2020 Ram 1500: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Nov 2, 2026 · Visibility · IA

The vehicle develops a severe film/haze on the interior windshield that cannot be adequately cleared during normal operation. At night, oncoming headlights and streetlights cause extreme glare and significantly impair visibility. The condition has resulted in headaches and dizziness while driving due to eye strain. Visibility is reduced to a dangerous level, creating a safety hazard and increasing the risk of a crash. Repair estimates exceed $2,000. With colder weather approaching, driving with the windows down is not a reasonable or safe workaround.

Filed Oct 7, 2026 · Visibility · IA

The HVAC heater core assembly failed internally. The machic mentioned that this componet is "going out" in these vehicals. He refered me to the dealership. This should be a recall. I was put at severe risk because the the vehicle had a sudden, severe loss of forward visibility while in motion. The failure caused an oily, chemical mist of ethylene glycol coolant to spray out of the defroster vents directly onto the windshield. This film could not be cleared by windshield wipers or standard defogging functions or whiping the windshield internally. It smeared across the glass, causing catastrophic blinding glare from oncoming headlights and traffic, creating an immediate and extreme risk of a collision. Simultaneously, the failure flooded the sealed cabin with toxic, atomized antifreeze fumes. Inhaling these chemical vapors caused immediate, acute coughing and dizziness while I was actively driving, physically impairing my ability to safely operate and control the vehicle and drastically increasing the risk of a collision Also, it was raining and I couldn't roll the windows down. Yes, the defect and cabin contamination were diagnosed by Priority One in Waterloo, IA No, the component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police or insurance. There were no warning sign or dash light indicators.

Filed Nov 26, 2025 · Lights · OH

The low beam headlights and high beam headlights do not function properly. I thought that when one of the low beam lights went out that I needed a new bulb. Before I got to changing the bulb out, the other one went out while driving at night. I tried to make it home with my high beams on, but only one was working at the time. While driving, one of the low beams that I thought needed a bulb came back on. It seems as though all four headlights have a short somewhere and the lights work at random or not at all.

Filed Jul 30, 2025 · Electrical, Lights · 67,178 miles · CO · fire

The contact owns a 2020 Ram 1500 Promaster. The contact stated that after parking and turning the vehicle off, he left it for approximately 10 minutes. The vehicle spontaneously caught fire. The contact was alerted that his vehicle was on fire. The contact noticed that the passenger-side headlight had smoke and flames four feet high. There were no warning lights illuminated prior to the failure. The contact and a bystander extinguished the fire. There were no reported injuries. A call was made to 911 emergency services regarding the incident. The fire and police departments were on the scene. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who determined the failure was due to the wire harness and headlight assembly. A claim was submitted to the insurance company. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted regarding the failure and left 7 voicemails along with emails but no response as of yet. The failure mileage was approximately 67,168.

Filed Dec 12, 2024 · Electrical, Transmission · 107,000 miles · NH

The contact owns a 2020 Ram 1500. The contact that the vehicle was taken to the dealer due to an electrical failure. The contact stated that the 12-Volt battery had been replaced three times, and the taillight bulbs and front headlight low beam bulbs were replaced several times. The contact stated that when the vehicle was diagnosed by the dealer for the electrical failure, the contact was informed that the front differential seal had failed and was allowing water to leak into the differential, causing the differential to rust. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000.

Filed Dec 20, 2020 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 300 miles · TN

Too bad I can only mark 3 areas when there are many more. Following safety systems and driver aid either don't work or work sporadically: forward collision, rear collision, lane keep, auto high beams, rear cross traffic alert, rain sense wipers, navigation, voice command, parking gear, front and rear camera, memory seat easy entry ( doesn't go back to correct position), hot smell if use awd setting. Infotainment system totally malfunctions. Truck been in 7-8 times for problems, there over 2 weeks on 2 visits, radio replaced. Still having all problems. Been going on since new, over a year ago. Has had numerous ram upgrades at dealer and over air. Never know if safety systems are going to work or not. Have lost all trust in this vehicle. Will being backing up and brakes lock up as if rear sensors have detected something when there is nothing. Rear detectors turn off by themself. Cameras stay on. Nav cursor shows on map 6 miles away from actual location. Basically all electronics work sporadically. Happens in motion and while not in motion. All glitches blamed on electronics in infotainment system according to ram. Put truck in park and continues to roll forward. Opening door is supposed to engage emergency brake. Does sometimes and other times does not. With this many electrical problems I'd hate to be in an accident, probably the air bags don't work. Periodically go to start vehicle and it's dead. No chargers are plugged in it anything that should drain battery. Now carry a jumper box after I waited over 2 hours for ram roadside service.have asked for repair orders but haven't been given them. Have noted every glitch with ram customer service via email. Case is open. Nothing gets done.

Filed Aug 2, 2020 · Lights · 100 miles · OK

The dash lighting at night, when headlights come on causing a reduced brightness to the dash lights, the reduced brightness mode is too dim at it's highest setting for night time mode. While it is possible to move the brightness dial to daytime mode, by moving the dial past the night time mode, that is too bright making viewing foward difficult. I feel this creates a hazzard for night time driving in this vehcile.

Filed Jul 20, 2020 · Electrical · 530 miles · OK

The 2020 ram 1500 experienced while driving a "data bus failure". This failure caused the vehicle to loose power steering, brakes, ramdom instrumentation displays, wipers to come on, headlights to come on and off. Intermitant loss of trottle control. Happened 4 separate time. Had shop on 3 of the 4 times indicate a bad battery, asb modules and PCM module. Currently they are trying to identify a bad transmission control module as the problem. Total mile 530 and only had the vehicle for 50 days. Had to be towed twice to the shop and the other two time it happened with in a mile of the dealer. It spend about 20 days in the shop already.

Filed Nov 30, 2019 · Brakes, Electrical · 737 miles · WA

On november 13, 2019 at 6:00pm pst while traveling 70mph westbound on interstate 90 at the sr18 interchange the vehicle experienced multiple serious safety defects and major systems failures due to loss of electrical power. Light conditions were nighttime, traffic was light, weather was clear. Electronic failure messages began to appear on instrumentation panel approximately 20 minutes prior to the total electrical failure: navigation, stop/start, climate control, uconnect, sirius radio, adaptive cruise all ceased function with no driver ability to control these systems well prior to the total shutdown. At total shutdown, with the vehicle still traveling at 70mph, the following additional events simultaneously occurred: 1.total failure and complete loss of power steering, 2.total failure and complete loss of power brakes, 3.total failure and complete loss of headlights, turn signals, and hazard lights 4.total failure and complete loss of all dashboard and u connect instrumentation, 5.total failure and complete loss of all steering column and dashpanel controls 6.total failure and complete loss of adaptive cruise control, 7.total failure and complete loss of electronic lane assist. 8.total failure and complete loss of electronic parking brake this ended with the vehicle being safely pulled to the shoulder of the freeway. When stationary, the vehicle lost nearly all power; there was just enough remaining power to randomly illuminate displays and uconnect in arbitrary flashes; giving the dashpanel the appearance of a nightclub. The vehicle was then towed to the selling dealer.