Ram recall query RQ25003
Post Recall Remedy Brake Transmission Shift Interlock (BTSI) Failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this recall query about the automatic transmission on 30 model years (2013–2018). Opened Jul 3, 2025 and still open — 16 months so far, against NHTSA’s goal of eight months for a recall query. open
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 14 Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) reports and 6 EWR Death & Injury (D&I) reports describing post recall remedy failures of the brake transmission shift interlock (BTSI) system in certain Model Year (MY) 2013-2018 RAM pickup trucks. The subject vehicle models include 1500, 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500 trucks equipped with a column mounted shift lever. The failures of the BTSI described in the VOQs occurred on vehicles that had all previously been repaired under recall 17V-821 or 18V-100. Both recalls address a potential condition which can cause the BTSI locking pin to become stuck allowing the transmission to be shifted out of Park without depressing the brake pedal and/or without having a key in the ignition. Shifting the transmission out of Park when not having the brake pedal depressed can result in a vehicle rollaway. ODI is opening this Recall Query (RQ) to review the effectiveness of the 17V-821 and 18V-100 recall remedies, understand the root cause of additional vehicle rollaway incidents, and identify any other possible root cause that may affect the performance of the BTSI system. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
A Recall Query is a look at a recall that already exists — whether its remedy works, whether it reached every vehicle it should have, whether the manufacturer met its obligations. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2025 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2025 | |
| Manufacturer's response — data | INRD | 2025 | 38 files 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738 |
40 of 170 documents shown; the rest are under this number at nhtsa.gov.
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Jul 3, 2025, owners had filed 9,403 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 551 named the power train NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal, and more can be filed while an action is open.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one is open. Nothing is owed on the vehicle today; if it becomes a recall, owners are written to and the repair is free. The moment to know is the day the campaign number appears — Recall Watch checks each VIN against every new NHTSA campaign and emails you when one lands, or take a free one-line alert by model year.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named on model years this site has no page for: 2013 Ram 1500; 2014 Ram 1500; 2015 Ram 1500; 2013 Ram 2500; 2014 Ram 2500; 2015 Ram 2500; 2013 Ram 3500; 2014 Ram 3500; 2015 Ram 3500; 2013 Ram 4500; 2014 Ram 4500; 2015 Ram 4500; 2016 Ram 4500; 2017 Ram 4500; 2018 Ram 4500; 2013 Ram 5500; 2014 Ram 5500; 2015 Ram 5500; 2016 Ram 5500; 2017 Ram 5500; 2018 Ram 5500.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
An investigation is not a recall. Yet.
If NHTSA’s questions become a recall, the campaign lands in the federal file first. Recall Watch checks your VINs against every new campaign the night it is filed.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs RQ25003 a recall?
No. A recall query is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one has not produced one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is RQ25003 still open?
Yes, as of NHTSA’s latest file: opened Jul 3, 2025, 16 months ago.
Which vehicles does RQ25003 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 30 model years: 2018 Ram 1500, 2017 Ram 1500, 2016 Ram 1500, 2018 Ram 2500, 2017 Ram 2500, 2016 Ram 2500 and more. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.