Car stereotypes are not usually true, but according to many Dodge RAM owners, the following complaint is accurate. Across different model years and trims, Dodge RAM owners seem to have the same issue with the truck’s dashboard. Here’s everything you need to know about the Dodge RAM’s issue.

The Dodge RAM model years

According to Dodge Problems, many model years are affected by a specific dashboard issue. The first model year to receive complaints was the 1998 version. This problem has plagued the RAM ever since.  The most frequent cases, however, happened with the 2001, 2002, and 2003 model years, according to Car Complaints.

Thousands of drivers on Car Complaints complained about a cracked dashboard on those RAM model years. Repairing the issues cost each driver hundreds of dollars. Many interior systems were faulty when the dashboard broke.

The New York Times also found hundreds of other complaints filed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Similarly, they echoed the same criticisms filed at Car Complaints. The dashboard would break and it would scatter debris around the truck and damage other interior systems.

Other model years had similar grievances though far less frequently than 2001, 2002, and 2003 Dodge RAMs. This could indicate that Dodge has fixed this issue, but maybe not.

Dodge RAM’s culprit

Dodge Problems discussed possible reasons why the dashboards were breaking. The most popular theory is that the dashboard plastic simply isn’t high-quality and breaks down after a few years. This isn’t surprising; using cheaper plastic would save Dodge money.

Another theory is that Dodge’s manufacturing process was faulty. This is based on an observation about how the dashboard cracks formed. Finally, another theory, based on observations by RAM drivers, is that there is an engineering flaw in how the truck was designed in the first place.

However, no matter what the true cause of this issue is, Dodge simply blames the age of the trucks. According to The New York Times, Dodge also mentioned that this was largely a cosmetic issue likely caused by the trucks’ age. As a result, Dodge hasn’t done anything to solve this issue. 

Today’s Dodge RAMs

According to Car Complaints, the number of dashboard issues has fallen off since 2001, 2002, and 2003 models. For example, the majority of complaints aren’t related to the truck’s dashboard (although some owners of the more modern RAM models are reporting dashboard issues).

However, that may not mean it’s been fixed. Rather, the new RAMs aren’t old enough for its dashboards to crack yet. According to Dodge Problems, a lot of drivers were having issues with the dashboards when the RAMs were about 15 years or older.

This would make the RAMs older than the warranties many drivers have on them. This also means that if a modern RAM’s dashboard breaks in 15 years, then some warranties won’t cover it and the driver will have to cough up the money in repair costs. On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that Dodge has quietly fixed the issue. Only time will tell.