answer
What the official records show
For the 2021 Ram 1500, the NHTSA complaint API returned 667 unique owner complaint records across the catalog variants 1500 and 1500 CREW CAB TRX when Car Trouble Lab captured this dataset. Those records included 26 reports marked as involving a crash and 4 marked as involving a fire. Injury and death fields summed to 23 injuries and 0 deaths. The NHTSA recalls API returned 15 distinct safety campaigns, including 21V037000, 21V438000, 21V698000, and 21V918000. The captured component evidence profile was ENGINE: 272 tags (41% of unique complaint records), 1 crash-marked, 2 fire-marked, and 6 reported injuries; ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 194 tags (29% of unique complaint records), 2 crash-marked, 3 fire-marked, and 4 reported injuries; POWER TRAIN: 97 tags (15% of unique complaint records), 1 crash-marked, 0 fire-marked, and 1 reported injuries; SERVICE BRAKES: 73 tags (11% of unique complaint records), 4 crash-marked, 0 fire-marked, and 1 reported injuries; FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM: 67 tags (10% of unique complaint records), 1 crash-marked, 0 fire-marked, and 1 reported injuries. The campaign evidence profile was 21V037000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:MASTER CYLINDER; received 01/02/2021; park-it flag); 21V438000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION:DISPLAY FUNCTION; received 10/06/2021); 21V698000 (TIRES:TEMPORARY/EMERGENCY SPARE TIRE; received 09/09/2021); 21V918000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION:DISPLAY FUNCTION; received 23/11/2021); 21V925000 (AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW:CURTAIN; received 24/11/2021). These are reported-record counts, not a measured failure rate and not a diagnosis of any individual vehicle.
SOURCES
- NHTSA complaint and recall aggregateNHTSA Consumer Complaints · primary source
- NHTSA complaint and recall aggregateNHTSA Recalls · primary source
custom
How to interpret the pattern
The most frequently assigned complaint component categories in this captured query were ENGINE (272), ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (194), POWER TRAIN (97), SERVICE BRAKES (73), and FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM (67). Adjacent captured model years reported 2020: 621 complaints and 14 campaigns; 2022: 597 complaints and 16 campaigns. These comparisons are raw record totals, not exposure-adjusted rates. One complaint can carry more than one component tag, so category counts should not be added to reproduce the total complaint count. Too few usable positive mileage values were present to publish a median. NHTSA complaint records are owner-submitted and may be incomplete, duplicated before ODI-number deduplication, or unverified. A high count can also reflect how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road. Use this page to choose inspection questions, not to label every 2021 Ram 1500 defective.
methodology
What to check next
Start with the categories that repeat most often, then compare the complaint description and warning symptoms with the actual vehicle rather than ordering a part from a category label. Check the full 17-character VIN in NHTSA's official recall lookup because a model-year campaign list cannot tell whether a particular vehicle is included or whether its remedy was completed. Preserve diagnostic trouble codes and freeze-frame data before clearing them, ask for repair invoices, and obtain a qualified inspection when a symptom affects braking, steering, restraint systems, fire risk, or drivability. Car Trouble Lab does not determine whether a vehicle is safe to drive.