R1S second row seats are laughably hard to manipulate

[Deleted member 9190]

4 weeks into my Rivian R1S adventure. traded up from a 2021 Explorer ST.

We had family come into town. 2 adults and 2 kids. Went paddelboarding, then up to Mt Rainier. Did some geocaching etc. Lots of getting everyone into and out of the R1S. Easy enough for the kids to get into and out of the third row, but good god man...sliding the second row back into place after loading them up. IT's ridiculous that it's as difficult as it is. I never realized this until we got into and out of the truck 4-5 times in an hour while searching for a geocache.

Push the button on the top of the seat to slide the seat forward and tilt the back of the seat forward. But to slide it back into place takes so much force. And then adjusting the seat to its prior location before tilting the back to a normal position.

I'm still shaking my head about it.

Other than that and lack of Apple Car play, I love the vehicle.

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[MidnightRivian]

4 weeks into my Rivian R1S adventure. traded up from a 2021 Explorer ST.

We had family come into town. 2 adults and 2 kids. Went paddelboarding, then up to Mt Rainier. Did some geocaching etc. Lots of getting everyone into and out of the R1S. Easy enough for the kids to get into and out of the third row, but good god man...sliding the second row back into place after loading them up. IT's ridiculous that it's as difficult as it is. I never realized this until we got into and out of the truck 4-5 times in an hour while searching for a geocache.

Push the button on the top of the seat to slide the seat forward and tilt the back of the seat forward. But to slide it back into place takes so much force. And then adjusting the seat to its prior location before tilting the back to a normal position.

I'm still shaking my head about it.

Other than that and lack of Apple Car play, I love the vehicle.

I think I know what the issue is.

RJ told the engineers he wanted a heavy steering and light seats but I'm pretty sure the engineers wrote down light steering and heavy seats.

 

[Deleted member 9190]

LOL Sounds about right!

 

[R1TS]

Yup.

Not an exaggeration when I say these are the worst second-row seats of any 3-row vehicle I’ve ever sat in.

It’s an adventure climbing in and out of the second row (without running steps) and then having to manipulate those second row seats.

 

[GatorCat94]

Completely agree. We have 4 kids and the 2nd row seat mechanism is frustrating at best. We just got back from vacation and rented a VW Atlas. Nothing special, but the 2nd row mechanism was vastly superior. The whole seat tilted forward and went right back to where it started. For an $80K SUV it’s as if the design team either A) doesn’t have more than 1-2 kids or B) have never ridden in another 3 row SUV. It‘s not a huge problem when you are settled in for an hour but if you’re running errands it’s a mess.

 

[SoCal Rob]

I think I know what the issue is.

RJ told the engineers he wanted a heavy steering and light seats but I'm pretty sure the engineers wrote down light steering and heavy seats.

It all makes perfect sense now!!!

Seriously, the steering at freeway speeds seems way too boosted. It makes me wonder if they need to keep it this way for ADAS.

 

[Batman]

I have a service appointment for my steering wheel vibration. Road force balancing at discount tire helped some but I can still feel the vibration on rough roads and over 75mph.

 

[SANZC02]

It all makes perfect sense now!!!

Seriously, the steering at freeway speeds seems way too boosted. It makes me wonder if they need to keep it this way for ADAS.

I do not seem to notice that on mind curious the settings you have for lane keeping. Mine is pretty much off, just have the wheel vibrate to alert.

 

[ElGuapo]

They’re definitely frustrating. I’ve gotten the technique down so I can get the seat bottom back to where it started - have to push that into place before you touch the seat back.

But, the seat back goes to original “near 90 degree” position no matter what.

It’s a pain, but no car or truck is perfect. I love so many things about the R1S, but yes, second row seat sliding is no fun. And it IS kind of embarrassing since so many companies have gotten right - so copying the mechanism should have been possible.

 

[Hawkjody]

4 weeks into my Rivian R1S adventure. traded up from a 2021 Explorer ST.

We had family come into town. 2 adults and 2 kids. Went paddelboarding, then up to Mt Rainier. Did some geocaching etc. Lots of getting everyone into and out of the R1S. Easy enough for the kids to get into and out of the third row, but good god man...sliding the second row back into place after loading them up. IT's ridiculous that it's as difficult as it is. I never realized this until we got into and out of the truck 4-5 times in an hour while searching for a geocache.

Push the button on the top of the seat to slide the seat forward and tilt the back of the seat forward. But to slide it back into place takes so much force. And then adjusting the seat to its prior location before tilting the back to a normal position.

I'm still shaking my head about it.

Other than that and lack of Apple Car play, I love the vehicle.

Agree - needs CarPlay and captains chairs in second row would be awesome!

 

[Zeus]

4 weeks into my Rivian R1S adventure. traded up from a 2021 Explorer ST.

We had family come into town. 2 adults and 2 kids. Went paddelboarding, then up to Mt Rainier. Did some geocaching etc. Lots of getting everyone into and out of the R1S. Easy enough for the kids to get into and out of the third row, but good god man...sliding the second row back into place after loading them up. IT's ridiculous that it's as difficult as it is. I never realized this until we got into and out of the truck 4-5 times in an hour while searching for a geocache.

Push the button on the top of the seat to slide the seat forward and tilt the back of the seat forward. But to slide it back into place takes so much force. And then adjusting the seat to its prior location before tilting the back to a normal position.

I'm still shaking my head about it.

Other than that and lack of Apple Car play, I love the vehicle.

Think about it this way: as an adventure vehicle, RJ and the team wanted to ensure that our arms are up to the task of adventuring.

Seriously, I can imagine how difficult it is. I'll use my waiting time to ensure my arms are ready.

 

[Batman]

Captains chairs with cooling seats would be fantastic like in my Kia

 

[Zoidz]

Agree, row two seat adjustment is a challenge. My wife could not figure it out. She's a smart woman and had familiarity with this stuff from our Suburban. Once I showed her, she struggled with the weight/force required.

 

[Dark-Fx]

"Alexa, navigate to the gym"

 

[strangelove]

Agree. They are particularly annoying when you can't open the door wide enough, as when in a parking lot without adequate spacing. If you're piling six or seven people in, it gets to be annoying. I can manage it, but it drives my wife crazy. She's capable, but doesn't think it should be that challenging, and I agree.

It's a relatively minor gripe, but one worth addressing in future iterations of the R1S. For our family, simply having captains chairs with a pass-through would solve the issue completely. We routinely have six in the car, but seven is only for emergencies. It's not that comfortable anyways for the seventh.

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