Verdict
2020 Ram 1500: Complaints, Recalls & Known Issues
What the public record actually says about the 2020 Ram 1500 — every figure below is a NHTSA or EPA number, not an opinion.
The read
More reported complaints than most truck.
Owners filed 607 NHTSA complaints — more complaints than 93% of 2020 trucks. Electrical System leads the reports (20%). 13 safety recall campaigns on record — check the VIN and remedy terms with a dealer.
Based on NHTSA complaint volume against 2020 trucks, not adjusted for how many were sold. It describes the model year, not the individual car you are looking at.
Complaints filed
607
Reports to NHTSA, 2020
Safety recalls
13
NHTSA campaigns on record
NHTSA crash test
Overall NCAP rating
Combined MPG
19
EPA estimate
Complaint volume vs. segment peers
More complaints than 93% of 2020 trucks
The bar is this car's percentile among 2020 trucks by complaint volume — a full bar means the fewest complaints in its class. Not adjusted for sales.
Known issues
Electrical System issues lead owner complaints (20% of 607 reports), followed by unknown or other (14%).
+ 15 more component categories with fewer reports.
Share of all 607 NHTSA complaints for this model year, grouped by the component owners named. Bars are scaled to the largest category. Examples: ODI 11719736, ODI 11677316, ODI 11638764, ODI 11638774, ODI 11747945.
Recalls(13)
Open a recall to read what NHTSA says is wrong, what can happen, and how it gets fixed. Check the VIN and remedy eligibility with a dealer; federal no-charge requirements have an age limit, though a manufacturer may offer more coverage.
Air BagsAug 2025 · 25V298000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2019-2024 Ram 1500 vehicles. The driver's side air bag may not be connected properly, which can cause the air bag not to deploy as intended. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
Risk: A driver's side air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of injury in a crash.
Remedy: Dealers secured the connectors for the air bag, free of charge. All vehicles have been remedied. Owner notification letters were mailed May 27, 2025. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is 08C.
VisibilityOct 2024 · 24V754000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2020-2023 Ram 1500 Classic vehicles equipped with heated trailer tow rearview mirrors. The mirror glass may detach from the driver's side heated trailer tow rearview mirror. As such these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Risk: Detached mirror glass can reduce driver visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the mirror glass, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 5, 2024. Owners may contact FCA Customer Service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA's number for this recall is 86B.
StructureAug 2022 · 22V904000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2019-2022 Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 pickup trucks. The tailgate may not latch properly due to misaligned tailgate strikers, which could result in the tailgate opening while driving.
Risk: An unintended tailgate opening while driving may result in a loss of unsecured cargo, possibly creating a road hazard and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the tailgate striker alignment to the box latch and adjust, if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 22, 2022. Owners may contact FCA US, LLC customer service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA US, LLC's number for this recall is ZB8.
Air BagsDec 2021 · 21V632000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Ram 1500 Classic, 2015-2016 Ram 3500, and Ram 2500 vehicles, and 2016 Ram 3500 Cab Chassis with a gross vehicle weight rating less than 10,000 lbs. The side air bag inflatable curtain (SABIC) inflator end cap may detach from the inflator, or the inflator sidewall may rupture.
Risk: A separated inflator end cap or inflator rupture can allow compressed gas to escape, resulting in the end cap or other components being propelled into the vehicle, increasing the risk of injury or crash.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace as necessary, the SABIC assemblies, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on October 4, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 26, 2022. Owners may contact FCA US, LLC customer service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA US, LLC's number for this recall is Y55.
Back Over PreventionOct 2020 · 20V191000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2020 Jeep Gladiator and Jeep Cherokee, 2019-2020 Ram 1500 Pickup, Ram 2500 Pickup, Ram 3500 Pickup, Chrysler Pacifica, Dodge Durango, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler, and Jeep Renegade and 2019 Dodge Challenger vehicles equipped with 8.4" or 12" radio displays. A software error can cause the rearview camera image to remain displayed after the vehicle has been shifted out of reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rearview Mirrors."
Risk: The lingering rearview image can distract the driver, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Chrysler has notified owners, and dealers will update the radio display software, free of charge. Optionally, owners can choose to remotely update their software via an Over-The-Air (OTA) update available as of May 1, 2020. The recall began April 27, 2020. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is W30-W37.
VisibilitySep 2020 · 20V208000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Ram 1500, 1500 Classic and Jeep Compass vehicles. The windshield wiper arm or arms may loosen, possibly causing the wipers to not operate properly and reduce the driver's visibility in certain weather conditions.
Risk: Reduced visibility increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will tighten the wiper nuts, free of charge. The recall began April 27, 2020. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is W25.
VisibilityAug 2020 · 20V622000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2020 Ram 2500 and 1500 vehicles. The driver side mirror glass can detach from the backing plate and no longer provide a reflective surface. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Risk: Missing driver side mirror glass reduces visibility and increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver side mirror glass, free of charge. The recall began November 5, 2020. Owners may contact FCA US customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is W70.
Air Bags · 19V407000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Ram 1500 vehicles. The flash memory of the Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC) may become corrupted, disabling the vehicle's air bags and seat belt pretensioners.
Risk: Disabled air bags and seat belt pretensioners increase the risk of injury in the event of a crash.
Remedy: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the ORC or replace it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began June 20, 2019. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's numbers for this recall are V61 and V71.
Air Bags · 20V374000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2020 Ram Promaster vans and 1500 pickups. The affected vehicles may have an improperly crimped diffuser in the side curtain airbag which may result in the diffuser detaching from the inflator in the event of an air bag deployment.
Risk: In the event of a crash, if the diffuser detaches from the inflator during air bag deployment, the air bag may not inflate properly, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: FCA US will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side curtain air bag assemblies, free of charge. The recall began July 16, 2020. Owners may contact FCA US customer service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA US's number for this recall is W52.
Vehicle Speed Control · 20V513000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Ram 1500 vehicles equipped with adjustable pedals. In certain accelerator pedal positions, the floormats may prevent the pedal from returning to the normal resting (idle) position.
Risk: A pedal that does not return as expected may affect the vehicle's deceleration, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will modify the driver's floormat to remove the potential for pedal interference, free of charge. The recall began September 10, 2020. Owners may contact FCA US LLC customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is W63.
Seat Belts · 20V580000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2019 Jeep Wrangler and Ram 2500, 2019-2020 Ram 1500 and 2020 Jeep Gladiator vehicles. In the event of a crash, a front seat belt retractor may not properly slow the occupant's forward movement after locking.
Risk: In the event of a crash, if the front seat belts fail to lock, there is an increased risk of injury.
Remedy: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front seat belt retractors, free of charge. The recall began November 12, 2020. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is W67.
Back Over Prevention · 22V638000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Jeep Wrangler, RAM 1500 and 2021 Jeep Gladiator vehicles. A radio software error may prevent the rearview image from displaying. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Risk: A rearview camera that does not display an image reduces the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will update the radio software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 6, 2022. Owners may contact FCA US, LLC customer service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA, LLC's number for this recall is Z86.
Fuel System · 22V767000Details +Close −
Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Jeep Wrangler, Ram 1500, and 2021-2022 Jeep Gladiator vehicles equipped with 3.0L diesel engines. The high pressure fuel pump (HPFP) may fail, causing an engine stall.
Risk: An engine stall can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the HPFP and inspect and replace additional fuel system components, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 17, 2023. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is Z96.
A campaign can apply to this model year without being incomplete on a specific vehicle. Check the VIN with NHTSA or a dealer to confirm whether a particular car needs repair.
Investigations
1 NHTSA investigation on record
Investigations are agency reviews, not findings that a vehicle is defective.
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE21-021 on October 14, 2021, to investigate incidents alleging a stall/loss of motive power as a result of high-pressure fuel pump failures in certain model year (MY) 2019-2020 Ram 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500 heavy duty trucks equipped with 6.7L Cummins turbodiesel engines. During the investigation, ODI sought to determine if the related defect allegation was limited in scope to the recalled population. After review of information request response materials from both FCA and BMW, NHTSA determined that sufficient information to identify a comprehensive recall population could not be produced by FCA and BMW.During the investigation FCA filed recalls 22V406, 22E048, 22V767, and 22E087 which include vehicles not identified in the initial subject population by ODI. ODI also received recall 21V586, involving loss of motive power due to failed CP4 fuel pumps on certain BMW manufactured vehicles. An information request letter response received from BMW indicated that failed pumps on their vehicles were caused by an interaction between pump internal components and US market diesel fuel, leading to increased slip and eventual particle-generating wear surface. Additional work will be done to identify whether a similar root cause is associated with the FCA recalled population and if similar wear dynamics occur on pumps supplied to vehicle manufacturers other than those included in the recalled population.ODI has upgraded this investigation to an EA in order to 1) determine engineering specifications of internal pump components that are correlated with pump failure leading to loss of motive power or other safety related hazards, 2) identify vehicle populations equipped with alleged defective pump variants, 3) assess if vehicles equipped with alleged defective pump variants result in an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety and 4) gather and review any other relevant information related to high pressure fuel pump failure associated with the subject populations of recalls 21V586, 21V880, 21E094, 22V406, 22E048, 22V767, and 22E087.Review of the above information will allow NHTSA to confirm root cause and recall remedy viability, and identify and evaluate vehicle populations equipped with pump components that may pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID using the following complaint identification numbers: 11257550, 11351441, 11361603, 11361616, 11365300, 11365426, 11365858, 11366401, 11372337, 11373793, 11374797, 11376793, 11377871, 11378173, 11384377, 11386063, 11387018, 11399710, 11402550, 11415339, 11418868, 11418870, 11427075, 11434276, 11436807, 11437226, 11437249, 11437273, 11437292, 11437294, 11437394, 11437399, 11437403, 11437405, 11437423, 11437528, 11437565, 11437579, 11437580, 11437590, 11437679, 11437744, 11437781, 11437842, 11437993, 11438006, 11438008, 11438121, 11438138, 11438155, 11438392, 11438629, 11439359, 11439879, 11440397, 11443030, 11446542, 11448163, 11453556, 11458918, 11460558, 11469337
Crash-test ratings
2020 Ram 1500 Quad PU/EC 2WD NHTSA source
- Overall
- Frontal
- Side
- Rollover
2020 Ram 1500 Crew PU/CC 2WD NHTSA source
- Overall
- Frontal
- Side
- Rollover
2020 Ram 1500 Quad PU/EC 4WD NHTSA source
- Overall
- Frontal
- Side
- Rollover
2020 Ram 1500 Crew PU/CC 4WD NHTSA source
- Overall
- Frontal
- Side
- Rollover
Fuel economy by trim
| Trim | Engine | Drivetrain | Transmission | City | Hwy | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1500 2WD | 3.0L 6-cyl | Rear-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 22 | 32 | 26 |
| 1500 4WD | 3.0L 6-cyl | 4-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 21 | 29 | 24 |
| 1500 HFE 2WD | 3.6L 6-cyl | Rear-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 20 | 26 | 23 |
| 1500 2WD | 3.6L 6-cyl | Rear-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 20 | 25 | 22 |
| 1500 4WD | 3.6L 6-cyl | 4-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 19 | 24 | 21 |
| 1500 Classic 2WD | 3.6L 6-cyl | Rear-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 17 | 25 | 20 |
| 1500 Classic 4WD | 3.6L 6-cyl | 4-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 16 | 23 | 19 |
| 1500 4WD | 5.7L 8-cyl | 4-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 17 | 22 | 19 |
| 1500 2WD | 5.7L 8-cyl | Rear-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 17 | 23 | 19 |
| 1500 Classic 4WD | 5.7L 8-cyl | 4-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 15 | 21 | 17 |
| 1500 Classic 2WD | 5.7L 8-cyl | Rear-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 15 | 22 | 17 |
| 1500 4WD | 5.7L 8-cyl | 4-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 15 | 21 | 17 |
| 1500 2WD | 5.7L 8-cyl | Rear-Wheel Drive | Automatic 8-spd | 15 | 22 | 17 |
EPA laboratory estimates by trim and engine. Actual mileage varies with driving, weather, load, and maintenance. EPA source.
Before you buy
Useful next checks
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Compare model years
"Fewest reports" and "most complained" describe raw NHTSA complaint totals, not vehicle reliability. The last few model years are left unlabelled because they have had less road time.
2020 Ram 1500: frequently asked
What does the complaint record show for the 2020 Ram 1500?
Owners filed 607 NHTSA complaints about the 2020 Ram 1500 — more complaints than 93% of comparable 2020 trucks, so it sits toward the weaker end of its class. That's a signal, not a guarantee about any single car.
What are the most common problems on the 2020 Ram 1500?
The most-reported problem areas are Electrical System (20% of complaints) and unknown or other (14%).
How many recalls does the 2020 Ram 1500 have?
13 recalls have been issued that affect the 2020 Ram 1500, covering components such as air bags. Check the VIN with NHTSA and ask a dealer to confirm remedy eligibility; federal no-charge requirements have an age limit, though manufacturers may offer more coverage.
What gas mileage does the 2020 Ram 1500 get?
The EPA rates the 2020 Ram 1500 between 17 and 26 mpg combined, depending on trim and drivetrain.