10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
34,088 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Ram 1500 brakes problems

brakes problem

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2012 Ram 1500 Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #44

Apr 132024

1500

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

As I was driving and started to come to a stop, my brakes lost all pressure. I was able to safely stop on the side of the road. When I checked the vehicle, I found that the rear driver side brake line had been severed due to it rubbing against the wheel. I checked the passenger side and saw the same mark, but the line has not been severed yet.

- Kent, WA, USA

problem #43

Aug 042023

1500

  • miles
The brakes don-??t work well. The steering sucks And had death wobble.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #42

Jan 052023

1500

  • miles
Malfunction of electronic stability control while in 4x4 driving in heavy snow. Almost hit a light pole, could have caused significant harm. Unknown. No. No precursors. Hit a pot hole while on the on ramp unloading the suspension and the truck started to yaw clockwise. Applied throttle to have front end pull truck straight. ESC applied brakes and chopped power inducing a significant yaw rate counterclockwise driving the rear of the truck into the hard snow bank perpendicular to vehicle travel. Another excessive clockwise yaw occurred at this time. NO throttle control and brakes unresponsive. 1. Had the driver been allowed to retain throttle control upon initial yaw this was easily recoverable. 2. Anti-lock brakes, needed to be disabled so the truck could slide across the snow and not into the ditch when the second clockwise yaw started. 3. This caused minor body damage to the vehicle.

- Isanti, MN, USA

problem #41

Nov 052021

1500

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Exiting the freeway the truck vibrated and shut off going 55 mph, no brakes, no power steering going into a curve. I managed to keep it on the road and had it Towed to nearest dealership where they were able to diagnose the problem immediately and I was told that this is a know problem with this truck. $6000 to fix, contacted Ram customer service and a very rude woman put the dealership on the line and berated them for claiming there was an issue while explaining that it is completely normal for an engine to blow at 130k miles regardless of maintenance and as it-??s out of warranty they were not responsible. -??Normal-?? for an engine to blow, absolutely ridiculous and someone could have died. There are now 533 cases of this happening and Ram refuses to address it.

- Lillington, NC, USA

problem #40

Jun 122021

1500 8-cyl

  • miles
When driving at parking lot speeds on extremely hot days and/or a lot of in town driving, brakes not responding and brake pedal will go to the floor. Have ran a stop sign and came close to rear ending other vehicles at red lights. Dealer replaced rear brakes (Calipers, Rogers & Pads) Problem still exist and is currently back at Dealership. They can't find anything wrong.

- Jefferson, TX, USA

problem #39

Aug 082020

1500

  • miles
Driving along and truck turns off by itself 3-5 seconds then engine restarts by itself. I'm worried it's gonna cause me to get into and accident. Dodge has had this problem across a lot of years with no recall for my truck.

- Westland, MI, USA

problem #38

May 232020

1500 8-cyl

  • 88,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2012 Ram 1500. The contact stated that the brake lines rusted through and was leaking brake fluid. The contact stated that he removed the couplings from the brake lines and contacted whitten brothers Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram of midlothian (10701 midlothian turnpike, richmond, va 23235) to purchase new couplings. The contact was informed that the replacement couplings were no longer being manufactured. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and recommended that the contact go to a junk yard to retrieve the parts. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000. Consumer stated installation of airbag was scheduled Aug 8th,2020.

- Cumberland, VA, USA

problem #37

May 102019

1500

  • 158,000 miles
As I was driving about 40 mph, and approaching the curves on the road ahead of me, I lost control of my vehicle because I had no power steering, gas, or brakes. All gauges dropped to 0 and I had to coast to be able to stop. Had I made it to the curves, by vehicle would of crashed off the side of road. Apparently the PCM went bad. This is not a part that should ever go bad. This part malfunction could of killed me or someone else. Nonetheless it was also $1303, towing fees, and 5 days of car rental. This is absolutely unacceptable and I don't want this to happen to another driver. There should be a recall of this part. I now have a fear when I drive the truck I have always loved.

- Lynwood, IL, USA

problem #36

Dec 202018

1500

  • miles
Brake transmission shift interlock recall. The manufacturer cannot fix this problem in a timely manner.

- San Angelo, TX, USA

problem #35

Oct 312018

1500

  • miles
Brake transmission shift interlock recall. Recall date: 12-20-2017 fca recall # T79 NHTSA recall # 17V-821 I have been trying to get my truck in for safety recall to multiple Dodge/Ram dealerships and have been told numerous times either parts are not available, parts are on back order, it could take more than 6-9 months to get the parts, and now, I am being told that the repair shops are not even allowed to put in orders for the recall parts and have a block on ordering. I have never been able to get an estimated time as to when I can expect parts to become available and have been told that it could take up to another year or more to get the recall fixed. I was told by every service adviser not to come in to my appointments or schedule an appointment because they can not do anything for me at this time and do not know when they will be able to order parts. They told me to call back in 2 months or more to check.

- Elizabeth, CO, USA

problem #34

Jun 292018

1500

  • 80,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On Friday 6/29/2018 at about 5:00 pm I was driving home on northbound I -75 and M-59 in heavy traffic when the truck pulled to the left and I noticed puff of white smoke coming from under the hood. I got off at the university exit and pulled into a parking spot. I turned the truck off and opened the hood. It was a really hot day and I couldn't tell where to odder or smoke had coming from. The check engine light did not come on. I drove it straight to milosch's palace. They thought the front left caliber was locked up.mileage was 79,802 on the odometer. They said it just happens sometimes. The rotors and brake pads had been replaced in November 2017. Milosch's palace replaced the caliper, rotor, pads and ABS sensor harness that malted. The didn't replace the bearing hub or caliper mounting bracket. On August 18th I took in to caseville Michigan and the drivers side front wheel got hot again. I had to have it towed to tubbs brother on August 21st. The mileage was 80,507 on the odometer. The repair bill came to $2,031.73. I picked the truck up on September 6th.the mechanic replaced the driver's side bearing hub. He said the brake line failed (collapsed) and caused the brake to pads to stick. I told him to replace the bearing and check the other lines and flush the system. On September 23rd 2018 I went to pull my boat out of the lake for the season and drove it 12 miles and now the rear drivers side brake is overheating. The vehicle has about 80,600 miles on it.

- Ortonville, MI, USA

problem #33

Jul 262018

1500

  • miles
Failure of dealer to take care of a BTSI recall in a timely manner. Recall was Dec 2017 and it is now end of July 2018 with no fix in site.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

problem #32

Jul 202018

1500

  • 35,000 miles
I received an urgent warning via post card requiring a fix to the brake transmission shift interlock in July 2018. Dealer cannot install fix until January 2019. This is not timely.

- Street, MD, USA

problem #31

May 082018

1500

  • 51,000 miles
The brakes completely failed as I was pulling into a hospital entrance, and again trying to navigate to a safe parking space, and again pulling into a parking space. The pedal went completely to the floor. This was at low speed and I crashed into the parked car in front of me.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #30

May 032018

1500

  • 42,000 miles
Going slow around mtn curve and lost brakes and steering.

- Murphy, NC, USA

problem #29

Feb 172018

1500

  • miles
My fiancee was driving and tried to stop at a traffic signal and nearly wrecking into oncoming traffic.

- Mansfield, TX, USA

problem #28

May 162017

1500

  • 60,000 miles
Nit a safe vehicle to drive. Terrible experiences more than several times.while driving on frwy sometimes the brake pedal hardens making it imposible to brake, gotta pum a lil on gas for the pedal to loosen.once in gear driving at a speed of about 40miles sometimes you can hear as if youve changed the gear and vehicle de accelerates or as if you webt on neutral wgile driving. When shifting either on reverse or fwd brake hardens and while presing gas pedal behicle does not move nowhere, were figured out maybe turning the engine on and off after a couple of times it kinda resets and then it switches on gear transmision always najes a loud noise when changing gear such as if was stuck.. while driving behicle always smells like hot engine or plastic.the problem is bithe stationary and whike driving.

- Perris, CA, USA

problem #27

Feb 122018

1500

  • miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ram 1500. The contact stated that NHTSA campaign number: 17V821000 (power train) exceeded a reasonable amount of time for repair. The contact was concerned that the vehicle might experience the failure before parts become available. The contact received the recall notification on February 12, 2018. The manufacturer and dealer were not notified. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

- Shapleigh, ME, USA

problem #26

Jul 052017

1500

  • 130,000 miles
I have had my vehicle to lose all power (power steering, anti lock brakes, and seatbelt function) due to a bag ignition switch. This happened while driving 70 mph down the interstate. I noticed all my dash light came on and my vehicle had completely powered off leaving me with no power steering and no anti lock brakes. Luckily I was on straight enough road to only run off the road once I slowed down. Iafter hitting a ditch I noticed my seatbelt did not lock causing me to slightly bump my head. I wasn't hurt but this has to be a issue. It has worked properly since then but did the same thing on a later date while driving in town.

- Leesburg, GA, USA

problem #25

Jun 202017

1500

  • 35,000 miles
Front, right side brakes I.e. rotor and calipers faulty after only 35,000 miles. Vehicle pulled to the right and brake components began to smoke on June 20, 2017 while driving. Vehicle is used for general driving and never used for payloads heavier than 500 pounds nor used to pull a trailer.#

- Salem, VA, USA

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