2002 Dodge Ram 2500 problems
Owners have filed 210 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Dodge Ram 2500. Body & structure is the most reported problem area, at 20% of complaints. After that come fuel system (12%) and steering (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 210 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Body & structure 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 61,000 miles 159 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 24 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 25 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 28 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 28 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 15 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 12 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 8 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 9 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 159 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 61,000 miles. For body & structure specifically, the median reported mileage is about 62,000 miles (32 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 6 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 18th most-complained-about out of 21 model years of the Dodge Ram 2500 with enough data (129 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl* the contact was a law enforcement officer. While a mother was attempting to exit a 2002 dodge ram 2500 with the engine running, the two year old passenger in the vehicle shifted the vehicle from the park position into reverse. The vehicle rolled backwards and caused the mother to fall. The child subsequently fell out of the vehicle and was run over by front driver's side wheel. The child was transported by ambulance to the nearby hospital. The child was pronounced deceased upon arrival.
Consumer states while driving at 35MPH in a frontal collison none of the airbags deployed on impact. Passenger was serious injured. Vehicle was badly damaged. Nlm
Vehicle was traveling at 20 MPH when all of a sudden the driver noticed that he lost the steering and brakes. The power steering and the brakes failed when the consumer was hooking the vehicle up to a trailer. The brake failure returned and caused an accident.
The dash of my 2002 dodge ram 2500 has cracked and large pieces have broken and fallen inside exposing the wiring and could become a potential hazard in the event of an accident.
The vehicle in question is a 2002 dodge ram 2500 pickup.although no failure was experienced, it came very close. Steering became very loose and was allowed to go till there was a1/2 inch travel of the steering wheel from side to side. Upon inspection and removal of the intermediate shaft it was discovered to have the lower universal joint in complete failure do to corrosion and complete loss of the bearing. The vehicle is out of warranty but dodge was asked to review the case.