10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
55,189 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 electrical problems

electrical problem

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2012 Ram 1500 Owner Comments (Page 7 of 8)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #23

Oct 012014

1500

  • 40,000 miles

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

My 2012 Ram 1500 has been in the shop seven times in the past year for electrical problems. The original problems were related to the PCM which would short out and cause my vehicle to operate in only one gear. This problem was fixed finally by replacing the PCM and various other parts. My truck recently had the engine temperature sensor, right headlight, and fuel pump control go out all around the same time which made it difficult for my truck to start and when it did start it sounded anemic and would often have alerts going off. The dealership claimed that the tipm was the cause of the fuel pump problems and now I am wondering if it is the route of all the other problems. This most recent repair cost me $1000 dollars and well over $100 in alternative transportation arrangements. My truck is only two and a half years old with 50K miles on it. I should not be having this many problems with this new of a vehicle. Chrysler and Ram have a well documented history of recent problems with the tipm across various vehicles and an investigation needs to be conducted and customers need to be compensated for the problems this part has caused.

- Hurst, TX, USA

problem #22

Jun 062012

1500

  • 9,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at 10 mph, the vehicle lost all power and the vehicle began coasting. The contact stated that once the vehicle came to a complete stop the vehicle was able to restart after about thirty minutes. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it could not be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,000.

- Keller, TX, USA

problem #21

May 292015

1500

  • 29,303 miles
I was driving home from work and the steering wheel started shaking and then the traction light came on. Before I could pull into a gas station the vehicle shut off on me. I turned the key and the car would not turnover. I had the vehicle towed to my house for the night and then to my mechanic the next morning. He could not diagnose the problem and that's when I had it towed to the dealer. It took them 2-3 days to diagnose the problem. What they found was a problem with the electrical system. This is how they stated it on the invoice: 29303 no start P0688 asd circuit fault, found fuse M19 blown- replaced and attempted to start- fuse blew again. Traced asd circuit. Found ignition coil #5 melted. Tested further, found #5 spark plugs fouled and circuit K16 shorted to ground. Replaced spark plugs, ignition insufficient ionization fault set dia as a PCM with internal driver fault caused by short, replaced and programmed PCM. This of course happened 5 days after my warranty expired, granted I did not even have 30,000 miles on the vehicle at the time.

- Inglewood, CA, USA

problem #20

Aug 202015

1500

  • 95,000 miles

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

I went to start the truck while in park after having already driven the truck approximately 1 hour prior. Upon turning the key in the ignition, I heard a loud explosion of some kind. Smoke began appearing from under the hood. The truck did not have any power. I opened the hood of the truck, and found that the battery had catastrophically exploded. Two of the plastic sidewalls were completely blown out and ripped open. On one side the lead interior could be seen misshapen and leaning out towards the exposed side. Both top caps were blown clear of the battery. Battery acid covered the general vicinity of the explosion. The acid also ran down through the undercarriage and onto the pavement.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

problem #19

Jul 062015

1500

  • 84,000 miles
Driving down the road and the wipers stopped working, no visibly at all!!!! turns out its the power control module, aka the fuse box. Not the wiper motor, switch etc... no way to predict when it will go. Super dangerous!!!

- Amsterdam, NY, USA

problem #18

Aug 072015

1500

  • 62,000 miles
Ignition issues. Hit pot hole or bump and truck will die losing all power. Can wiggle key in ignition while truck is running and truck will lose power.

- Manhattan, KS, USA

problem #17

Aug 302012

1500

  • 2,500 miles

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

Well for starters the air bag light come. Took it back they said nothing wrong had a bottle under seat.ok whatever than time goes on air bag light still on.take it back.they replace the air bag brain so im told. Lights off for about a couple weeks.then comes back on. Im so tried of dealing with this. And then I have problems with the tires which got rotated like there supposed too. They wore out on the inside. I was told by one place it need a front end alignment. So I proceed to get one and they had told me my camber alignment bolt was bent and it need to be dealt with a the dealer, because it could be a defect. So I took it to the dealer and the said they did the alignment and it was fixed.I hope so never got it checked again. I dont hold my breathe for that. Then my suspension leans to the rightside just a little but nothings wrongs so im told by the dealer. And my dash lights used to come on and flash and the radio was overheating had to get a new on. Keep in mind the was less than a year old when this all started and I brought brand new with only 5 miles on it from my test drive. And im the only owner and its three yrs old now, with the same continuing problems. They dealer says theres nothing wrong bs.....

- Conway, SC, USA

problem #16

Jul 152015

1500

  • 30,500 miles
The airbag fault sensor keeps coming on and off. I brought back tot he dealership once and they repaired it but it still comes on every so often but doesn't stay on. I am concerned that there may be an issue with the airbag even after the dealership fixed the issue.

- Ware, MA, USA

problem #15

Sep 142013

1500

  • 18,000 miles
At about 18000 miles on vehicle it suddenly stalled. Throttle body control light came on, RPM dropped to almost zero. Pumping gas pedal had no effect. Condition lasted about 15 to 25 seconds. Took truck to dealer and was informed it needed a throttle body software update. This was done. Also was performed again later. The stalling is intermittent some times not happening for weeks then again it will happen up to 3 times in a week.bit once stalled on my lady as she was crossing an intersection. Vehicle now has 77000 miles on odometer. I thought this just a hassle until about three weeks ago. As I was merging on to the interstate at about 65 mph in front of a big truck the vehicle stalled for a long period. The big rig was within a very few feet of my vehicle before engine started running again. Needless to say this scared me big time. This was when I started to look for someone to be in my corner on this vehicle has been serviced by Dodge dealership regularly since new. Each time I have reported stalls and at one time had a case opened with Chrysler. I am told they find nothing and they only have my word this is happening. This from dealer and Chrysler

- El Cajon, CA, USA

problem #14

Apr 072015

1500

  • 109,000 miles
The vehicle has shut off numerous times while driving due to a faulty ignition switch.

- Newport, MI, USA

problem #13

Nov 122014

1500

  • 68,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving 35 mph and making a turn, there was a delayed response when the accelerator pedal was engaged. The traction control warning light illuminated continuously during the failure. On numerous occasions, the key became stuck in the ignition switch until after repeated attempts. In addition, the gear shifter moved out of gear when slightly touched when driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the clock spring would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 68,000.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

problem #12

Dec 292014

1500

  • 45,015 miles
While traveling down road the vehicle just shut off losing steering and braking was able to put in neutral and get started after several tries of starting and it would shut right back off before it would start and stay running, it has done this numerous times sometimes when first starting vehicle sometimes right after starting and driving off, it has did this several times pulling out of my driveway onto busy highway almost resulting is an accident. It happened to my wife a couple of times the first time she could not get it to start and stay running to get it out of the roadway and had to put the emergency flashers on and leave it setting across the South bound lane of the highway to come back inside to get me to try to get it out of the road. After that incident she was afraid to drive it, took to dealership 02/09/15 got back today 02/10/15 they had to replace ignition switch module at a cost of $286.75 this was a serious safety issue and needs to be looked into and there should be a recall issued for this problem before there is a serious accident resulting in serious injury or a fatality. There was a recall issued for the same problem on the Dodge Caravan's and Dodge journey's with the same type win (wireless ignition node) ignition switch.

- Uniontown, KY, USA

problem #11

Sep 012014

1500 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 47,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the key was loose and causing the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 47,000. Updated 12/17/14 the consumer stated the vehicle was repaired by replacing the electronic module. Updated 9/29/2015

- Sikeston, MO, USA

problem #10

Jul 012014

1500

  • 21,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to start after several attempts. The failure occurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was towed to a dealer who stated that the tipm module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 21,000.

- Iowa City, IA, USA

problem #9

Jul 082014

1500

  • 45,000 miles
On July 8, 2014 my 2012 Ram 1500 caught fire while parked in my driveway at home. The vehicle was last operated on the evening of July 7, 2014. At approximately noon on July 8, 2014 while working on my computer inside my house I detected the odor of burning plastic. I assume it was initially originating from inside my house. After investigating I walked outside and found that the interior of my truck was on fire. I put out the fire and immediately called the local fire department who responded to ensure that the fire was completely out. I immediately contacted my insurance company in addition to the local dealer, jeff D'amborsio auto group, I spoke with the service manager who in turn contacted his regional manager for guidance. I received a letter date July 10, 2014 from the Chrysler customer claims resolution group advising they were in the process of reviewing my file. I was contacted by the resolution group and advised the file was being turned over to a group, isg, for further investigation in resolution. Chrysler arranged to have the vehicle towed on July 12, 2014 to the jeff D' ambrosio dealership where a representative from Chrysler was to inspect the vehicle. That inspection took place on Tuesday, July 15th. The origin of the fire according to the insurance company fire investigator originated in the passenger side door panel and resulted in total damages of $23,000 which the insurance company deemed a total loss. My insurance company settled a claim by paying off the loan balance of $19,500 and submitted a check to me for the excess to cover the value of the vehicle. Unfortunately I am not provided results of the investigation performed at the dealership by the representative from Chrysler. The case number assigned by Chrysler [xxx]. as of today, August 13 I have no resolution directly from Chrysler. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- West Chester, PA, USA

problem #8

May 272013

1500 8-cyl

  • 56,000 miles
Everything was alright, we parked the truck came out and it wouldn't open the door, so we manually opened the door. It was just dead. We had it towed to a Dodge dealer in price, Utah. We have only had this vehicle for about a year and a half. The computer off the key ignition was gone. It costs us $924.

- East Carbon, UT, USA

problem #7

May 092014

1500 8-cyl

  • 43,200 miles
I had both the high and low beam on the passenger side out on May 9th. I took it to the dealer and told them that it seemed strange both bulbs would go out at the same time. The dealer pulled the front end apart and changed both bulbs on the passenger side and told me they were burned out and are now fixed. May 10th at 6:30am I got up and started my truck and once again the passenger side high and low beam light was out. The dealer told me the technician actually made sure it was only the bulb no wiring or connection problem and does not know why it is out again. It is very dangerous and also a violation to be driving with a headlight out in the state of Maryland. Several other people have reported this problem with the faulty electrical connection to the headlights and something should be done before their is an accident or worse. It is now in the same dealer again to see what excuse other than a bulb issue they can come up with to charge me again. I would highly recommend Dodge look into this and fix it immediately.

- Gaithersburg, MD, USA

problem #6

Apr 022014

1500 8-cyl

  • miles
Driving out of home to work, light dash panel turned off and on, the windshield wipers came on without being on, switch in the off position, the radio turned off and on, and now does not work at all. Have left vehicle with auto nation Dodge in spring, tx and they have had it in the service center for 2 days now and are unable to find out what is causing this dangerous issue.

- Spring, TX, USA

problem #5

Jul 262013

1500 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 14,565 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving 15 mph and attempting a left turn, the throttle control warning lamp illuminated as the accelerator failed to engage. The contact mentioned that prior to the failure, the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where T he technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 14,565 and the current mileage was 28,113. The consumer stated the accelerator failure occurred at low speeds, while making left turns. The failure would last up to 15 seconds. The vehicle also accelerated on its own twice. On two separate occasions, the truck would not start. Updated 03/11/14

- Franklin, LA, USA

problem #4

Jan 022014

1500

  • 56,576 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated the tow hitch harness connector cords were corroded. The contact stated that warning light displayed service the tow hitch. The contact feels that this could cause a potential fire. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection; however, no diagnosis was provided. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. There are no failures at this time.

- Chicago, IL, USA

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