters.

 

[69GWC]

I thought the 2017 went into park as soon as the drivers door was opened.

Did I read this wrong. ?

 

[huntergreen]

What gear shifter do you have?

 

[huntergreen]

I thought the 2017 went into park as soon as the drivers door was opened.

Did I read this wrong. ?[/QUO

That's what I have read.

 

[Bigpaul13]

Mine does not. 2017 1500 sport.

 

[huntergreen]

Mine does not. 2017 1500 sport.

Is it supposed to ?

 

[STrooperHemi]

I thought the 2017 went into park as soon as the drivers door was opened.

Did I read this wrong. ?

Mine definitely doesn’t do that

 

[STrooperHemi]

What gear shifter do you have?

Rotary

 

[Joes1500]

2017 Laramie long horn crew cab 4x4.

On mine the computer will put it in park when you open a door but the rotary knob does not turn. You have to turn it to park to (reset it ).

I have not tested it at any speed, just slowly rolling in my driveway . I should also say it will not let you back up or pull forward with the door open either. As in if you have the door open and need to back up another 2 inches to hook your trailer up. You have to close the door.

 

[reek]

You would think with the gravity of the situation and the trauma it cause my family FCA would be more apologetic and try to rectify the situation.

historically, I think you'll find the automotive industry (business in general) couldn't really give a poop about anyone or their family. Most glaring example being the Ford Pinto fiasco.

glad the family wasn't hurt. hope it works out for you.

 

[STrooperHemi]

historically, I think you'll find the automotive industry (business in general) couldn't really give a poop about anyone or their family. Most glaring example being the Ford Pinto fiasco.

glad the family wasn't hurt. hope it works out for you.

Thank you and appreciate your feedback

 

[STrooperHemi]

2017 Laramie long horn crew cab 4x4.

On mine the computer will put it in park when you open a door but the rotary knob does not turn. You have to turn it to park to (reset it ).

I have not tested it at any speed, just slowly rolling in my driveway . I should also say it will not let you back up or pull forward with the door open either. As in if you have the door open and need to back up another 2 inches to hook your trailer up. You have to close the door.

My truck definitely doesn’t do what you are speaking of. Curious why some models have this feature and others do not?

 

[Can Water Geo]

Mine does not. 2017 1500 sport.

Agree, I'm just getting used to my new Ram (also a 2017) I wanted to see what the various behaviours are so I've shut off the engine with the shifter in drive and opened the door with it in gear.

In mine it will shift into park (and give you a message on the dash screen) if you shut it off while in drive. If you open the door while in drive it will show a message in the same screen but not put it in park.

 

[huntergreen]

I have 16. Have never tried to open the door while the truck was moving.

 

[SYKRAMMAN]

@STrooperHemi, if you have an open lawsuit against fca, I wouldn’t talk about it anymore, they have teams of eyes all over the net just to catch people slippin, so be careful what you say and good luck with everything.

 

[STrooperHemi]

@STrooperHemi, if you have an open lawsuit against fca, I wouldn’t talk about it anymore, they have teams of eyes all over the net just to catch people slippin, so be careful what you say and good luck with everything.

Thank you. I just wanted to share my story so others are aware of the issues and also see if anyone else has had the same issues. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[chrisbh17]

I thought mine would do it (2017 Big Horn QC) but Im pretty sure I tried and it did not automatically go into park once the door was opened.

It WILL go into park by itself if I turn the truck off in drive.

I wonder if its a build date thing? I figured it would be a s/w update to make it work like we think it should....maybe my truck doesnt have the latest s/w?

 

[G-Ride990]

Sorry to hear your wife and kid we're shook up with this. I hope fca can help you out.

I have had a few issues with my shifter too. I once backed out of my driveway and put the truck in park because I forgot something in my house. When I opened the door the truck started rolling backwards. The evic said to shift transmission to park. But it was already in park. I just shifted to drive then back to park and all was well.

Another time I put my truck in drive but my driver's door was ajar. As I'm driving down the road I noticed my truck was extremely loud and the rpm were sitting really high. (I have a muffler delete so it's loud). Seemed like it wouldn't shift past first gear. When I closed my door it shifted up and all was normal.

I have since gotten into the habit of setting the parking brake when I stop and closing the door harder.

It was a hard habit to form for me. Especially since I owned a Toyota Tacoma xrunner with a 6spd manual for a couple years before this truck and almost never set the parking brake. I just left it in gear.

My RAM is a 2016 qc 5.7 bighorn fyi.