1998 Dodge Ram 1500 — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 641 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Body & structure102 (15.9%)
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)88 (13.7%)Official recall records for this system: 6, covering model years 2004–2012.
• Brakes72 (11.2%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2006.
• Air bags (restraint system)63 (9.8%)Official recall records for this system: 7, covering model years 2000–2012.
• Suspension36 (5.6%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2006–2011.
• Seat belts34 (5.3%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2006.

Other / uncategorized: 24 classifications (3.7%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (24,558 records, model years 1995–2012) are most frequently classified under: powertrain (transmission & drivetrain), air bags (restraint system) and body & structure.
• Safety recalls (114 records, model years 1995–2012) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and steering.
• Manufacturer communications (1,614 records, model years 1995–2012) are most frequently classified under: equipment & accessories, electrical system and engine.
• Investigations (55 records, model years 1995–2012) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and steering.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Mileage reported when the issue occurred

• 231reports included a mileage
• 114,881average of those mileages

This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 1995 221 records for 1995 221
2. 1996 309 records for 1996 309
3. 1997 376 records for 1997 376
4. 1998 538 records for 1998 538
5. 1999 628 records for 1999 628
6. 2000 534 records for 2000 534
7. 2001 1,141 records for 2001 1,141
8. 2002 844 records for 2002 844
9. 2003 1,206 records for 2003 1,206
10. 2004 1,150 records for 2004 1,150
11. 2005 1,217 records for 2005 1,217
12. 2006 860 records for 2006 860
13. 2007 596 records for 2007 596
14. 2008 619 records for 2008 619
15. 2009 714 records for 2009 714
16. 2010 708 records for 2010 708
17. 2011 943 records for 2011 943
18. 2012 985 records for 2012 985

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 66mention a crash
• 16mention a fire
• 56mention an injury
• 8mention a fatality

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 1
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 17
• Owner complaints NHTSA 520

Explore the underlying evidence records

Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle

These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.

• P0201 in 1 record
• P0202 in 1 record
• P0203 in 1 record
• P0204 in 1 record
• P0205 in 1 record

A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.