With interest rates rising, how many won’t be completing their R1 purchase?

[Prime]

“Once it bottoms out”…..please let me know when you are sure it has bottomed out. I’ve been trying to figure this out for a long long time.

Fair. I buy when there is significant drops on stocks with excellent track records. Think apple Netflix google. I’m not a day trader and I’ve done just fine for myself buying at drops and holding long term. For me it’s a piece of my retirement. Stock market always trends up. There’s of course the sears and Cisco’s of the world that were once lauded as forever companies, risks with everything.

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[Gamma rays]

haha. guess I'll have to worry about that....never.

Which do you prefer? Hitting the Rivian lottery or real lottery?

GR

 

[Zoidz]

The average pickup truck or SUV transaction is around $55k - $60k depending on who you get the data from.

I really, REALLY want Rivian to succeed but you raised a point I think people should consider: If it takes everything you have to buy your Rivian and the vehicle ends up an orphan, will you be screwed and unable to get something else?

In the past it was bad enough if a manufacturer went under, but today’s cars with incredible complexity, OTA updates to address bugs, and manufacturer-mediated services/apps are a totally different level of serviceability. Today’s cars don’t even have standardized replaceable lightbulbs so an orphan involved in a minor crash could be totaled. This possibility is one of the factors which factored into my estimate of the value of buying a Rivian as an early adopter.

My thought is that Rivian has reached critical mass in the EV space. If it became a dire situation, a bigger company would aquire them. They have a ton of patents and other valuable IP. Not saying it would be smooth..... But yes, this is early adopter territory with inherent risk and you should not stretch yourself to buy a Rivian.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Wow. So I guess the only advantage of being a very early adopter may have been that I got locked in at 1.99% before the rates went up.
RIVIAN really needs to consider offering financing and lease options. Lease would have made a lot more sense for me personally (I know it’s not for everyone so let’s not start that discussion).

doesn’t Tesla offer their own financing? Doesn’t seem like it would be very hard to partner with a bank and negotiate better rates. At the very least it would streamline the process.

Rivian offers their own financing, but it's through Chase Bank and it's not competitive.

 

[Count Orlok]

Stock market always trends up.

Don't tell that to Nikkei circa 1989... LOL

 

[VHRivian]

I am seeing some thoughts out there that high inflation is sticking because higher earners still have significant excess savings right now and have not slowed spending at all. If demand for goods and services remain high, then there is no incentive for prices to decline at all. It's going to take some major pain to get people to slow down.

Specific to Rivian - if you can afford the vehicle/insurance then you fall into the camp of people less likely to be affected by higher interest rates and other rising costs. Most of the people that planned to buy before have not changed course.

 

[mabowden]

At ~2% I was planning on financing most with a ~$20K down payment, then pay off in a couple years. Now I'm probably going to do 50/50 and payoff in a year. If rates go up by the time I buy, I might pay even more cash. As others have said, if interest rates were a consideration for me to buy, I shouldn't be buying. While I will be fine in my situation, I do feel a little bad about the idea buying such an expensive and unnecessary vehicle with the economy going south.

I'm in the exact same boat. Luckily at the beginning of 2022 I set aside the cash for the Rivian out of the market. I was thinking I'd finance 40k, then 30k, now 20k. We'll see if I finance anything by the time this thing comes, lol.

 

[Rousie13]

Luckily I got a 2.5% rate when I got my Rivian and only financed 50% of the price. I was planning on paying it off in a year or less, but with everything going on, I’m just going to ride this loan out for a while. I can pay off the loan now but I’m earning more money having that cash sitting instead of paying off that Rivian loan.

 

[Engi_Nerd]

I had planned to finance around 50K @ 2.5%. The rate hikes, increasing cost of electricity, and current poor Rivian quality control / service experience at the moment have ensured I will be delaying my order as long as I can while maintaining pre-March pricing.

 

[popoga]

I swapped my R1S to a T in order to get a vehicle in the current year; that said, if anyone wants to give up their pre-March pricing spot on an R1S, just let me know and I'll cut you a chunk of the price difference as well as giving you right of first refusal if & when I sell the truck

 

[DJG]

Interest rates cut both ways, so if you have more in savings than you are borrowing, higher rates are actually a net benefit and you're coming out ahead vs. when they were lower. That is, of course, assuming your savings rate has increased as much or more than your borrowing rate. My account rate has increased by over 2% this year.

 

[Count Orlok]

Interest rates cut both ways, so if you have more in savings than you are borrowing, higher rates are actually a net benefit and you're coming out ahead vs. when they were lower. That is, of course, assuming your savings rate has increased as much or more than your borrowing rate. My account rate has increased by over 2% this year.

true but don't forget to account for APY being taxed.

 

[silkyjohnson]

It’s a truck. No truck should be seen as an investment. Top reason I wouldn’t buy right now is if I would trust the truck to run something like the WA BDR and not leave me stranded with a giant bill because of something breaking. This forum is gasoline for those concerns.

 

[R1T-8171]

Here's my two cents from a car selling standpoint. Unless you're hunting for a particular payment, put down $0 cash. If you have good credit, finance the vehicle and make double/triple/quadruple payments, whatever. Keep your money, pay minimal interest and make your money work for you. Paying cash for a vehicle is dumb unless you have fuck you money. And, if you do, you likely don't give a shit about what I have to say. But that vehicle will never be worth what it is today, tomorrow. You wreck that vehicle, it likely won't recoup you all of the cash you spend. And for everyday joes or upper middle class, there are better ways you could use your money rather than wrapping it up in a vehicle.

 

[Count Orlok]

Here's my two cents from a car selling standpoint. Unless you're hunting for a particular payment, put down $0 cash. If you have good credit, finance the vehicle and make double/triple/quadruple payments, whatever. Keep your money, pay minimal interest and make your money work for you. Paying cash for a vehicle is dumb unless you have fuck you money. And, if you do, you likely don't give a shit about what I have to say. But that vehicle will never be worth what it is today, tomorrow. You wreck that vehicle, it likely won't recoup you all of the cash you spend. And for everyday joes or upper middle class, there are better ways you could use your money rather than wrapping it up in a vehicle.

paying interest on a depreciating purchase makes no sense if you have cash. And if someone needs a loan, the worse thing they can do is to be a "payment" buyer. TBH, if someone needs more than a 36 month note to "afford" a vehicle they are buying too much car for their budget.

just my .02

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