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A charcoal colored 2021 F-150 sits on a cliff side.

The Ram 1500 Pickup Truck Is Mysteriously Missing From This List

Pickup trucks conjure up images of intense labor and hard work. Off-roading, rural, country, cowboy, or construction scenes fill your imagination with notions of what makes a pickup truck a pickup truck. They are also generally reputed to be reliable vehicles. The Ram 1500 pickup truck is very popular. It has earned several top spots. …

Pickup trucks conjure up images of intense labor and hard work. Off-roading, rural, country, cowboy, or construction scenes fill your imagination with notions of what makes a pickup truck a pickup truck. They are also generally reputed to be reliable vehicles. The Ram 1500 pickup truck is very popular. It has earned several top spots.

A burgundy Ram 1500 Laramie sits in the curve or a dirt road.
2020 Ram 1500 Laramie | FCA

It’s not crazy to see old pickups frequent familiar roads. But in terms of safety, they aren’t exactly everyone’s mental go-to. However, pickup trucks didn’t even make it on the list of most complained about vehicles. The iSeeCars safety complaint data compilation shows a list of top 10 most complained about vehicles, and not one of them is a pickup truck. The Ram 1500 pickup truck didn’t land a spot on either the most or least complained about. In terms of NHTSA safety complaints it’s nothing special––but it’s not bad either.

Top 10 most complained about vehicles list

The list posted by iSeeCars for the vehicles with the most complaints is riddled with cars and SUVs. But there’s not a pickup truck in sight when it comes to high volume safety complaints. The top 10 most complained about vehicles list does not show data for even one pickup truck.

a black on black pickup truck by Ram trucks with a mountainous sunset backdrop
2020 Ram | Ram Trucks

What is the safest pickup truck?

There are actually three domestic pickup trucks on the list for vehicles with the fewest safety complaints. The Ford F-150 received 9.3 safety complaints per 10,000 vehicles. The Ford F-150 is the most popular vehicle in America. So it’s actually kind of surprising that this makes it on the list––considering how many 10s of thousands of them are sold. It wouldn’t be shocking if it found itself in the average area with the Ram 1500 pickup truck

a gray GMC Sierra Denali parked in a gravel yard
2020 GMC Sierra Denali

The others on the list of vehicles with the least safety complaints are the GMC Sierra 1500 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The GMC Sierra received 8.6 complaints per 10,000 pickup trucks sold. The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 data shows only 6.5 complaints per 10,000 units sold.

2020 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel
2020 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel | Chevrolet

The iSeeCars article notes the large presence of trucks on the lowest complaint list. There is also mention of “the fact that the pick- up truck segment is far less complained about than average.” Trucks as a whole have 12.9 complaints per 10,000 units sold. Phong Ly, iSeeCars CEO comments that “Trucks are often used as work vehicles, which typically get regular maintenance and are better taken care of than other vehicles, which may explain why they have fewer problems.” 

A Ford F-150 pickup truck – a competitor to the Chevy Silverado – is seen on a sales lot on May 10, 2018 in Miami, Florida.
The Ford F-150 | Joe Raedle/Getty Images

“Because pickups are often used as work vehicles, they could be driven by someone other than the owner. As a result, if the driver of the truck notices a problem with the vehicle but isn’t the owner, he’s more likely to take it up with his boss rather than report it directly to NHTSA.”

Phong Ly, CEO | iSeeCars

Ford F-150

For the 2020 model year, US News and World Report named the Ford F-150 #1 among full-size pickup trucks. US News writes that the 2020 Ford F-150 costs between the wide range of $28,745 – $71,160. It’s a great pickup truck with a reliability rating of 4.5 out of 5 from J.D. Power.

2021 Ford F-150 driving up steep mountain road
2021 Ford F-150 | Ford

GMC Sierra 1500

US News and World Report ranks the 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 full-size pickup truck #4. Its a comfortable truck that is priced in a range between $29,600 – $58,900. The 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 pickup truck earned an above-average reliability score of 3.5 out of 5.

a GMC Sierra 1500 pickup truck viewed from the front
GMC Sierra 1500 | Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Chevrolet Silverado 1500

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 2020 model year is rated the #3 pickup truck, according to US News and World Report. This truck goes for a price between $29,600 – $58,900. J.D Power ranks the Chevy Silverado 1500 ‘Great’ for reliability.

Blue 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 RST Crew Cab 4x4 in front of a storage garage
2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 RST Crew Cab 4×4 | Chevrolet

So, we don’t see a Ram 1500 pickup truck. And that’s a little mysterious. It will interesting to wait a few years and see how the data changes now that the all-new Ram generation is in production.

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