Broken Suspension on R1T ? during PNW Rivian group trip: WA BDR.

[godfodder0901]

She’s home and it goes up and down again… only took a month. Hoping no more service needs for a while ?

Yeah!!!!!

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[jjswan33]

Yeah!!!!!

Any luck getting your RB baby back home yet?

 

[godfodder0901]

Any luck getting your RB baby back home yet?

Yes. Got her back Monday but... Not happy with the outcome. Seems like 1 of the 43 items on the WO was done adequately. They are sending a mobile tech so I can cover my expectations of corrections in person. To be fair, none of the issues affect how much I LOVE this truck. Smiles every day, even when I get flipped off for smoking a tuned STI...

 

[SeaGeo]

Glad you got your back and capable of up-downs Josh! Don't ever put it in camp mode ever again!

 

[Acoustic71]

Yes. Got her back Monday but... Not happy with the outcome. Seems like 1 of the 43 items on the WO was done adequately. They are sending a mobile tech so I can cover my expectations of corrections in person. To be fair, none of the issues affect how much I LOVE this truck. Smiles every day, even when I get flipped off for smoking a tuned STI...

I find it so strange how some misguided folks react to the fact that I can easily keep up with their hog whatever. Little do they seem to know that I could smoke 'em any time I felt like it.

When I get "fingered" I just smile and wave. It seems to drive them crazy. Oopsie!

 

[johstacy]

So we had a plan to meet up and do an overlanding mission with our trucks (Myself, @mgc0216, @SeaGeo, @kylealden). The plan was to charge in Yakima Saturday morning then pick up the WA BDR (Backcountry discovery route) towards Ellensburg to charge then continue the WA BDR to Cashmere then head to Leavenworth to charge up and head on our way.

I personally was in Bellevue getting my DF hub replaced at the end of the week, so left there and drove over Chinook Pass in the Rivian and found a camping spot west of Yakima for Friday night, then we met the others in Yakima Saturday morning.

I got the latest update installed just before we left Yakima so was excited to try that out. I did test it while parked downhill for lunch and seemed to work well, albeit slowly. Also camp courtesy is great, no more sounds or bright lights when locking/unlocking the truck.

Unfortunetaly for me disaster strikes day one of the trip. The suspension on the PF wheel appears to be leaking such that the truck is nearly sitting on the wheel, definitely rubs if you turn to sharply. It’s a shame because the trail was not overly technical so not sure what the failure point was, we had a few theories but anyones guess. We were able limp my truck to a nice spot to camp for the night then continue to limp out to Ellensburg. This did happen not long after using the camp level feature for lunch but not sure it’s related, though It is possible. After the damage to the suspension I was having a lot of issues with overheating the compressor, it also limited me some due to camp mode and it trying to reset the level on our way out which limited me to 8mph but I was able to reset that issue.

Rivian has been very helpful but are limited in options since rental car agencies in Ellensburg as well as the service center in Bellevue are closed until Tuesday. So they have agreed to reimburse me for the hotel stay for the weekend and my dog and I will ride it out through the holiday. I’ll make the best of it but sad we couldn’t continue our journey to Cashmere.

I‘m sure the others will be able to post much better pictures as we had a dedicated camera person(s).

9/7 Update: They found a leak in passenger front damper. They replaced it and inspected the rest of the suspension and all is good.

I was looking at doing that very same trail was this a local group / club you where going with? Also was the infotainment system good enough for overlanding or did you use a separate GPS system?

 

[jjswan33]

I was looking at doing that very same trail was this a local group / club you where going with? Also was the infotainment system good enough for overlanding or did you use a separate GPS system?

We organized this trip on this forum in the PNW section, ended up with two PDX folks and two SEA folks for the final trip.

I use Gaia GPS on my IPad for offroad navigation, IMO the Rivian infotainment is insufficient for offroad navigation for a few reasons, but can have it's uses if you have a connection.

 

[johstacy]

We organized this trip on this forum in the PNW section, ended up with two PDX folks and two SEA folks for the final trip.

I use Gaia GPS on my IPad for offroad navigation, IMO the Rivian infotainment is insufficient for offroad navigation for a few reasons, but can have it's uses if you have a connection.

That seems to be the sentiment I think I am going to get the Garmin Overlander and use that.. Guess I will keep an eye on the forums for the next group outing that is posted

 

[jjswan33]

That seems to be the sentiment I think I am going to get the Garmin Overlander and use that.. Guess I will keep an eye on the forums for the next group outing that is posted

Sounds good. Would love to see you with the next meetup. Best of luck on your upcoming delivery.

 

[roberttatefan]

Yes. Got her back Monday but... Not happy with the outcome. Seems like 1 of the 43 items on the WO was done adequately. They are sending a mobile tech so I can cover my expectations of corrections in person. To be fair, none of the issues affect how much I LOVE this truck. Smiles every day, even when I get flipped off for smoking a tuned STI...

That’s what they initially claimed but I doubt they can deliver that service or advertise that much anymore.

When I was contacted by my guide back in Feb to let me know that my vehicle was imminent, I let him know that I was having second thoughts because I am 3 hours from nearest service center. He reassured me that Rivian provided a “white gloves” service experience and that they would send a mobile tech to my location should I have any issues. Unfortunately, this was not true and I have been asked to drive my vehicle 3 hours to the nearest service center each time I have had to reach out to service and have not once been offered a mobile tech. Rivian did arrange for my vehicle to be towed to Houston when I had a hydraulic leak that made the vehicle unsafe to drive - I didn’t expect a mobile tech to be able to address that.

Have either of you pushed back on Rivian? I'm shocked by how many owners seem to be taking this in stride. There's a repeated pattern I'm seeing where: A) Rivian wants you to spend your time getting the truck to/from them (despite promises that this would not be the service delivery model B) Rivian not fixing the thing they claimed to fix and C) Trucks spending as much time getting worked on as in your possession.

I don't understand how anyone can own an $80K+ vehicle and be willing to put up with this kind of runaround. Are people really just taking this on the chin?

I was all-in on Rivian early on, but I'm pretty cold on them both as an investor and order holder. Begrudgingly, I've started the car/truck shopping process again as I'm not confident Rivian can deliver.

 

[johstacy]

Have either of you pushed back on Rivian? I'm shocked by how many owners seem to be taking this in stride. There's a repeated pattern I'm seeing where: A) Rivian wants you to spend your time getting the truck to/from them (despite promises that this would not be the service delivery model B) Rivian not fixing the thing they claimed to fix and C) Trucks spending as much time getting worked on as in your possession.

I don't understand how anyone can own an $80K+ vehicle and be willing to put up with this kind of runaround. Are people really just taking this on the chin?

I was all-in on Rivian early on, but I'm pretty cold on them both as an investor and order holder. Begrudgingly, I've started the car/truck shopping process again as I'm not confident Rivian can deliver.

Personally I am willing to go through the early startup pains just to see this company get better. We need a Rivian type company like Tesla to think outside the box of the old car manufactures. I figure the big 4 can put out electric vehicles however I think Tesla and Rivian will come at it from a new angle with new ideas and not be stuck in the "well this is how we always done it"... To that end I am willing to take a little pain as it will only get better from here and I believe we will see things that the Big 4 will never think of.

 

[roberttatefan]

Personally I am willing to go through the early startup pains just to see this company get better. We need a Rivian type company like Tesla to think outside the box of the old car manufactures. I figure the big 4 can put out electric vehicles however I think Tesla and Rivian will come at it from a new angle with new ideas and not be stuck in the "well this is how we always done it"... To that end I am willing to take a little pain as it will only get better from here and I believe we will see things that the Big 4 will never think of.

I mean....I get it. Vote with your dollars. I'm all for that.

To maybe clarify my position a bit better - I knew things were going to break. I accepted that.

BUT, I can't see ownership as viable if they can't competently fix whatever breaks AND I have to spend my time shuttling the vehicle back and forth to them (which for me, an SC is approximately 150 miles away).

I guess for some, this is a luxury good/toy and they're OK with this level of inconvenience. For me, I'm not willing to accept that and will simply buy something else while Rivian (hopefully) makes the right decisions and figures this out.

 

[johstacy]

I mean....I get it. Vote with your dollars. I'm all for that.

To maybe clarify my position a bit better - I knew things were going to break. I accepted that.

BUT, I can't see ownership as viable if they can't competently fix whatever breaks AND I have to spend my time shuttling the vehicle back and forth to them (which for me, an SC is approximately 150 miles away).

I guess for some, this is a luxury good/toy and they're OK with this level of inconvenience. For me, I'm not willing to accept that and will simply buy something else while Rivian (hopefully) makes the right decisions and figures this out.

Totally understood Rivian will eventually figure it out (hopefully sooner rather than later) and everyone's situation needs to be taken into account. Not sure how many miles my SC is but I am guessing 45 to 55 minutes not in traffic. but we also have multiple vehicles and can continue to function if one has to go into the shop

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