2016 Ram 1500 vs 2017 Ram 1500
Two adjacent model years of the Ram 1500, side by side. Every figure is a raw NHTSA/EPA count — not normalized by how many were sold.
Side by side: 2017 1500 has fewer recorded recall campaigns (13 vs 17), and 2017 1500 has fewer recorded owner complaints (860 vs 1505). 2016 1500 carries more NHTSA investigations (4 vs 3). Both carry NHTSA crash ratings, and neither has EPA fuel-economy data in our dataset.
| Metric | 2016 Ram 1500 | 2017 Ram 1500 |
|---|---|---|
| Recall campaigns | 17 | 13 |
| Owner complaints | 1,505 | 860 |
| NHTSA investigations | 4 | 3 |
| NHTSA crash rating | Rated by NHTSA | Rated by NHTSA |
| EPA fuel economy | — | — |
Where these two actually differ
2017 Ram 1500 carries 4 fewer recall campaigns (13 against 17). Every campaign listed is repaired free by a dealer regardless of which side it falls on, so this gap matters most if the specific car you are looking at still has work outstanding.
2016 Ram 1500 has drawn 645 more owner complaints (1,505 against 860). Complaints are self-reported to NHTSA and scale with how many were sold, so treat the pattern of what owners report as more informative than the total.
Both have been crash-tested by NHTSA, so their star ratings are directly comparable — they were assessed under the same program in the same year.
Counts are raw NHTSA and EPA totals for each model year. They are not adjusted for how many of each vehicle were sold, so a high-volume model will tend to show more of everything — a larger complaint count is not by itself evidence of a worse car. Use the per-vehicle reports for the underlying records.
How to read this
- A green check marks the lower raw count — fewer recorded issues, not a declared winner.
- Complaint totals are not normalized by vehicle population; a big-seller shows more of everything.
- Where a rating or EPA record is absent, that is missing data — not evidence of safety.