Confidence in 2026 Models?

[MNiceguy]

I am currently the owner of a 2025 Limited with the Hurricane HO but that truck has been nothing but headaches and is currently involved in litigation with FCA. At some point I need to find something else but really I don't think there's anything that checks my boxes like a RAM does. Heck, I even like the Hurricane engine. The thing is I don't want to jump out of the pan just to land in, well, the pan. There's of course my own personal experiences but I've even caught folks at the dealership saying things that seem to point toward a reality where the 2025's were not very good and had a lot more issues then their predecessors.

Furthermore, I'm having a hard time deciding because of my RAM experience so far
RAM #1: Perfect truck. Never needed anything
RAM #2: Excellent truck - no issues
RAM #3: Wiped the cam at 25mi (yes, twenty-five) and got swapped for a different truck
RAM #4: The replacement for #3 and probably the best vehicle I've had so far
RAM #5: Basically a disaster that's been nothing but problems, stress, and drama

So here I am where the best and worst vehicles I've owned are the same make, model, and general age and let's just say I've had a healthy number of cars in my life so far.

What's everyone's read on the 2026 model year? Of course the Hemi is back which is great but I'm thinking more in terms of reliability concerns. Do you think Stellantis got their crap together and did a little better job on the second model year (of the 5th gen refresh/Hurricane platform in RAM)? Does anyone out there have one that has some miles on already?

 

[Eighty]

I don’t have a 2025 or a 2026, but I’m active on the RHO forum. And I can tell you that the consensus is that the 2026’s are no better than the 2025’s. Same electrical gremlins.

 

[Rebellion is Duty]

The problems of the '25 have carried over to '26. Engines are fine. Hurricane and Hemi. The electrical components are trash.

 

[nkole]

My 26 with 1800 miles has been perfect so far.

 

[Jako]

My 26 with 1800 miles has been perfect so far.

You have been a member for a while. Owned other Rams? If so how did they work out?

 

[Rebellion is Duty]

Give it time. Got to almost 11,000 before the gremlins came forth on my '25. I now have the check engine light. I've taken it to the dealer a couple times. I get the standard misfire and bad gas story. I've now got the blue screen on the back up camera that seems to come and go. The unit needs service is extremely random. I think they just clear the codes and hope they don't come back. They haven't a clue what's causing it because they're mechanics, not rocket scientists to figure the electrical stuff.

Truly hope you never do. I did think I was in the clear.

 

[nkole]

You have been a member for a while. Owned other Rams? If so how did they work out?

I've owned a lot of RAMs, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020 and now a 2026. All were flawless except the 13 which had the 6.7 Cummins that would not stop dripping oil from the front case. Was repurchased by RAM and I purchased the 2014 with the 6.4 that gave no issues.

 

[RedFred]

My 25 Laramie with hurricane has been great so far. I'm at around 27K miles.

 

[MNiceguy]

Thanks for the replies so far. Based on what I'm hearing and seeing, I think I might have to pass on the RAM brand for now. For what it's worth, my '25 was just fine until about 7K and then the problems started.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Plenty of competitors are experiencing similar QC issues so shop wisely. This may be a time to find a low mileage older model RAM.

 

[Rebellion is Duty]

Plenty of competitors are experiencing similar QC issues so shop wisely. This may be a time to find a low mileage older model RAM.

Yep. It's pretty much pick your position now.

 

[MNiceguy]

You're not wrong. I'm basically looking for something a little larger and with at least Hemi levels of pep.

Tundra - Main bearing issues and fairly well-known catastrophic engine failures
Silverado - The jury is out on whether or not the 6.2 is a safe buy following the big recall and the diesel option is not for me
Ram - Revised electric system doesn't seem to be panning out
Titan - It's cousin the Armada is one of the worst reviewed vehicles ever made and I've never heard a positive word about it.
F-150 - I can't find anything especially damning on these other than some transmission concerns that seem to have cleared up. I had some bad Fords in the past though so this makes me very nervous

 

[B33P33]

You're not wrong. I'm basically looking for something a little larger and with at least Hemi levels of pep.

Tundra - Main bearing issues and fairly well-known catastrophic engine failures
Silverado - The jury is out on whether or not the 6.2 is a safe buy following the big recall and the diesel option is not for me
Ram - Revised electric system doesn't seem to be panning out
Titan - It's cousin the Armada is one of the worst reviewed vehicles ever made and I've never heard a positive word about it.
F-150 - I can't find anything especially damning on these other than some transmission concerns that seem to have cleared up. I had some bad Fords in the past though so this makes me very nervous

I’ve got a midsized truck I’m looking to upgrade and I test drove a new 26 Ram Hemi. Absolutely loved it. Then I read about the electrical systems and got scared off.

After a lot of hunting around I’ve looked at each of the trucks in your list. Agree with most of it.

The Titan is actually pretty amazing. Very old school tho. It feels like a truck of yesterday, but for me I found that enjoyable. They’re quite reliable too, powertrain-wise. Particularly anything after like 2019 or so (whenever they fixed that cylinder 7 issue). I’ll say the backup camera on the thing is awful tho. Not even sure why they bothered it’s so fuzzy. Otherwise great.

The F-150 is quirky. My family has had many F-150s. Never stranded in a single one, but never had a problem free one that didn’t need some dealer intervention. For that reason I’d argue the F-150 experience boils down to having a good dealer.

I think the comments here are right tho. It’d be smart to look for a lightly used pre-2025 RAM. I’ve seen a lot of success stories out of the 2020-2024 range. Perhaps a 2024 is the sweet spot. Non COVID years and pre electrical change with a HEMI.

 

[SW Driver]

I just picked up a new 2026 Laramie with the Hurricane engine. I looked at all the full size and mid size trucks and chose the Ram because it had the best features for the price and fits my needs the best. I was concerned about the quality, but all trucks today seem to have some kind of problem according to the internet.

Another thing that pushed me to Ram was it consistently lands on Car & Driver’s 10 best list. I also know people who own Ram’s and speak highly of them.

I do have concerns about reliability long term. I like that Ram offered the 10 year 100k powertrain warranty on all 2026 models with the Hurricane engine. My understanding is that’s only good for trucks bought before the end of the year.

Since I tend to keep vehicles 15 - 20 years, I also negotiated in the additional 10 year 100k bumper to bumper warranty (I.E. insurance). I never used to buy these, but with the complexity of new vehicles today, it makes sense for people like me who buy and hold a long time.

 

[Eighty]

I also negotiated in the additional 10 year 100k bumper to bumper warranty (I.E. insurance).

Is this the Mopar warranty you're talking about? If so, just be aware that it's definitely not a bumper to bumper warranty.

 

[pensfan]

I currently have a '16 Ram 1500 Hemi with 87k on it. I also have the lifetime unlimited miles warranty. I was sent an email certificate offering me 5K off sticker plus all national incentives if I trade it on any new Mopar.
I drove a new '26 with the Hemi today. The new exhaust system is definitely louder than my current Ram. When I opened the window I really could tell the difference. I can probably live with the noise but the eTorque system really scares me, especially the long wait times for replacement units.
I drove the Hurricane earlier this year and as stated here and elsewhere the performance is more than adequate.
My current truck runs great and no rust issues after 10 Pa winters. The electrical issues and eTorque on the new Rams scares me big time. As much as I want a new Ram, I am wondering if I should just keep mine for another year or 2 and hope the Hemi is redesigned without eTorque. The Hurricane obviously is the alternative. I don't know if I am ready to go to something as small as a 3.0 in the heavy Ram

 

[Rebellion is Duty]

The engines aren't the problem with the '25 and '26 model years. Apparently the batteries are trash. New ones seem to make the problems go away. The Hurricane is a good motor. The issues erroneously get blamed on the engine. I love that motor. I hadn't had any issues until last week after 11K of issue free motoring. I hope to have this ride for a bit, but if I had to, I'd get other Hurricane. It's impressive.

 

[Riding Deacon]

I own a 25 Longhorn with the SST HO; almost 30,000 (s)miles without a problem. Had a very few minor electrical "gremlins" when I first bought the truck. Disconnected BOTH batteries, let them "settle out", reconnected them and NEVER had an issue since then. I even have a JB4 tuner on the truck.........still zero issues. Love this truck.........coming off a 2012 Cummins with 287,000 (s)miles......just routine maintenance and wear items....which I kept, as my 6.7L is fully deleted....the way a diesel should come off the lot. My 1500 is my daily driver and when I need a more heavy duty truck for the job at hand, I"ll drive the 2500HD. All makes have their quirks; I suppose you just need to get lucky with the right truck!!!! Merry Christmas!!

 

[B33P33]

The engines aren't the problem with the '25 and '26 model years. Apparently the batteries are trash. New ones seem to make the problems go away. The Hurricane is a good motor. The issues erroneously get blamed on the engine. I love that motor. I hadn't had any issues until last week after 11K of issue free motoring. I hope to have this ride for a bit, but if I had to, I'd get other Hurricane. It's impressive.

From all the reading I’ve done I’d agree the engines are solid. I’ve also seen some chatter that some connections aren’t fully seated on sensors sometimes, and even fuses in the fuse box. Those are easy fixes. But is replacing the battery really such a cure all? I’d be pissed if I was sitting around waiting months on a BCM or something without my truck and it was just the battery all along.

 

[Rebellion is Duty]

Not sure if my secondary battery was bad all along or if the cell went bad over time. It was not reported any other time though. I'm going to check the vehicle health report to see if it lists the secondary battery. Batteries are easy to check or have checked.

Disconnecting batteries seems to make problems go away for some. Now batteries are getting replaced way before they should. If my issues come back, and it's the battery again, there's a serious issue somewhere.

I don't know what, if any, codes were present. Wish I did. The bad battery was detected during the diagnostics.

Whether all this is related or not is beyond my understanding of the systems under the hood. Past experiences have indicated bad batteries cause weird problems in the new vehicles. Happened in two other vehicles prior to this. All these gadgets are sucking the life out the batteries. So much so, they put two in the new Ram.