Unresolved Lemon Law Claim - Two Years and Counting - 2022 Ram 1500 Limited

[davidbenson]

The Story Behind A 2022 Ram 1500 Pickup That Was A Lemon

And

Ram’s Two Year Fight To Vilify The Truck Purchaser

​

My name is David Benson and I am a resident of Prescott, Arizona. In March 2022 I purchased a new Ram 1500 Limited pickup from the Kearney Mesa Chrysler dealership in San Diego.



Within the first week of ownership the truck suddenly stopped and shut itself down while I was driving at a slow speed close to my home. Fortunately, nobody was injured and no accident occurred while I was suddenly shut down in the middle of the road.



I took the truck into the local Prescott dealer (York Dodge) the day after the sudden shut down. York Dodge could see that a motor problem occurred, but they could not identify the cause. They sent me home that afternoon. On the drive home that day the radio and center console went dark and stopped working. I pulled over and called York Dodge who suggested I come back to the dealer. When I brought the truck back in the dealer reset the radio and sent me home.



Over the ensuing months I had continuous connectivity, console and radio problems. I documented all these problems and repeatedly went back to York Dodge to try and get them resolved. York could not get the truck fixed and asked me what I was doing to cause the problems.



The dealer in San Diego offered to try and fix the truck so I drove it back to San Diego and left it with that dealer for three weeks. They tried different fixes, but could not solve the problems.



I wanted to fix the truck and keep it so I initiated discussions with Ram USA and opened up what they call a Star case to get higher level engineers involved. All these efforts also failed. All of my ongoing issues were documented in writing with supporting photos and videos that were shared with the Ram dealers and Ram USA.



In August 2022 I hired a California lemon law firm named Neale & Fhima to represent me in an attempt to return the truck and get my money back. The truck has been sitting unused in my driveway since August 2022.



For almost two years Ram, their dealers and their lawyers have been ignoring my and my lawyers’ requests to resolve the problems. There is a well documented history of missed deadlines, ignored emails and two missed depositions.



Finally in October 2023, just prior to a court hearing where Ram would need to explain their actions in front of a judge, they offered to settle the case for 2x the purchase price of the vehicle due to their negligence and inaction. I accepted their offer and an agreement was signed by both parties.



It is now February of 2024 and Ram is in breach of their agreement to take back the vehicle. Their lawyers at Clark Hill have not responded to repeated inquiries and have intentionally delayed a resolution while I have continued to pay for insurance and the vehicle’s registration renewals. We have filed motions to ask the court to force Ram to abide by their offered agreement and to ask for a hearing in front of the judge.



My experience is a cautionary tale for anyone considering a vehicle purchase from Ram. For two years they have had the continuous opportunity to do the right thing and either fix the truck or take it back. Instead, Ram, and their lawyers at Clark Hill, have acted in bad faith at every opportunity.

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

Welcome to the Ram Forum, stay on the horse looks like they're dragging their hoofs!!!

 

[Black-Wolf]

I doubt this is exclusive to RAM. I doubt that there is a single car company and VERY FEW stealerships, that would do the right thing - they will all try to stick it to the consumer. You can thank a government that supports big biz and lobbyists but typically screws over consumers. If I were you, I'd reach out to your state and federal Consumer Protection Agencies if you haven't already - and I'd be standing in my representatives' offices demanding to know why they don't care. Contact your local news too - see if they have a consumer reporting/getting screwed over team... I bet they'd be real interested in this since you have plenty of proof.

 

[Scottly]

I wanna hear that part in the middle, where the truth lies.

 

[nlambert182]

Me too.. There's more to the story. I honestly want to see both sides. I'm not passing judgment anywhere since these are often emotion driven circumstances for the owner. It's hard to see through the emotion and only deal in fact.

 

[Tulecreeper]

The Story Behind A 2022 Ram 1500 Pickup That Was A Lemon
And
Ram’s Two Year Fight To Vilify The Truck Purchaser
​

My name is David Benson and I am a resident of Prescott, Arizona. In March 2022 I purchased a new Ram 1500 Limited pickup from the Kearney Mesa Chrysler dealership in San Diego.

Within the first week of ownership the truck suddenly stopped and shut itself down while I was driving at a slow speed close to my home. Fortunately, nobody was injured and no accident occurred while I was suddenly shut down in the middle of the road.

I took the truck into the local Prescott dealer (York Dodge) the day after the sudden shut down. York Dodge could see that a motor problem occurred, but they could not identify the cause. They sent me home that afternoon. On the drive home that day the radio and center console went dark and stopped working. I pulled over and called York Dodge who suggested I come back to the dealer. When I brought the truck back in the dealer reset the radio and sent me home.

You left out the part about being able to get it running again, unless you had it towed. I assume this means you got it started again. If so, did you have to do anything specific to accomplish that?

Over the ensuing months I had continuous connectivity, console and radio problems. I documented all these problems and repeatedly went back to York Dodge to try and get them resolved. York could not get the truck fixed and asked me what I was doing to cause the problems.

The dealer in San Diego offered to try and fix the truck so I drove it back to San Diego and left it with that dealer for three weeks. They tried different fixes, but could not solve the problems.

I wanted to fix the truck and keep it so I initiated discussions with Ram USA and opened up what they call a Star case to get higher level engineers involved. All these efforts also failed. All of my ongoing issues were documented in writing with supporting photos and videos that were shared with the Ram dealers and Ram USA.

In August 2022 I hired a California lemon law firm named Neale & Fhima to represent me in an attempt to return the truck and get my money back. The truck has been sitting unused in my driveway since August 2022.

For almost two years Ram, their dealers and their lawyers have been ignoring my and my lawyers’ requests to resolve the problems. There is a well documented history of missed deadlines, ignored emails and two missed depositions.

I'm thinking that at this point your lawyer(s) can petition the court to fine the opposing party for not showing up. Failing to appear for a deposition is a serious misstep for any attorney. The absent party risks judicial sanctions, dismissal of the deponent's claims, and monetary sanctions.

Finally in October 2023, just prior to a court hearing where Ram would need to explain their actions in front of a judge, they offered to settle the case for 2x the purchase price of the vehicle due to their negligence and inaction. I accepted their offer and an agreement was signed by both parties.

In this agreement, is there a "Due By" date? A date and time that dictates when they have to make payment?

It is now February of 2024 and Ram is in breach of their agreement to take back the vehicle. Their lawyers at Clark Hill have not responded to repeated inquiries and have intentionally delayed a resolution while I have continued to pay for insurance and the vehicle’s registration renewals. We have filed motions to ask the court to force Ram to abide by their offered agreement and to ask for a hearing in front of the judge.

My experience is a cautionary tale for anyone considering a vehicle purchase from Ram. For two years they have had the continuous opportunity to do the right thing and either fix the truck or take it back. Instead, Ram, and their lawyers at Clark Hill, have acted in bad faith at every opportunity.

You left that part out - who is Clark Hill?

 

[Black-Wolf]

You left that part out - who is Clark Hill?

Clark Hill would be the Law Firm the stealership is using if I'm reading that right.

 

[Hootbro]

I stopped going all in siding with people who only join for one reason and that is a scorched earth one sided rant.

Usually things like this are more nuanced and we lack more details to really buy into this as stated.

 

[Van_TX]

My 2022 Limited has repeated issues with the UConnect system and CarPlay. I've come to the conclusion that (a) the UConnect system is subpar, but it is what it is. I've also decided that there must be a great deal of interference under the display. If I keep my phone up on the dash the problems occur far less frequently. I know there are other threads for this issue, but I would not have considered the annoyance was significant enough to invoke the lemon law. The operational problems described are another story.

 

[JonSDRam22]

I also have a 2022 Limited Diesel that as reported here has a failed Forward Collision system that makes the self distancing Cruise work fine for a few hundred miles then oddly usually in Phoenix it will let the truck nearly run in to another car ahead. It also cannot see pedestrians if in front but can for the rear brakes. Mine started at Kearny Mesa Ram as well but they claimed when it was only a few weeks old it doesn't even have Full FC Braking. Skipping ahead it does. 6 months out of service at 3 dealers no repairs available and we have waited 5 months for the approved buy back. It is an amazing truck to drive but at 85K the features need to work. I hope this member will post his resolution to the case. I will for mine.

 

[Challengersky]

I purchased my 2022 RAM 1500 Limited in Nov 2021. I had similar problems listed above by others. They replaced my transmission shift plate which contains the transmission computer, and reprogrammed my UConnect several times. There were many bugs in the software for the UConnect (12" display) system. Finally after 4 reprogrammings and 6 over the air system updates which took until Aug 2022 did things finally settle down. The extra issue I had was my thermostat stuck shut and caused all the bells and whistles to go off when it overheated. (12K miles). I did discuss the possibility of using CA Lemon Law but decided not to. As of today, overall I'm very pleased with the truck. The only steady quirk is the UConnect/radio still has a mind of its own. Every once in a while it won't bootup/come on after starting the engine, and other times it boots up to some random screen. It does get better after each over the air update, but then seems to have some new annoying quirk. The 2022 models (more so the Limiteds) were screwed up because of CoVid and the chips shortages. So many alternative chips were used in the vehicles that the software engineers couldn't keep up. I purchased a 2024 Charger Scat Pak last Aug which has been flawless.

I do agree though that RAM should have been more responsive to customers with 2022 models.

 

[Scottly]

Seems like the OOPW (Original One-Post Wonder) hasn't been back to update his post...But the other clients of his lawyer seemed to have found their way back. Only 396 more until they have a class-action.

 

[DLMC]

Lemon Law cases in any state have certain criteria. It also has certain criteria for payout (buy back). *Getting 2x's the original value of the truck is not "usual and customary".

In my case, after a full year of trying to resolve the various mechanical truck issues on a new 2020 Ram Limited Ecodiesel 1500, the Dodge Service Tech Manager threw in the towel and told me it qualified for a buy back. While the dealership offered me a lesser truck for a trade in, I called a Lemon Law lawyer and found out my rights.
I again contacted Ram and agreed to their Buy Back program.
It took only 30 days dealing with Ram / Stellantis and the company they use to buy back trucks.
Ram/Stellantis repaid the original MSRP truck price, state taxes, fees, and rental car fees. I provided the information, went to the dealership, met with the advisor, handed my key over, signed the papers, received check in full. *Then bought a loaded 2021 Limited 1500 4x4 (Hemi), which I am VERY happy with.

Manufacturers are responsible for Lemons, not dealerships. Research the Lemon Law criteria for your state. Keep good records. Contact a Lemon Law lawyer for information.

 

[El Toro Blanco]

@Challangersky What is your lawyers advice on your current situation?

 

[davidbenson]

Thanks to everybody who responded to my original post. I'm writing again today to say there has been no response nor resolution to the case yet, but I will come back and post if anything happens. A couple of people mentioned that they would like to hear both sides of the story and I would say the same thing reading someone's summary of a situation. Although this has been a draining and emotional 2 year fight for me, I tried to leave emotion out of my original post and just state the facts. It's true that Ram and their lawyers were not responsive and missed depositions. It's also true that they only responded in October 2023 just prior to having to explain themselves in front of a judge. They wrote an agreement offering to take back the truck and pay me 2x the purchase price plus all the legal fees. It is my belief they offered that because they didn't want to defend their behavior in front of the judge, but others are free to infer their own reasons. The agreement they wrote, and we both signed, said they would complete the buy back within 60 days. They missed that deadline just as they have missed all the others.

 

[andymax]

Thanks to everybody who responded to my original post. I'm writing again today to say there has been no response nor resolution to the case yet, but I will come back and post if anything happens. A couple of people mentioned that they would like to hear both sides of the story and I would say the same thing reading someone's summary of a situation. Although this has been a draining and emotional 2 year fight for me, I tried to leave emotion out of my original post and just state the facts. It's true that Ram and their lawyers were not responsive and missed depositions. It's also true that they only responded in October 2023 just prior to having to explain themselves in front of a judge. They wrote an agreement offering to take back the truck and pay me 2x the purchase price plus all the legal fees. It is my belief they offered that because they didn't want to defend their behavior in front of the judge, but others are free to infer their own reasons. The agreement they wrote, and we both signed, said they would complete the buy back within 60 days. They missed that deadline just as they have missed all the others.

Wishing you good luck with this and hoping you accept no further offers except in front of a judge. Keep us posted.

 

[davidbenson]

The remarkable incompetence and bad faith of Ram and their lawyers has continued in my unresolved case.

On March 18, 2024 my lemon law lawyer reached out to say the Ram surrender group had finally offered to finalize the case and take back my truck. They offered a series of dates and times to arrange the surrender. I selected their offering of March 25th at 3 pm. I showed up at the local dealer at the appointed time and was told the Ram surrender person was unavailable and did not come. The local dealer staff had received a check and paperwork and said they would do their best to complete the surrender. Unfortunately the paperwork for the surrender was California paperwork and the dealership could not attest to the VIN number using an out of state form. Also, the check was for less than the agreed amount. During a conference call the Ram surrender person kept telling the dealership people to get the paperwork signed even though they insisted they could not legally do it.

The surrender was unsuccessful and nothing further has been discussed. In the meantime, another year has passed and the vehicle registration and insurance have become due again. Ram and their lawyers knew these expenses were pending. I have paid the expenses so the truck can still be legally driven and is insured. I will need to be reimbursed and there is no doubt the Ram lawyers will fight me even though they were the sole cause of the expenses becoming necessary.

The ongoing incompetence and bad faith of Ram and their lawyers has truly been remarkable. I believe outside observers would say declining sales and market share will be the inevitable result for a company that is so poorly managed.

David Benson

 

[Bravo619]

We had the same crazy stuff happen to us in 2017 we had a 2013 f150 very slick 4x4 truck and the transmission would do the banging around corners and when going down highway. Well 3k later and a transmission rebuild they finally took back calling me crazy. Yeah they said I was nuts that nothing was wrong with it. I got 800 dollars back from them and 2 years after that they throw up a recall on the transmission in the trucks saying they could lock up going down highway or cause injuries due to locking up in the transmission! Actually it ****** me off even today because it was a very nice truck other than the transmission sounded like it was falling out sometimes! From day one! Sounds familiar huh corporate greed is all they amount to and human life is not even in their vocabulary. They absolutely do not care about anything but money. Sorry this happened to you trust me I feel your pain.

 

[Hootbro]

Edit:

How much was the payment difference?

 

[Dutra]

Sorry this has happened to you. Contact your local news agency and see if they can help with a story.