This is likely unhelpful, but just perspective.
FYI, just compare the cost of Rivian's insurance to your present insurance. I tested the waters with them just before getting my lease last September. Their quotes were Space X HUGE !
Always good advice to shop around, but be advised that your experience is not universal.
I could not agree more!!!!!!
This.3- your experience and offroad intelligence. Take. Lessons. Hard. Stop. There are so many good consultants out there with decades of experience that can teach you how to be smart offroad and minimize risk. I've mostly seen flat tires. One tie rod go bust. But otherwise, no significant or concerning damage in my times off pavement. And if we're being completely honest, every single flat tire and that one tie rod were 100% driver error and not a fault of the vehicle, the trail, terrain, or outside circumstances. That might sound accusatory, but my motivation for pointing it out is simply: learn the vehicle, trust the vehicle and you more than likely will never have to be concerned with offroad insurance. Though I do agree it's nice to have the peace of mind.
Stay adventurous
My short anecdote: when I talked to my (at the time) insurance (Liberty Mutual), they said 'off-road' isn't covered and they recommended I find something similar to a 'track day' insurance for those types of events.
This is likely unhelpful, but just perspective.
1- I had the same conversation with and felt good about Nationwide's supporting our offroad endeavors, as this was a consideration of mine as well.
2- these vehicles are extremely capable and the risk offroad is directly proprotional to
3- your experience and offroad intelligence. Take. Lessons. Hard. Stop. There are so many good consultants out there with decades of experience that can teach you how to be smart offroad and minimize risk. I've mostly seen flat tires. One tie rod go bust. But otherwise, no significant or concerning damage in my times off pavement. And if we're being completely honest, every single flat tire and that one tie rod were 100% driver error and not a fault of the vehicle, the trail, terrain, or outside circumstances. That might sound accusatory, but my motivation for pointing it out is simply: learn the vehicle, trust the vehicle and you more than likely will never have to be concerned with offroad insurance. Though I do agree it's nice to have the peace of mind.
Stay adventurous
Yes even the way the Rivian/Nationwide agent said it was “it’s not specifically excluded” which honestly leaves it pretty wide open to interpretation. It’s not great that they don’t specify exactly what they will cover but not doing so leaves them more open to being liable to cover most things.
I'm happy to take some flak for this, and it's totally my opinion. I've done TONS of things in my lifetime. Most recently taken up whitewater kayaking. And I do it with Coaches.
Exactly. But, it may only be $50 more now, expect it to increase gradually with each renewal. At least that was my experience, prompting me to switch near the 3-year mark. The agent even acknowledged they are uncompetitive and didn’t even try to convince me to stay. They were twice as much.
I'm happy to take some flak for this, and it's totally my opinion. I've done TONS of things in my lifetime. Most recently taken up whitewater kayaking. And I do it with Coaches.
My favorite thing on the planet (sarcasm and crass) is when people tell me about their experience in the absence of instruction as if that's 'better,' or even 'sufficient.' It's the same level of appreciation I have for people who tell me how to do my job because they have X number of years tinkering on something, when I have an Engineering degree + experience.
Seriously. I do appreciate that for the most part, there are plenty of things that you can learn on the fly, but I DO NOT believe anyone is going to be as capable, as safe, or as sincerely appreciative of the technicality of their craft, endeavor, or skills, as those who will work WITH professionals to level up their understanding. It's night and day. The instructors I've worked with time and time again are incredible, provide insight you couldn't possibly have from 'experience' alone, and will help people understand not only how to negotiate and navigate different types of terrain, but how to keep the environment protected, protect the vehicle and assets, and be able to gain confidence to enjoy yourself and prevent erroneous or misled 'instinct' from taking over.
AND yes, professional instruction + experience will win out even moreso. But I've also not experienced a time where the guy swearing 'I know what I'm doing' ended up in a better position than the guy who had zero clue but listened to the teacher.
Just my unsolicited .02. You're driving a ~100k vehicle. It's not even about being 'Rivian-specific.' It's about understanding the mechanics of how your interaction with your environment impacts the results of your efforts.
Stay adventurous!!
