2003 Dodge Ram 3500 problems
NHTSA has received 330 complaints about the 2003 Dodge Ram 3500, and 24% of them involve air bags. Next are body & structure (16%) and steering (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 330 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 24% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 10 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 79,000 miles 194 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 | 21 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 21 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 25 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 34 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 26 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 22 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 16 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 12 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 12 |
What the data shows
Of the 194 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 79,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 102,000 miles (10 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 10 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 6 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 84% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 6th most-complained-about out of 20 model years of the Dodge Ram 3500 with enough data (121 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
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.
Lost control of vehicle on a mountain road. Front left wheel fell off, leading me into a rock. Vehicle is total loss and I have had physical damage on my face from it going through the driver door window on impact. Dodge has denied my claim even though there is a recall on dakota's for same problem.
Air bag did not deploy in a collision. Another vehicle ran a stop sign, I t-boned the other vehicle with the front of my truck, yet air bag did not deploy.
Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle rear ended another vehicle while traveling 45 MPH and the airbags did not deploy. The driver hit the steering wheel causing a bloody lip. The non-service dealer expressed that the airbags should have deployed. There was a police report taken.
The transmission keeps slipping into neutral while driving and sometimes upon pulling out. The truck is 10 weeks old and has been in the shop for this condition 4 times, with the malfunction light on 3 of those trips, once it went in on a rollback because it would not move at all. It has also downshifted into a lower gear, barked the tires and slung us forward so hard it almost snapped our necks twice now. This has been reported also.
Purchased vehicle at 100,000 in 11/2011. Miles seemed in good condition. Quickly started death wobble. Thought it was weak tires. Purchased new (better) tires, no change. Took into oak ridge, tn chrysler dealership for death wobble repairs at 122,351 miles (ticket chcs182246). Fine until last month 12/2016 at approx 137,051 miles. Death wobble is back (and worse). Easily occurs at interstate speeds when one hits bridge expansion joints (especially on a curve).