one door is pretty horribly formed among other issues (still love the truck overall, though)

[the long way downunder]

Difference between slower production rates for "older" R1T's (earlier in ramp up) and those made with the line running faster (less time for in-process inspection) perhaps?

The thing being no matter how it happened that they built a defective vehicle – it's a new line and these are hand built vehicles, so failure is excusable – there must be a dozen people in the sequence in a position designated to say "nope" before delivering it to the customer. In the context of the billions of dollars "burn" rate, the cost of any given vehicle is relatively trivial and the priority for now is to build perfect cars.
As a rule in any "quality" system, there are many people authorized to say "no" and very few people authorized to say "yes" … that's the question … what motivated someone in authority to approve delivery of a vehicle that has any defect that cannot be rectified in the field?

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[Chewy734]

This is rather disconcerting, yet somewhat unsurprising for early builds. I don’t recall this being being common on new $80k ICE vehicles.

I’m curious what kind of QC thresholds they have, because if these builds passed, imagine what didn’t. They should probably review their QC protocols and thresholds, imo.

 

[mini2nut]

How are people feeling about panel alignment in general? Good or bad overall? I feel almost every panel is misaligned on mine. Here are some of the photos I sent to support.

I can keep going, but probably made the point.

Wow, very disappointing. I know with Tesla can reject your vehicle upon delivery and Tesla will order you another vehicle from the factory (I have first hand experience). Is Rivian the same way?

 

[the long way downunder]

Wow, very disappointing. I know with Tesla can reject up your vehicle upon delivery and Tesla will order you another vehicle from the factory (I have first hand experience). Is Rivian the same way?

No. If you refuse the vehicle for any reason you're done. You can order again, go to the back of the line, pay the new pricing. It's a BS delivery process with questionable enforcement of one-sided actions.

 

[rydb]

Mine is 3/22 and VIN 3111

 

[mitchelmb]

There are some panel alignment issues. Nothing outrageous on my R1T as some others I have seen on the forum, but definitely noticeable. Paint looks pretty good overall, but some issues I have noticed. Again, nitpicking only because the vehicle is 73k. My Vin is 2457 and I got it 3/24.

 

[Lobstahz]

This truck is probably a victim of the end of quarter rush. Was probably built quickly and shipped out fast. Looks like Rivian is repeating the same mistakes as Tesla.

THIS. Rivian turned the dial to 11 at end of quarter. QC declining at the expense of speed. I suspect they made a tradeoff knowing there would be a higher rate of service calls due to this. This early in the vehicle and service center ramp this can be "reasonably" absorbed post-delivery making this not actually as terrible as some perceive it to be. This strategy has a shot-clock though and is not a good long-term one as many have pointed out, but for a quarter ... dare I say two quarters this could be a reasonable trade for Rivian to make.

 

[Gshenderson]

THIS. Rivian turned the dial to 11 at end of quarter. QC declining at the expense of speed. I suspect they made a tradeoff knowing there would be a higher rate of service calls due to this. This early in the vehicle and service center ramp this can be "reasonably" absorbed post-delivery making this not actually as terrible as some perceive it to be. This strategy has a shot-clock though and is not a good long-term one as many have pointed out, but for a quarter ... dare I say two quarters this could be a reasonable trade for Rivian to make.

Very true. And they may also be betting that many new owners aren’t as nitpicky about fit and finish stuff as folks on forums. Probably a disproportionate number of nitpickers enthusiasts on here vs. their broader customer base.

 

[rydb]

Well today is the day. Mobile tech came up from Orlando and actually arrived 2+ hours earlier than the appt, which is fine with me. They’re replacing my steering wheel that had the wrinkles in it first, and then we’ll see about what he can even do about the door.

guy is in a very slick ford transit rather than an R1T, but he pointed out that it’s too big to get into parking garages so not ideal for every mobile service situation.

 

[DaveA]

There are some panel alignment issues. Nothing outrageous on my R1T as some others I have seen on the forum, but definitely noticeable. Paint looks pretty good overall, but some issues I have noticed. Again, nitpicking only because the vehicle is 73k. My Vin is 2457 and I got it 3/24.

Are you gonna send it in for adjustments?

I sent mine back mainly for paint and maybe 4-5 misalignments. One of my doors looked like the gap on your driver's side/passenger and hood and tailgate misaligned. Tailgate was most annoying because the lightbar accentuated it when on.

 

[Attesan997]

Anyone have a vehicle back from panel and door alignment? From the early days with my Tesla the service center worked on some of the obviously bad gaps but some of the more minor they said risked creating a gap someplace else so I let them be. Curious to see if that's been the case with anyone here.

 

[DaveA]

THIS. Rivian turned the dial to 11 at end of quarter. QC declining at the expense of speed. I suspect they made a tradeoff knowing there would be a higher rate of service calls due to this. This early in the vehicle and service center ramp this can be "reasonably" absorbed post-delivery making this not actually as terrible as some perceive it to be. This strategy has a shot-clock though and is not a good long-term one as many have pointed out, but for a quarter ... dare I say two quarters this could be a reasonable trade for Rivian to make.

I think its A team building versus B team...luck of the draw on whose building yours...mine is 15XX and has same issues as a few people at 31XX etc before the month end rush. The robots that painted mine in the booth that day were high as hell, apparently.

 

[3121]

Hang tough, don’t accept less than a correct fit.
Curious what the experience level is with the tech In body work and overall automotive experience.
I had the overconfident kid who had his factory training and paper certification…

Consider carrying a plug kit for those tread punctures. May be more affective than Slime. From years of dirt biking, my experience with tire sealants has been hit and miss. Yes, I use it, but I don’t hit the trail without those plugs. A plug kit can be the ticket for a quick and durable fix.

Back on topic, all these glaring QC issues are starting to get really concerning. How do these vehicles get out the door with such obvious issues? Surely, they can see some these problems. Are they just turning a blind eye to them? Makes me glad that I’m nearly at the back of the bus for my pre-March 1 R1S preorder. Hopefully, Rivian can sort this stuff out ASAP, so as not to lose the luster they currently have.

I think the staff believe the trucks are good to go based on lack of experience. Most of the staff I come across have little of any automotive background. In fact the service manager could not explain alignment sheet to me and said ”we are more like customer service for the service department so the techs can be left alone”.


That sounds like a great system assuming everyone is doing top quality work and has a bunch of experience. But with everyone being new there is very little depth of knowledge. I doubt many tenured techs from other brands made the jump to Rivian, it’s more of a young persons opportunity. So essentially you have a staff made up of apprentices and no journeymen/masters.

 

[3121]

Anyone have a vehicle back from panel and door alignment? From the early days with my Tesla the service center worked on some of the obviously bad gaps but some of the more minor they said risked creating a gap someplace else so I let them be. Curious to see if that's been the case with anyone here.

they worked on my trucks fenders, hood and passenger door. They improved the fit on the hood and fenders, had to shim up the passenger fender using washers…but they broke a bunch of the trim clips for the plastic covers that flak the frunk and just left them flopping in there. They messed with the door and made it worse. I ended up fixing the door myself since I have some body work experience. The passenger door had to be tapped about 1/8” clockwise at the hinges and I had to adjust the door catch.

The techs also scratched and chipped my fender when they were reattaching a missed fender trim clip. Instead of taking the trim off, adding the clip and puttingit back on, they used a pick tool to force the clip on and didn’t bother to put a few pieces of tape down on the body to avoid scratches. Lack of experience, rushing work and no one verified the work when done.
The service manager Tried to play it off as minor. I have no issue with accidents but damage that can be easily avoided is pretty disappointing.

my alignment is still not right after two attempts. The guide and service team have gone dark on me now for a week…probably hoping I go away.

Last thing I will say is the service manager was super focused on my experience…instead of focusing on the results. He told me “we did our best” which has nothing to do with anything. Either you fix it or you don't. It’s like he wanted me to acknowledge the effort vs. the results. Kept asking me whatare you up to this weekend and have you take the truck off road yet? That’s car salesman BS, trying to change the subject and get a positive/yes out of you. Nonsense

 

[DaveA]

they worked on my trucks fenders, hood and passenger door. They improved the fit on the hood and fenders, had to shim up the passenger fender using washers…but they broke a bunch of the trim clips for the plastic covers that flak the frunk and just left them flopping in there. They messed with the door and made it worse. I ended up fixing the door myself since I have some body work experience. The passenger door had to be tapped about 1/8” clockwise at the hinges and I had to adjust the door catch.

The techs also scratched and chipped my fender when they were reattaching a missed fender trim clip. Instead of taking the trim off, adding the clip and puttingit back on, they used a pick tool to force the clip on and didn’t bother to put a few pieces of tape down on the body to avoid scratches. Lack of experience, rushing work and no one verified the work when done.
The service manager Tried to play it off as minor. I have no issue with accidents but damage that can be easily avoided is pretty disappointing.

my alignment is still not right after two attempts. The guide and service team have gone dark on me now for a week…probably hoping I go away.

Last thing I will say is the service manager was super focused on my experience…instead of focusing on the results. He told me “we did our best” which has nothing to do with anything. Either you fix it or you don't. It’s like he wanted me to acknowledge the effort vs. the results. Kept asking me whatare you up to this weekend and have you take the truck off road yet? That’s car salesman BS, trying to change the subject and get a positive/yes out of you. Nonsense

Ah man…you got me all worried now…?

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