2019 Ram Cracked Rear Window Frame Leaking. Customer Service Issues?

My truck is a 2019 RAM 1500 BigHorn w/ rear power sliding window. Just like so many others it developed the cracked rear window frame, and of course the truck is now out of Warranty. Is RAM totally disregarding this issue or has anyone gotten any assistance from them in this matter? I don't expect something for nothing, however this issue is unequivocally the result of a well-documented design flaw and was hoping to get some type of good-will assistance or relief from RAM since this is such a prolific issue and extended warranty doesn't cover it. Is this something @RamCares has helped anyone with? Background: After having to pull up the carpet in my RAM and discovering the cracked window frame, I found TSB # 23-016-21 and called RAM Customer Care about the issue and was given a case number and told to call back after having the dealer diagnose the issue. I went to the dealer, who charged me $200 to diagnose what I already knew, and they gave me a written diagnosis describing the issue and referencing the TSB. They also gave me a quote for the full repair cost. I called RAM Customer Care back and asked if there was any assistance they could give me and frankly, they treated me very poorly. The first representative was reading from a script and after I explained the above info to her, she kept repeating that I would have to take it to the dealer for diagnosis. When it was obvious she wasn't understanding me, I asked to elevate the matter or speak with a supervisor and she flat out refused. I would ask follow-up questions which were met with awkward, long pauses, and no definitive answer. I called back and the next representative, a male, was rude, argumentative, and condescending. I gave him my FCA Case # and he stated that the case closed. He DEMANDED, "Where did you get the Service Bulletin?" when I brought that up. He insinuated I was lying to him about the dealer's diagnosis; stated that the TSB I was referencing did not exist; then, after he found it, argued that it didn't apply to my vehicle (which it clearly does). I read him the dealer's diagnostic verbatim, with the dealer's reference to the TSB and he said to the effect of, "Well, anyone who knows words and can read, would know that it doesn't actually say your VIN is covered under the TSB" and "If the dealer really made that determination, they would have taken care of it and you wouldn't be calling us." Like the first rep., he was insistent that there was nothing RAM could do and refused to elevate my case. I was persistent and he finally took my email address and stated that someone MIGHT contact me. Sorry to rant, but is this a typical experience? Is there a different avenue I should take? After twenty years of driving GM products, I bought my first MOPAR vehicle because of GM's quality issues, but they NEVER treated me like this and always addressed their issues.

Pm rm cares or go find teh ramcares thread. also, there already is a hue long and informnative rear window thread here, on the forum.

read through it, post queries there, ore folks will see it.

my recommendation?
Fix it and be done with it.
No idea how much it will cost but TSB only allows for 2.4 hrs of labor so cant be more than a couple thousand adn I;d gladly pay that to make the strife and stress go away.

That is terrible. Here on the forum, that issue seems like it is very well known. Surely they know that too.

It is a good enough issue that there's a TSB on the problem. There will more than likely never be a recall on it because they don't see it as a "safety" issue even though electronics can get damaged by the water intrusion which can lead to other issues or the fact that mold can form which can harm some people. SOME people have had their windows replaced under a dealers "good faith" policy when it's been out of factory warranty coverage. I obviously wasn't there to when all this went down for you so I don't know what happened but I will say that your attitude going into this can have an effect on the outcome. Basically I'm saying it's a "you'll catch more flies with honey" type of thing. Try reaching out to @RamCares and see if they can help.

Rlaf75 said:

It is a good enough issue that there's a TSB on the problem. There will more than likely never be a recall on it because they don't see it as a "safety" issue even though electronics can get damaged by the water intrusion which can lead to other issues or the fact that mold can form which can harm some people. SOME people have had their windows replaced under a dealers "good faith" policy when it's been out of factory warranty coverage. I obviously wasn't there to when all this went down for you so I don't know what happened but I will say that your attitude going into this can have an effect on the outcome. Basically I'm saying it's a "you'll catch more flies with honey" type of thing. Try reaching out to @RamCares and see if they can help.

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Oh trust me, having owned a retail business for 10 years, I know about attitude. Genuinely, I was humble, and approached the matter, simply asking for help. Their attitude and the progressing of the script they use was passive aggressive from the first moment. There was no customer feedback loop being practiced. I was interrupted constantly; the concern I was trying to convey as well as my status as a customer was completely marginalized; and any information I tried to introduce was immediately dismissed and countered. When I substantiated this information (i.e. presented the diagnosis, the TSB, referenced the case number and chronology events) he became aggressively argumentative, up to calling me liar. I never shouted, but as I spoke he kept saying in a cocky tone, "Sir, you need to lower your voice right now."

Rlaf75 said:

It is a good enough issue that there's a TSB on the problem. There will more than likely never be a recall on it because they don't see it as a "safety" issue even though electronics can get damaged by the water intrusion which can lead to other issues or the fact that mold can form which can harm some people. SOME people have had their windows replaced under a dealers "good faith" policy when it's been out of factory warranty coverage. I obviously wasn't there to when all this went down for you so I don't know what happened but I will say that your attitude going into this can have an effect on the outcome. Basically I'm saying it's a "you'll catch more flies with honey" type of thing. Try reaching out to @RamCares and see if they can help.

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We so appreciate being tagged in this as this is the best way to alert us!

Yes, if you're experiencing a leak in your vehicle, please reach out. We're available via direct messaging.

Callie
Ram Cares

ggutta85 said:

Oh trust me, having owned a retail business for 10 years, I know about attitude. Genuinely, I was humble, and approached the matter, simply asking for help. Their attitude and the progressing of the script they use was passive aggressive from the first moment. There was no customer feedback loop being practiced. I was interrupted constantly; the concern I was trying to convey as well as my status as a customer was completely marginalized; and any information I tried to introduce was immediately dismissed and countered. When I substantiated this information (i.e. presented the diagnosis, the TSB, referenced the case number and chronology events) he became aggressively argumentative, up to calling me liar. I never shouted, but as I spoke he kept saying in a cocky tone, "Sir, you need to lower your voice right now."

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Believe me I get the frustration. I wasn't insinuating you were being loud or obnoxious. I know I would've been though lol. This has been an on going problem for years and I'm absolutely amazed that they can't keep the inside of these $50k+ trucks dry after all these years

ggutta85 said:

Oh trust me, having owned a retail business for 10 years, I know about attitude. Genuinely, I was humble, and approached the matter, simply asking for help. Their attitude and the progressing of the script they use was passive aggressive from the first moment. There was no customer feedback loop being practiced. I was interrupted constantly; the concern I was trying to convey as well as my status as a customer was completely marginalized; and any information I tried to introduce was immediately dismissed and countered. When I substantiated this information (i.e. presented the diagnosis, the TSB, referenced the case number and chronology events) he became aggressively argumentative, up to calling me liar. I never shouted, but as I spoke he kept saying in a cocky tone, "Sir, you need to lower your voice right now."

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Out of curiosity was the call center you spoke with North American based? I ask because so much of customer service has been outsourced to foreign countries. I do not have issue with other countries or cultures and typically workers at such call centers are inadequately trained and at a disadvantage of knowing and understanding the culture of the foreigners they communicate with. Heck I lived in Germany for two years and German customer service is different from American. Corporations do a disservice to their customers when customer service is outsourced to the lowest bidder whether it’s North American based being outsourced to the Pacific rim or Japanese customer service being outsourced to the USA.

I am having the same issue in my 2020 limited. Several months ago, I started to notice an a great deal of condensation forming on the windows overnight and while driving and/or being parked during various weather conditions. I am talking about big water drops that collects enough to run down the windows. I always felt like air (varying humidity levels in vs out of vehicle) is somehow to causing the condensation to form. The fogging would always would be a challenge to address. While getting my child out of the truck one day, I noticed that the seat next to the car seat was wet. Looking for the source, I noticed the dripping from the top of the sliding window. After this discovery, I thought the window was slightly open never connecting this to the condensation issue. I didn’t pay it much attention until I notice it during a rain event. There I noticed a crack in the frame and water pouring in. To combat this, I put tape around/over the 3rd light and still leaks. After doing some further investigation and reading about others’ experiences, I discovered both the headliner and floor are constantly wet. I now have concerns with the formation of mold and mildew adversely affecting my 3 year old who has to sit in the backseat while getting wet during a rain event. For a truck that costs this much, things like this shouldn’t be happening. I also read that this water can make the airbags in that area to not function properly. This is another concern of mine. I to am also out if the bumper to bumper warranty.

Just to mention a couple of other quality issues that I already visited with the dealer about, my driver side LED lower “accent” light works intermittently and the leather dash has separated. The dealer advised that they couldn’t help me since the warranty has ran out. They offered to charge me $1700 to replace the headlight assembly since the “bulb” cannot be changed and another couple thousand dollars plus to address the dash. Again, for the cost of this truck, you would think quality would be better. All these issues happened within a couple of months and the leak is the most recent.

This is my 3rd Ram, I am not happy with the way this has worked out.

I bought my first ram ever last year. I have the leak and it destroyed many Eli components behind the seat. Great place to put them. Right in the path of running water. My 2019 has been at the dealership for more than a month. Parts are hard to come by. It’s going to cost around 6 grand. Ram says tough ****. This known problem is costing me thousands. Ram doesn’t give a rats ass

Customer service when I owned my RAM was well below par compared to other brands I have owned. Luckily I had a dealership somewhat nearby that was good to work with but the corporate experience was always atrocious.

The window issue is a design flaw from the parts supplier, not RAM, so you won't get much love especially outside of the basic warranty. The window has been updated but there's no changing all the ones that have already been installed. RAM certainly isn't going to blindly change every window for a couple of production years and foot the bill to swap out ~800,000 rear windows "just in case".

"Well-documented" and "well-known" are relative terms when it comes to forums. Most people come to a forum to complain so the perception gets skewed. Even if you read about 1000 people having window problems that's still about 0.1% of all the RAM 1500s made from 2019-2020 (main MYs with the issue).

Every manufacturer sets their reasonable expectation of production quality (basic warranty). As long as it lasts that long, defect or not, then it is no longer the manufacturer's responsibility to repair the problem - it's the owner's...unless they have an extended service plan. Unfortunately, nothing covers glass after the basic warranty expires (since the frame and window are one piece and both have to be replaced it is considered glass replacement).

Luckily mine got bad before my basic warranty expired (at 20K+ miles/year that deadline came quickly) and had it replaced. They were not willing to replace the window until the TSB came out then it was no problem. I did, however, watch my truck like a hawk for everything I read about so that the moment it might be an issue I had the dealership looking at it. Problem or not at least it was documented within the basic warranty period so I at least had a foot in the door for later.

I have only read of 2 people getting dealership help after the basic warranty (both not far outside warranty requirements). One dealership split the cost (paid half) and the other dealership took care of it completely. Outside of that everyone else I've read about had to pay out of pocket...which is a little under $2000 from what I understand.