Dashboard cracking to pieces and has been for a few years now. My dealer says there is nothing I can do except replace it myself. That's over a 1000 dollars. Pieces of the dash have came completely off and fallen in my lap while driving the truck. I love my Dodge but will not own another one if this is not taken care of under warrant for the bad decision Chrysler made when making these dashboards.
Update from Nov 11, 2015: The dash has cracked and fallen apart even more. This is ridicules!!
Will have to do DIY repair. Parts are falling down and flying off. This truck would have been "Lemon Lawed" had I bought it in my home state rather than across a state line. Made in Mexico and had multiple major problems under warranty (both seat belts fell off; rear end replaced at 2000 miles; turbo set up wrong; ect). Now the dash panel has fallen apart.
I am the original owner of a 2003 Ram 2500 Dodge truck. The truck has been serviced at the same location from day one. I was mailed a recall by the Chrysler Group LLC concerning the inflater/air bags Notification code P78. Recently my attention has been drawn to the multiple breaks in the vent portion of the dash cover with missing pieces and now the main dash component is completely cracked through on the passenger side. I have also noticed that with the AC on, pieces of plastic and deteriorated. Insulation blows freely in the cab of the truck. With the dash continuing to crack and break apart pieces of plastic have dropped below the dash and could potentially could expose and cause wiring problems with the electrical system.
At my local client adviser’s request I called 1.800.992.1997 Chrysler/Dodge and spoke with Jeremy on Friday 12 June 2015 to check the recall and ask what dangers existed to passengers or technicians working on the vehicle, if the air bags were to deploy with the dash in pieces. The representative said that I should take up my safety concerns with my local dealership. My service client service adviser @ the Clay Cooley Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram Dealership was ask to check with management to seek a resolve with what I was concerned with as a safety hazard. I was told that they would work with me but when I arrived I was informed that the dash and the dash vent portion were not available.
My concerns have increased with the dealership resolve being "the parts are not available". After going to the Internet it appears that my dash concerns are a common concern for most 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 owners. 2003 seems to be the plethora year. The cracked dash is a danger to the eyes of anyone riding in the vehicle with the ventilation system circulating condition air. I fear that in an accident the dash will act as shrapnel in the event of air bag deployment.
As a repeat Dodge Ram owner I am expecting Dodge to step to the plate.
I will add pictures of the dash. I realized shortly after I purchased the truck that there was a crack in the dash. Then it got more. Now it's similar to a spider web. I had no idea others were having this problem until I researched it. I will begin logging my journey through what I'm sure will be a mess.
- Diane J.,
Harrisonville, MO, US
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A truck with only 100000 miles on it should not have a dash cracked so bad that pieces of it are falling out. Dodge has known about this for years and have had many complaints and they won't do nothing about it. There is no reason why they should not pay for a new dash in my truck. I looked into it and the new dash would be between 300 and 400 dollars. I feel they should pay for this because of how many complaints there are.
We bought this 2003 Dodge Ram 2500, it had less than 8,000 miles on it. Myself and my husband have always been somewhat Chevy people. We had a 2001 Silverado but didn't like the back doors because of them opening the opposite direction of the front. It could be a pain in the butt. So we traded it in for the Dodge. We liked that it had a Cummins engine and we wanted a manual transmission because we knew that Dodge has had problems in the past with their automatic transmissions. This truck was my baby, I kept it in the garage for the first few years and when it wasn't in the garage I started keeping a windshield guard in it. I am so disappointed in several things about this truck, but this is about the "COMING APART DASH". You can't really call it a cracked dash because that doesn't really describe it because it is basically, COMING APART!!!!! By the way, our 2003 Dodge truck right now has less than 90,000 miles on it and the rest of the interior still looks practically new.
My son-in-law owns a 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 that is used for his business. He chose to get the Dodge and his partner chose to get a Ford F250. Guess What?, He has had to put a dash pad on his dash because of the cracking but his partners Ford dash doesn't have a crack in it.
My grandson has a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 and the dash was so bad it wouldn't take a pad, they had to replace the whole dash and the underneath was so damaged, there was almost nothing to attach the new dash to.
So tell me this, why is it that no other vehicle does this but DODGE?????????????????
Also, I would consider this a SAFETY HAZARD due to all the pieces that are being created as it falls apart. If you have an accident, these pieces are thick enough and sharp enough that they could actually stick in you and cause some real damage or possibly be fatal. Don't you think so?
The dash first crack on the passenger side corner above the right hand side of the jockkey box. Last week another crack 9" long developed above the left hand side of the jockey box. This dash has had a dash cover on it since the day I purchased the truck new from Dave Smith Auto in Kellogg, Idaho. This has got to be a manufacturer defect and Dodge needs to replace the dashes in all their truck from 1998 to 2003. OR at least give a new dash to the truck owners.
I own a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup in showroom condition EXCEPT for the cracking dash! I simply want my complaint to be entered amongst the multitude of other complaints from other fellow Dodge owners with the cracking dash issue. Chrysler needs to step up to the plate and announce a recall to fix this problem!
Truck has always been garage kept. Has only 86,000 miles on it now. Hardly driven and always babied. I even tinted the entire windshield to make sure the UV rays don't affect the dash as much, still hasn't helped. Noticed my first hairline crack in summer 2005 and it's been eteriorating since. Have tried my best with the dash mat and such, but it's only prolonged the failing dash.. It's time Dodge grows some balls and man up against it's factory defect.
With such a problem: Cracking dash, you think this would be handled by Dodge At this rate I won't buy another Dodge because this is an on going problem.. looks like ---- 5 different cracks, at first I thought it was because the stereo had to be replaced, cooking cds.
Dodge did a great job of picking a diesel engine for 2003 Dodge Ram 2500. It is pitiful that they didn't put more of an effort into engineering the interior of the truck. I wouldn't buy another one.
This a recurring problem with Dodge pickups. I have read of several thousand complaints of this same thing! The dashpad has broken into several large sharp pieces. My experience for over 30 yrs. as a Volunteer Firefighter and EMS responder, I feel that this has become a severe safety issue in an accident. I am replacing this on my own but feel that this is a problem that should be a recall/ safety issue!
WHILE THE COMPLAINT LISTS "DATE OCCURRED" AS 11/29/14, THIS IS NOT ACCURATE AS MY DASH HAS BEEN COVERED SINCE PURCHASED NEW WITH AN DASH-MAT "ULTIMAT" DASH BOARD COVER AND I JUST NOW BECAME AWARE OF THE CRACKING WHEN I REMOVED THE COVER FOR THE FIRST TIME TO VACUUM IT. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG AGO THE CRACKING OCCURRED. ADDITIONALLY, WHEN THE VEHICLE IS PARKED, A COVERCRAFT UVS100 ULTRAVIOLET SHEILD IS PLACED IN THE WINDSHEILD, LIKEWISE, THIS HAS BEEN DONE SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS NEW FOR THE VERY PURPOSE OF PREVENTING THE DASH FROM CRACKING.
I can not believe Dodge would put a cheep piece of crap dash in a $32,000 truck! The dash in my truck started to crack and then it really got bad, with pieces of the dash falling down into the internal parts of the dash area. What can be done about getting Dodge to have a recall on this problem? I know several on my friends have the same problem with their trucks. I know my truck is out of warranty, but this is a manufacturing defect that should be corrected by Dodge. There is no way a dash should crack and fall apart under normal use, no matter how old the vehicle might be. What kind of engineers would design something so sorry? Come on Dodge step up to the plate and fix your mistake of producing a piece of crap dash and have a re-call to fix your problem that is if expect to ever sell me another vehicle.
I have kept my 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 in the garage until 2012 then out side after that. As the months go by the dash and top cover piece has slowly started to crack and now after several months later It is a total disaster. Pieces of plastic blowing out of the defrost vents and in my face. This is so very dangerous
The dashboard cracked all over and the pieces started falling into the air vents and down below the dash. Lots of vibration noise after the dashboard broke up.
My dash is cracking all over the place. The first crack that I noticed I thought must have been something that I did, that I didn't realize I had done. Well, I was wrong. Now I have at least 6 cracks in my dash and small pieces have blown off and hit me in the face while running my defroster on high speed during the winter months. I can't believe that dodge has not recalled this as a safety issue. It has cracked around the passenger airbag, god help them if this doesn't deploy correctly in an accident. I guess that pieces breaking off and hitting passengers is not a safety issue. Wow, here Dodge goes again. Don't recall problems cause it will cost to much money to repair, well instead. Loose customers and loose money when people don't purchase your vehicles. I guess its your choice. If Dodge doesn't step up and repair some of their known problems, I will definitely no longer be a Dodge customer and the power of speech will probably keep family and friends from doing the same.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Dashboard cracking to pieces and has been for a few years now. My dealer says there is nothing I can do except replace it myself. That's over a 1000 dollars. Pieces of the dash have came completely off and fallen in my lap while driving the truck. I love my Dodge but will not own another one if this is not taken care of under warrant for the bad decision Chrysler made when making these dashboards.
Update from Nov 11, 2015: The dash has cracked and fallen apart even more. This is ridicules!!
- rw931, Millersville, MO, US