OutofSpec Kyle Gets His R1T - Rivian Factory Delivery Video

[mgc0216]

A Rivian in Montana seems like a great plan!

Reminds me of a post on here a while back where someone picked up their R1T then proceeded to come on here and complain of a lack of charging infrastructure in the area where they lived.

Did you not look into charging infrastructure before you spent $75-$80k on a new truck? No? Then that's on you, buddy.

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[zipzag]

I'm upset about Kyle, but strangely O.K. if iJustine would get an early vehicle.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I don’t think anyone is faulting Kyle. He wanted a truck. He did everything within his power to get one, and he did.

It’s more so on Rivian.

Is this a marketing thing? If so, that’s fine. Companies are within their rights to compensate someone for selling their business. He’s no different than any other Rivian employee who took delivery before us. His compensation happens to be in the form of expedited delivery and heck, even reduced pricing.

But if it’s not - and it seems the video required Rivians approval - and the message is very clearly that Kyle is just one of us…then im sure there’s a very pissed off LE reservation holder who has a white on green ordered who hasn’t taken delivery. Why did Rivian give him the right to jump everyone else?

If you’re going to tell us he gets special because he helps sell. I buy that. If not, then Rivian has a broken prioritization and delivery model.

 

[Guy]

I don’t think anyone is faulting Kyle. He wanted a truck. He did everything within his power to get one, and he did.

It’s more so on Rivian.

Is this a marketing thing? If so, that’s fine. Companies are within their rights to compensate someone for selling their business. He’s no different than any other Rivian employee who took delivery before us. His compensation happens to be in the form of expedited delivery and heck, even reduced pricing.

But if it’s not - and it seems the video required Rivians approval - and the message is very clearly that Kyle is just one of us…then im sure there’s a very pissed off LE reservation holder who has a white on green ordered who hasn’t taken delivery. Why did Rivian give him the right to jump everyone else?

If you’re going to tell us he gets special because he helps sell. I buy that. If not, then Rivian has a broken prioritization and delivery model.

I think quite a few people blame both Kyle and Rivian.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I think quite a few people blame both Kyle and Rivian.

I know. But I don’t.

But that might just be because now I know he’s capable of getting a R1T early and I want to stay on his good side so he can get me mine so I can jump in front of everyone else too.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

I know. But I don’t.

But that might just be because now I know he’s capable of getting a R1T early and I want to stay on his good side so he can get me mine so I can jump in front of everyone else too.

yea, same here. I’m not particularly happy with Rivian. I know Kyle will make some top notch content, but I don’t think he’s being honest with us or himself when he says his YouTube channel has nothing to do with him getting one so quickly.

 

[dleepnw]

What a bunch of whiners. It's one truck, out of 90k. You think one is going to make a difference for how quickly you get yours?

Further, as far as I know, Rivian has spent little to no money on advertising. Delivering a few trucks early to influencers in their target market segments is just smart business, and will benefit Rivian 10x more than delivering a truck to the average buyer.

You wouldn't be upset if you saw Rivian commercials on TV running right now. Think of this as that, not as someone skipping the line.

And get off your "I deserve it" high horses.

calm down bro

 

[dleepnw]

yea, same here. I’m not particularly happy with Rivian. I know Kyle will make some top notch content, but I don’t think he’s being honest with us or himself when he says his YouTube channel has nothing to do with him getting one so quickly.

after watching his video, i get the feeling that's what Rivian told Kyle. meaning they told him were not letting you cut the line because you're a YTer but because they think he has good insights and could provide valuable feedback as an "unofficial official reviewer". i also have a hunch he might be under an NDA (formal or informal) and may not say exactly why.

one thing i find weird though is if he's going to skip the line this much, what difference does it make which truck they give him? and on top of that, he's picking it up straight from the factory. i suspect they could have given him one much closer to his desired config but they chose not to, not sure why.

anyway, i think it'll be interesting how the truck performs without the underbody shield and what kind of wheel/tire options he can find. go, go Kyle! please find all the design and engineering issues so they can make it better.

 

[SANZC02]

after watching his video, i get the feeling that's what Rivian told Kyle. meaning they told him were not letting you cut the line because you're a YTer but because they think he has good insights and could provide valuable feedback as an "unofficial official reviewer". i also have a hunch he might be under an NDA (formal or informal) and may not say exactly why.

one thing i find weird though is if he's going to skip the line this much, what difference does it make which truck they give him? and on top of that, he's picking it up straight from the factory. i suspect they could have given him one much closer to his desired config but they chose not to, not sure why.

anyway, i think it'll be interesting how the truck performs without the underbody shield and what kind of wheel/tire options he can find. go, go Kyle! please find all the design and engineering issues so they can make it better.

It makes sense to me if you are offering up one early to someone it would be from the orphan lot.

In my mind that is better than building one to spec.

 

[Dark-Fx]

My guide said there was a truck in LA last month with 22” wheels and the underbody protection- no one wanted it…

My config is 22's with underbody. I got my truck at the end of March.

This is not a Kyle \ YouTube thing - I asked my guide if I could pick up my truck at the factory and he made it happen - and I live in Oregon.

I live in Michigan, asked if I would be able to take delivery at the factory on my way home from our vacation in the Hummer and just got crickets about it. I believe my truck might have been assigned to someone else who declined it though.

 

[SASSquatch]

My takeaway starting from Kyle's description of how the sale went down (around the 12:30 mark in the video).

• He had contacts at RIVIAN which he would not have been able to get without his status as a YouTuber
• He then leveraged those contacts because he was a YouTuber and attempted to actually cut the line in front of others who had been waiting for years but was denied.
• He then leveraged connections at RIVIAN to get guide contact well before anyone else who would have placed a reservation in the timeframe he placed his reservation.
• The guide then shuttled him into the Shop program which was supposed to be prioritized for the earliest reservation holders so that he could pick out an available configuration.
• Kyle now has an R1T.

Does anyone know if he paid PRE MARCH 1 prices? I would be pretty pissed if he got the pre-MARCH 1 pricing.

I'm conflicted. Kyled did all of us a service and put together a lot of great content on the R1T but at the same time he used the leverage afforded to him by his status to gain connections and then leverage those to jump the line and, frankly, he appears disingenuous in how he is attempting to tiptoe around all of that.

I have no doubt he will continue to make great content that the community will eager to see, but I would have rather he just have been completely transparent and say that he used connections a non-YouTuber wouldn't have - he jumped the line, but he did it for a good cause and that he will spend the next X months making as much content as he can to make it up to the community.

 

[Gator42]

I don't know if Kyle will share but I still come back to the Kyle/Magna/Klein connection. As others here have mentioned contract work makes for blurry employee status and didn't the interwebs recently announce a delivery of an S to a 'non-employee' with an existing 'relationship' to Rivian?

This would seem to fit that scenario...

 

[Acoustic71]

…you hate bitching yet you’re here bitching about bitching. Worse than bitching in my book.

Now I’m off contemplate bitching about bitching about bitching ?…

So which bitch is which?

 

[moosehead]

Really? An orphan lot? There's no orphans at Rivian. There's just a long line. Take a number. We may or may not get to you sometime in the estimated future.

 

[ztron]

Who else was shorted a fancy pelican case? I guess that a benefit of picking it up at the plant?

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