BLUF: Does Ram care about their customers? Their product quality is certainly disappointing as multiple vehicles have repeated issues that need repeated repairs.
I have been a Ram owner for over a decade now. Including my current truck my last four vehicles have been a Dodge Ram 1500 in different versions. I was always very happy with the quality and reliability of my Ram trucks, but lately I certainly no longer feel this way. My first two trucks were a 2013 Dodge Ram 1500 and 2015 Dodge Ram 1500. I didn’t have any issues with either of these vehicles. A few years later I decided to purchase a brand new 2018 Dodge Ram Rebel 1500. This vehicle is when I started to have issues with Ram products.
I decided to purchase a truck that I was going to keep for a few decades. I thought I found that with the Rebel until the problems started. One of the features of this truck was the air ride suspension which I had never had before. The entry / exit mode of the system was very useful for me as it lowers the vehicle a few inches. I take care of my ailing father and the entry / exit mode made it easier for him to get into and out of the truck when I take him to each of his appointments. This is the main reason I chose to add the air ride suspension system. This system does not perform well in colder weather. This is problematic as I live in the snowbelt in northwest Pennsylvania. There were multiple times where I would go to use my truck and the front end was sagging while the rear end was still at normal ride height. Each time this happened I had to take the truck back to the dealership. I keep detailed records including vehicle maintenance records. The record from November 2020 states “system low on nitrogen causing pump to run excessively which blew fuse”. This work was covered under the warranty and did not cost me anything out of pocket.
This issue happened again in January of 2023. I took the truck back to the dealership and the maintenance record from this visit states “scan for DTC’s found leak while venting.” This visit didn’t cost me anything out of pocket, but the same issue occurring again was certainly an inconvenience. In March of 2025 this issue occurred again for a third time. The front end was sagging with the rear end still at normal ride height. The maintenance record from this visit states “Low air mass and unable to obtain desired ride height faults all active. Inspected air ride suspension system for possible leaks. Both front air springs / struts leaking. 30 amp fuse for air ride suspension compressor blown also.” I was told by the dealership that I was just a year past the work being covered by a warranty so I had to pay for everything out of pocket. The dealership was able to find some aftermarket components instead of me having to buy all OEM parts. The dealership saved me about $1,000 by doing this. However, even after these savings my total paid out of pocket was still $3,501.35.
I am very easy on my vehicles as I don’t travel very much or very far. I only average about 4500 miles a year. At this point I had the 2018 Dodge Ram Rebel 1500 for seven years and I only had about 31,000 miles on the odometer. Even if a vehicle is paid off repeated expensive repairs easily cost you the same amount or more that you make on payments. I realized that this air ride suspension issue was going to keep reoccurring and now that each repair was going to cost me out of pocket I decided to get a new truck. I wanted the 2018 Ram Rebel 1500 to last me a few decades and I wanted the new truck to be the same.
At this point I felt that the Ram line of trucks was still a good option as long as the air ride suspension is not included as the system does not perform well at all. I started looking around at different truck options and then I saw the Rebel X which is the 10 year anniversary version of the Rebel. I was looking for a new truck for the first time in seven years and it just happened to be the same and only year that the anniversary edition was offered. I liked all the new features and decided to design exactly what I wanted in a truck I was going to keep for a few decades. My final design for the vehicle came to $82,865. I went with almost every option except for the air ride suspension which was the whole reason I was buying a new truck in the first place. The truck took a few months to build and it was finally delivered on May 16th, 2025. I went to the dealership after work drove it off the lot around 6pm the same day.
Initially the new truck had no issues and then the problems started. Multiple systems began to act oddly including the transmission, the power windows, the power tailgate, the wifi, and the weather application. Each one of these systems had to be “programmed to latest level per the service bulletin instructions.” While each of these systems now function properly with the latest programming several issues still remain that have become a major hassle.
On September 12th, 2025 I went to leave for work in the morning and my truck was completely dead. I had just driven it home from work the previous afternoon without issue. It took me about an hour and a half to get the truck started. I am an hourly employee and your product made me late to work for the first in 14 years with my current employer. I had to wait for my neighbor to bring me a jump starter to use because of another issue I have with your product. I have a tonneau cover on my truck bed which also happens to be where my jump starter is kept. Unless I missed something obvious there is no way to open the tailgate when the truck is dead if you have a tonneau cover on your bed. Is there no way to open the tailgate with a physical key? If so, that seems like a major oversight in the design phase of your vehicles.
The vehicle had to be returned to the dealership and they had to work on it for several days while trying to figure out why a brand new vehicle battery had died over the course of less than a day. During this work it was discovered that a module was malfunctioning and would not program. This maintenance record states “Attempted to perform radio frequency hub module update. Tech stated update would not complete.” The dealership replaced the module as it seemed to be the system that was draining the battery. This work was completed on September 18th, 2025 and was covered under warranty. However, the Ram Card access card would not program and the truck would eventually need to be returned to the dealership.
I took the truck back to the dealership on October 21st, 2025 to have the Ram Card programmed and it failed again after several attempts. The dealership contacted support was told that after so many failed attempts the module should be replaced. I brought the truck back to the dealership again for this issue on November 11th, 2025. The module again failed to program and the Ram Card still doesn’t work on my brand new vehicle. A new module was ordered again and I had another appointment scheduled on November 28th, 2025. On November 14th, 2025 the check engine light came on. There appears to be a safety feature where the remote start function is disabled if the check engine light is active. This is a major problem when you live in northwest Pennsylvania and it is winter. When I took the truck to the dealership to have the engine code identified it was for an evaporation hose issue that currently has no fix available. The engine code was cleared and the remote was functioning again. Why would you have the engine disable remote start when it is just for a recall that currently doesn’t even have a fix?
On November 18th, 2025 I drove the truck to work. When I went to leave work a little over 8 hours later the truck was completely dead in the parking lot. When this happened the first time the service department at the dealership recommended I buy a jump pack to place under my back seat. This was necessary as I yet again couldn’t access my main jump starter in the bed of my truck. I used the jump pack to get vehicle started so I could drive it to the dealership. They gave me a loaner vehicle and took the truck in immediately to work on it as clearly something was still wrong. After about a week the dealership replaced another module and they believe the issue is being caused by the auxiliary battery draining the main battery. I still don’t have the vehicle back in my possession as they are still trying to get the Ram Card programmed.
At this point I only have about 2600 miles on my 2025 Ram Rebel X 1500 that cost me $82,865. There shouldn’t be multiple issues occurring multiple times on a brand new vehicle with only 2600 miles. After the air ride suspension issues with the last truck and all of the repeated issues in only 2600 miles with the new truck I no longer feel that the Ram brand is reliable. I shouldn’t need to be concerned that my brand new truck will be dead every single time I go to use it. This is in addition to all of the other issues with the brand new vehicle. Does Ram Care?
