Ram Quality Problems Explained by CEO and Self-Inflicted Mistake, Why the 100k Mile Warranty Matters

Ram quality problems have long been a hot-button issue in the truck world and recently Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis addressed it head-on in a candid conversation that peeled back the curtain on what really happened during the launch of the refreshed 2025 Ram 1500 trucks.

Rather than a widespread quality failure, Kuniskis says Ram faced a self-inflicted manufacturing problem due to too many new things at once. 

For a brand where quality has been a long-term customer concern, this was a problem since they had worked so hard to improve their quality rankings.

Ram Quality Problems were Getting Fewer

Ram, and parent company Stellantis, had seen overall quality improving in recent years through various surveys, a lack of recalls and many customers sharing good success with their trucks.

For example, J.D. Power’s initial quality study saw Ram jump to nearly the top of the list back in 2020. They repeated as back-to-back champions in 2024. 

Initial quality is an important metric since it really reveals build quality at the factory and often sets the tone for an owner’s long-term view of the vehicle. 

Finishing first with back-to-back wins while your rivals are having many powertrain issues was remarkable especially considering it placed higher than the perennial top runner in the Toyota Tundra.

They had seemingly turned a corner and were now one of the truck brands with much fewer issues than others. Then, things changed and changed quickly.

J.D. Power and Internal Data Showed Quality Drop

At the launch event for the 2027 Ram TRX, Kuniskis talked about looking at J.D. Power’s initial quality study, and looking over their own quality data, to see how quality had dropped quickly in just one year. 

“It wasn’t just about J.D. Power for us,” Kuniskis said. “We already had the data internally. We’re looking at quality in the plant every single day, long before any report comes out.”

They could see they had a quality issue and they knew it was a production issue rather than a known quality issue with the new trucks. The plant wasn’t humming along like they needed it to be with quality issues holding up transporting new trucks to dealerships.

Back in 2019, when the 5th generation was launched, fans will remember there were fewer changes with a mostly carry-over engine, design changes and the new larger infotainment screen. 

The 2025 model was a refresh, however, with many significant changes as mentioned above.

New Truck Launch was Too Much, Too Fast

The real issue wasn’t a fundamental quality breakdown, it was a launch strategy mistake. Ram rolled out a new truck with a new exterior, electrical architecture, infotainment system, ADAS, and powertrain changes all at once.

“Lesson learned, never, ever do that,” Kuniskis said. “It was a freaking nightmare.”

In the truck market, where full-size pickups are the primary profit drivers for domestic brands, any disruption in production is often interpreted as a quality failure—whether that is accurate or not.

“Everything in this company comes down to building and shipping cars,” Kuniskis added. “Every dollar we make starts there.”

How Production Issues Became a Quality Story

From the outside, reduced production, retrofits, and software-related glitches looked like quality failures. Inside Ram, the problems were understood and manageable at the factory, Kuniskis said.

Just last year, people clamored online that Ram was having issues with their new trucks because sales were dropping. 

Plus, people working at the truck plant shared their frustrations online stating they had all sorts of issues with final assembly checks. New trucks were rolling off the line with check engine lights, problems starting, glitchy infotainment systems, etc…

The problem was really getting the plant running at full-speed production with all the changes. When the plant is humming, so goes Ram trucks. They are looking to reclaim the sales success of 2020 when they nearly doubled sales to 640k trucks and knocked the Chevy Silverado from its perennial 2nd place finisher spot.

Why Ram Rolled Out, and Kept the 10 year, 100k Mile Warranty

In order to fire up sales, put quality issues in the past (a thorn in the side for years) and gain new customers, Ram launched its extended warranty in the summer of 2025 for 2026 model-year vehicles. It has since extended this to the entire 2026 model year. 

The initial plan was short-term, but early data changed that thinking.

Competitive trade-ins into Ram showrooms nearly doubled—an enormous shift in a segment where brand loyalty is notoriously hard to break. 

“When we launched the warranty, our competitive trade-ins into our showrooms almost doubled,” Kuniskis said. “In the truck business, where brand loyalty runs 75 to 85 percent, that kind of movement just doesn’t happen unless you’re changing the buyer’s confidence.”

The warranty is expensive, but Ram extended it because the early results showed it was pulling buyers away from Ford, GM, and others. For now, Ram is watching the data closely before deciding how long the program stays.

“I don’t know how long we’ll keep it because it’s not cheap,” Kuniskis said. “I don’t know if the business cases are going to actually pan out that it still makes sense, but when we looked at the data, it was way too soon to pull the plug. There was clearly something happening in the market that we needed to understand before making that call.”