2012 Ram 2500 problems: recalls, complaints and whether this is a year to avoid

Is 2012 a good year for the Ram 2500?

Complaint volume is fairly even across this nameplate, so the model year is a weaker signal here than it is on many cars. Read the components below rather than the totals.

Older years have been on the road longer and collect more complaints for that reason alone, and a year that sold in higher volume collects more while being no worse.

This retrieval holds 4 of the nameplate’s model years. 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 are absent, which means no records came back for them — not that they were clean. The ranking above is among the years shown.

The 2012 accounts for 30% of every complaint filed against the Ram 2500 in this retrieval, which works out to 20.2 complaints per year on the road across the 14 years since it was sold new — the figure to compare against other years, because it removes the advantage a newer car gets simply from having had less time to accumulate reports.

Complaint volume is broadly flat against the 2011 (0.9×), so on this measure the two years are interchangeable and the choice between them comes down to condition and price rather than the model year.

Which recalls cover the 2012?

Take the campaign number to any franchised Ram dealer. Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit, and they follow the car rather than the owner, so a used 2012 with an unrepaired campaign is a free repair you can claim. How recalls work.

Recall text is abridged from the NHTSA record. Search the campaign number at nhtsa.gov/recalls for the full notice and affected VIN ranges.

What do owners report on the Ram 2500?

Across every Ram 2500 year, not the 2012 alone — NHTSA does not split component totals by model year.

• Steering — 372 reports
• Electrical System — 108 reports
• Power Train — 96 reports
• Engine — 83 reports

If your 2012 is doing something now, these are the guides for that system — each opens with whether it is safe to keep driving:

• Clunk over bumps
• Shaking at highway speed
• Pulls to one side
• Humming rises with speed

Which other Ram 2500 years should you compare?

← 2011 Ram 2500 · 2015 Ram 2500 → · All Ram 2500 years

If you are deciding between years, the table above is the short answer and the Ram 2500 page carries the full run with the component breakdown. Before money changes hands, run the VIN for open recalls and read the inspection checklist — ten minutes in the seller’s driveway finds most of what matters.