Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11515532

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2019 RAM 2500

Manufacturer

Chrysler (FCA US, LLC)

Components

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Dates

Incident: 03/10/2023
Filed: 04/05/2023

Owner complaint summary

Continuation to NHTSA ID # 11511305 Adding some more details and photos of the Fire. (2019 Ram 2500 6.7L Cummins Diesel engine) This is to describe the time frame from the start of the vehicle to when the fire department put out the fire. I have a store receipt that time stamps my checkout time at 2:11p CT, from the time I left the store, loaded my purchases into the truck, started and drove the car a very short distance, when the smoke started to pour out of the inside ventilation system, I pulled the truck over to the side of the road, got out of the truck and called 911 (time stamped from my phone was 2:29p CT. (18 minutes from checkout to 911 call. I Took a picture of the truck after the fire department put out the fire (time stamped 2:38p CT (9 minutes from the start of the 911 call). Adding some pictures of the burnt-out truck. What shows is that the fender on the driver’s side took the brunt of the heat, where all the electrical systems reside. Telling me that this was the main section that started on fire (possibility that the Heater Grid). This was definitely an electrical fire, given the smell and smoke that poured into the truck. I know there is a current recall by the auto maker. I think they should re-evaluate they years that this recall should affect, since my 2019 has the same parts used as the 2021-2023’s. Given the pictures below and the disaster that this caused, we were pretty lucky that it was just me and my wife in the vehicle. We were able to find a spot to pull over so it wouldn’t affect other traffic. What if we were stuck on a highway, in traffic, pulling a trailer in a rural area, who knows what else could have happened. The stress of this is overwhelming, something that I will relive over and over again. Photos and Fire Report attached.

Fire reported
This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11515532). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11515532. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.