Did you guys read the pickup reliability rankings out? RAM came in last....

[Pull Ya]

Yep! I started out in those early and mid-80's Toyota 4x4 pickups. The solid front axle ones. Had a few used ones which I pretty much did about everything with them. Know each piece of them by heart. That's how I knew they were well-built when you compare their construction to a square-body pickup at the time ...for example. I had a couple of them too around that time (square-body 4x4's and a Ford). Those Early Toyota (and Datsun mini pickups) felt real 'cheap' in some areas (interior and sheetmetal), but were darn well built in other areas (running gear). They still needed maintenance and had a few issues (timing chain tensioners wearing out, early 5-spd counter-bearing issues, etc) ...non-vented front rotors that could warp and were a bugger to change. But like you say, they were simple and really no 'tech' on them to flake-out. What little 'tech' they did have rarely broke. Mechanically overbuilt.

But man the early solid axle Toyota 4x4's were rough riding SOB's! Esp on rough roads. You almost needed a kidney belt! The 2-wd trucks were a little better. Not a lot of cab room -- couldn't really stretch out your legs. Noisy cabs... crapy stereos, weak acceleration, marginal brakes, Scary handling with large tires (even stock tires), no door impact beams or cab safety features whatsoever! You were driving a coffin. Frames rotted quick in the North, single-panel box ...couldn't haul a sheet of plywood ..ha ha. And only got 3mpg better than my OBS GMC Sierra shortbox 4x4 350/Auto which had every option: velour, split seat with armrest, power everything, cassette/equalizer, tinted glass. Better stereo (crappy by today's standards but nice back then!). Roomier, quieter, rode/handled/braked great. That truck was far superior to driving the early 80's Toyota 4x4 mini's in every conceiveable way. Those GM OBS '88-'98 trucks were rock-solid & reliable. The GMT800's were even better. Those seem like mini-trucks compared to today's full-sized tks. Still, those early Toyotas were a blast to own/drive! They are almost addictive somehow. They have vastly improved the interiors and made them lot better by the mid 90's and beyond.

Old school reliability is why I'm hanging onto my 2012 Ram for now. Not a money issue. Simpler, reliable, still meets my needs. Want a regular cab and 8' box (I guess they still sell them but...). I looked at a '26 yesterday in the showroom while picking up some Mopar parts ...Man, they sure are NICE! Tempting. I'm sure a lot of owners rarely experience problems. But I would go for the extended warranty if I did buy a new on

Having an extended warranty sounds like a good deal, the only problem is when are they going to get the parts to repair any problem covered by the warranty? People report waiting for months and months--
Jay

 

[RamDiver]

Yep! I started out in those early and mid-80's Toyota 4x4 pickups. Had a few used ones which I pretty much did about everything with them. Know each piece of them by heart. That's how I knew they were well-built when you compare their construction to a square-body pickup at the time ...for example. I had a couple of them too around that time (square-body 4x4's and a Ford). Those Early Toyota (and Datsun mini pickups) felt real 'cheap' in some areas (interior and sheetmetal), but were darn well built in other areas (running gear). They still needed maintenance and had their issues (timing chain tensioners wearing out, etc...non-vented front rotors that could warp), but they were simple and really no 'tech' on them to flake-out. What little 'tech' they did have rarely broke. But man they were rough riding SOB's! Not a lot of cab room. Noisy cabs... crapy stereos, weak acceleration, marginal brakes, Scary handling with large tires (even with stock tires), no cab safety features whatsoever! Frames would rot quick in the North, single-panel box ...couldn't haul a sheet of plywood ..ha ha. And only got 3mpg better than my OBS GMC shortbox 4x4 that I replaced the last Toyota with. That truck was far superior in every way. And rock-solid reliable. Still, those early Toyotas were a blast to drive! They were almost addictive somehow.

That's why I'm hanging onto my 2012. Not a money issue. Simpler and still meets my needs. And want a regular cab (I guess they still sell them but...). I looked at a '26 yesterday in the showroom while picking up some Mopar parts ...Man, they sure are NICE! I'm sure a lot of owners rarely experience problems. But I would want the extended warranty if I did buy a new one.

One of my favourite trucks during the late '90s was a lifted '87 Toyota Extended Cab 4x4.
I discovered the joys of adding mods, offroading, and the bliss of driving a winter beater that was so much fun to race the bus lane idiots.

I used it as a daily driver during the winter with 33x9.5x15 BFG Mud TAs.
It was nearly unstoppable off-road in deep mud, creek beds, water crossings, and deep snow.

During the sloppy winter months, the wee 22RE 4-banger with manual locking hubs and a stick was an easy win for toasting the RWD Camaro boys at the intersections. Driving to work was never so much fun.

And there was a co-worker who seemed particularly put out that I drove a truck that looked like $hit.
That pleased me too.

Thanks for the fun reminder.

.

 

[jc56berg]

One of my favourite trucks during the late '90s was a lifted '87 Toyota Extended Cab 4x4.
I discovered the joys of adding mods, offroading, and the bliss of driving a winter beater that was so much fun to race the bus lane idiots.

I used it as a daily driver during the winter with 33x9.5x15 BFG Mud TAs.
It was nearly unstoppable off-road in deep mud, creek beds, water crossings, and deep snow.

During the sloppy winter months, the wee 22RE 4-banger with manual locking hubs and a stick was an easy win for toasting the RWD Camaro boys at the intersections. Driving to work was never so much fun.

And there was a co-worker who seemed particularly put out that I drove a truck that looked like $hit.
That pleased me too.

Thanks for the fun reminder.

.

He was just jelous.

 

[Deercamp]

.

Just wait until they start measuring your state of awareness and shutting down while alerting the authorities if the driving skills aren't up to par.

Add those features to the rats nest of electronic irregularities, you haven't seen anything yet.

Hopefully they won't outlaw buying older vehicles, at least not in our lifetime.

.

Sadly, Ram Driver on point with above concerns. The information current generation of vehicles collect is extensive, invasive, valuable, and readily marketable to various entities, such as insurance companies, government agencies and the extensive marketing industry. Absent having our explicit permission to collect & disseminate information, companies should be subject to violating privacy of consumer and held to financially responsibility for violating consumer privacy, either for profiting through the marketing of the personal information or simply distributing it to third parties.

 

[RamDiver]

He was just jelous.

Jealous that I was younger, stronger, and carefree. Likely!

.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Just wait until they start measuring your state of awareness and shutting down while alerting the authorities if the driving skills aren't up to par.

Those 'features' still have a good way to go. Nuisance alarms are common. My wife and I ususally rent premium cars when we need to. I don't remember what car it was now, but it's happened on a couple cars. Mid morning ...say, 10 AM ...15 min after leaving a coffee shop (good night's rest the night before) hardly anyone on the road, it starts beeping me and signaling I need to pull over and take a rest break!! LOL WTF??! I've experienced that in a few new vehicles.

Sure It did alert me when I actually was a bit fatigued..but ...that tech has a ways to go. Just like self-driving has a long ways to go (I have stories on that too!). I'm not even sure if some auto companies are even working on self-driving anymore. Trends come and go. For a while car companies were going to get-rich selling yer data. That kind of flamed out. I'm still waiting for the 'flying cars" they promised in the 70's we'd all be driving by Y2k!! Can you imagine what a mess that would be with morons flying around and their tech locking up...crashing into your house!

 

[RamDiver]

.

Sadly, Ram Driver on point with above concerns. The information current generation of vehicles collect is extensive, invasive, valuable, and readily marketable to various entities, such as insurance companies, government agencies and the extensive marketing industry. Absent having our explicit permission to collect & disseminate information, companies should be subject to violating privacy of consumer and held to financially responsibility for violating consumer privacy, either for profiting through the marketing of the personal information or simply distributing it to third parties.

In my past working life, I worked in electronics, and a large portion of that was data transport within the Telecom industry.

You are bang on, but don't forget to include the advent of AI.
Many folks have no idea of how radically their personal data will be exploited and used for corporate financial gains.

I'm getting very much closer to not being available/exploited 247.
I'm addicted to the encyclopedia of the times, the Internet, knowledge, and learning, but...

Soon, I will take the plunge and keep my phone in an RF-shielded bag, only using it as required.
My personal data will then be a bit less useful to others.

.

 

[RamDiver]

Those 'features' still have a good way to go. Nuisance alarms are common. My wife and I ususally rent premium cars when we need to. I don't remember what car it was now, but it's happened on a couple cars. Mid morning ...say, 10 AM ...15 min after leaving a coffee shop (good night's rest the night before) hardly anyone on the road, it starts beeping me and signaling I need to pull over and take a rest break!! LOL WTF??! I've experienced that in a few new vehicles.

Sure It did alert me when I actually was a bit fatigued..but ...that tech has a ways to go. Just like self-driving has a long ways to go (I have stories on that too!). I'm not even sure if some auto companies are even working on self-driving anymore. Trends come and go. For a while car companies were going to get-rich selling yer data. That kind of flamed out. I'm still waiting for the 'flying cars" they promised in the 70's we'd all be driving by Y2k!!

Were you able to acknowledge the nanny's warning and continue without further annoyance, or were you pestered until you stopped?

I wouldn't be thinking that the personal surveillance technology behind tracking our cognitive performance is that far away, but that might be more about my busy brain. Time will tell.

AI can already learn technological concepts, and AI advancements have been exponential in recent times. In 5 or 10 years, humans may become the redundant extremities known as eaters.

Time will tell all.

.

 

[SeventyGTX]

4 2026 Rams? You've had 4, and it's June. That's like, 1-1/2 months each.

What do you do for a living? Ya'll got any openings?

Everybody is a comic. It's pretty obvious I was referring to Rams in general. But hey, you got a few of reactions to your comment, so mission accomplished i'm sure.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Everybody is a comic. It's pretty obvious I was referring to Rams in general. But hey, you got a few of reactions to your comment, so mission accomplished i'm sure.

First line of this thread:

This was for 2026 pickups,

He's pointing out that your experience is irrelevant unless those trucks were 2026, as am I with the post about a 1980s Toyota vs a modern pickup. Quality and durability is not constant within a brand over the years. All brands have declined post-COVID, but Ram took a massive dive with the current gen's electrical issues.

 

[Ken226]

First line of this thread:



He's pointing out that your experience is irrelevant unless those trucks were 2026, as am I with the post about a 1980s Toyota vs a modern pickup. Quality and durability is not constant within a brand over the years. All brands have declined post-COVID, but Ram took a massive dive with the current gen's electrical issues.

Exactly,

and not only the first line, but

First five words, of the first sentence, of the first line....

 

[Jebb]

Some guy with a 1985 Toyota SR5: "Gosh, these new Toyota ratings are BS...I've got 450k on my truck and it runs great!"

I had one before I finally sold it for a Ram 1500 in 2005. I had 225,000 miles on it. I just saw one advertised awhile back for $40k.

 

[Bramic71]

This was for 2026 pickups, not our 4th gen trucks. Pickup reliability tanking ..all mfgrs. Take it or leave it.. I'm not making any claims or statements other than it's a talking point in the news. I love my Ram ...2012 pre-big-tech. One overall point of the article is too much tech seems to be making the once super-reliable pickup platform a lot less reliable (across the industry).

A lot of the issues reported seem too-common to what a lot of 4th gen owners have been struggling with for years. Hopefully this black eye will prompt mfgrs to clean up their act, fix issues and improve reliability.

https://autos.yahoo.com/ownership/articles/ram-1500-tops-brutal-list-164500618.html

Here's the video.

These 2026 Pickup Trucks Have a Serious Problem — Consumer Reports Just Exposed Them

For years, pickup trucks earned a reputation for being the toughest vehicles on the road.But something has changed.Consumer Reports just released its latest ...

www.youtube.com

Whaddya think?

I wouldn't purchase any new trucks, except maybe a Nissan Frontier. They are all last on the list.

 

[Markw]

I'm going to drive my 2012 as long as I can. With the newer trucks it seems anyone that buys on ends up in a beta test lab.

 

[Grams]

With the current administration in control, …..

 

[Grams]

With the current administration in control, …..

Having an extended warranty sounds like a good deal, the only problem is when are they going to get the parts to repair any problem covered by the warranty? People report waiting for months and months--
Jay

Extended Warranties expose the owner to “prove you serviced it per OEM” …and ….Extended Denials

 

[Dusty]

This was for 2026 pickups, not our 4th gen trucks. Pickup reliability tanking ..all mfgrs. Take it or leave it.. I'm not making any claims or statements other than it's a talking point in the news. I love my Ram ...2012 pre-big-tech. One overall point of the article is too much tech seems to be making the once super-reliable pickup platform a lot less reliable (across the industry).

A lot of the issues reported seem too-common to what a lot of 4th gen owners have been struggling with for years. Hopefully this black eye will prompt mfgrs to clean up their act, fix issues and improve reliability.

https://autos.yahoo.com/ownership/articles/ram-1500-tops-brutal-list-164500618.html

Here's the video.

These 2026 Pickup Trucks Have a Serious Problem — Consumer Reports Just Exposed Them

For years, pickup trucks earned a reputation for being the toughest vehicles on the road.But something has changed.Consumer Reports just released its latest ...

www.youtube.com

Whaddya think?

Seems to me there's a contradiction between Consumers' Reports and the recent JD Power reliability survey.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 154128 miles.

 

[Ken226]

I'm going to drive my 2012 as long as I can. With the newer trucks it seems anyone that buys on ends up in a beta test lab.

 

[DA Smith]

On the 2026 Ram 1500 they are really bad mostly on electronics which by the way it the heart and brains of new vehicles no matter how good the engine and transmission are the truck won't run unless the computer says so! Think about this why do you think Ram put a 10 year 100 k warranty on their 2026 Ram 1500 , it's because they knew they were junk when the built them.

 

[Dusty]

I just saw it’s from Consumer Reports. Don’t care what they say, never did, never will.

The CR piece was a great way to inspire the usual "Rams are a POS" campaigners, I'm sure, but a few points should be made.

The ratings are based on the CR 2026 Auto issue, ISBN 978-0-594-21411-3, dated March/April. CR has always been a little reluctant to inform on what the threshold of responses is required in order to give a rating. In 2018 it was 200 responses. Without knowing how many GM, Ford, Ram, and Toyota responses for comparison, the simple sales advantage of GM and Ford models could induce oversampling errors (ie: comparing 200 Rams to 8-900 GMs and Fords).

Since the reliability ratings are based on 2025 models, the ratings are predicted.

March seems a bit too early in the production build to capture a true picture of total 2026 reliability for the entire year, for any vehicle. Not only was the Ram rollout slow but they had some major issues with the Atlantis electrical architecture (this should get someone attention!) electronics.

There were only two areas where Ram did not receive green dots: in-car electronics and build quality. On page 101 of the auto issue CR states, "Models that score a "red" dot aren't necessarily unreliable, but they have a higher number of problems than the average model of the same production year." Does this mean a model could lose by a factor of one? On build quality electronics is one of the criteria. Seems like a double whammy especially if your major areas of concern is electronic systems.

Note that Tundra's are having serious engine problems with their new turbocharged V6. Yet they appear to be as green as a Christmas tree. Likewise, GMs serious 6.2 engine problems and get all green for Engine Major and Engine Minor.

In my opinion the most unreliable aspect of CR "reliability" ratings are the rating system itself. This is probably due to CR's judgement based philosophy approach.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 154153 miles.