2012 Ram 1500
Complaints about this year name dodge ram far more often than the other years of this generation — 21% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 7.2%.
Generation 1 of the Ram 1500, which began in 2009 and ran to 2018. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 2,085 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 665 |
| Involving a crash | 96 |
| Involving a fire | 30 |
| Recalls | 7 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 3/5 |
What the complaints were about
- ignition — 11.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.9% across the other years of this generation (4×). Owners wrote it as: ignition, key, switch, ignition switch.
- lifters — 6.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.5% across the other years of this generation (4.3×). Owners wrote it as: lifters, camshaft, lifter.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- tipm — 8% of complaints, 20× usual
- ignition — 8% of complaints, 6× usual
- strap — 6% of complaints, 4× usual
What owners wrote
DODGE RAM 2012 IGNITION SENSOR MALFUNCTIONS AND COMPLETELY TURNS OFF VEHICLE WHILE IN USE. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND SHOULD BE LOOKED INTO RECALLING IMMEDIATELY.
MY DODGE RAM 1500 2012 HAS, PER THE DEALER, A FAULTY TOTAL INTEGRATED POWER MODULE (TIPM). I AM EXPERIENCING ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS WITH MY DOOR LOCKS, BRAKE LIGHTS, AND REMOTE START. THE PROBLEMS OCCUR AT ALL TIMES OF VEHICLE OPERATION. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY COMM…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 17V821000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 17V824000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 18V160000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 16E041000 EQUIPMENT
- 15V459000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 12V192000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 13V038000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Ram 1500 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2012 Ram 1500? What happened to yours?
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