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Rivian Servicing & Repairs?

Lil'O Annie

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What are the plans for how owners will get servicing and repairs? This has been a big disappointment for Tesla owners with repairs taking way too long and being very expensive.
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PoorPilot

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I have been very pleased with the service on my Model X (knock on wood- no repairs needed yet). Between the customer service, semi-local service center and the mobile service, everything has been top notch. I have heard of some horror stories in other parts of the country, but my experience has been great. Granted, you never know how exaggerated some stories may be too.

I hope Rivian has some type of mobile service as well as service center(s) setup. There hasn’t been any information disclosed about either yet, so hopefully this type of information will be released soon. Especially if they are looking at a mid-2020 release date.
 

Hydro

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I can see Rivian adopting Tesla’s mobile service model for non major repairs. My neighbor has had them come out to his house for his Model S and he was real happy with it. They fixed his door handle issue and also offered to rotated his wheels on the spot right in his garage.

What remains to be seen is how they’ll service major fixes and issues. No doubt they’ll have to have actual service centers. Also looking forward to hearing what the factory warranty length will be.
 

Alan Burns

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Katsudon

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I have been pondering the cost of repairs to the aluminum unibody and how that might affect Rivian insurance prices. It seems experience with the Ford F-150 pickup repairs find the aluminum repairs are no higher than steel repairs.

https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/dear-car-talk/has-aluminum-increased-ford-f-150-repair-costs

The Rivian vehicles have bolt on front fenders which should keep those common repair costs reasonable.
Good read and reassuring to hear that aluminum body may not necessarily increase insurance costs.

From the article it sounds like Ford took proactive steps to make sure repair costs of their aluminum F-150 didn't go up by offering discounted repair equipment and training to dealers, lowering price of aluminum body parts, and making the truck more modular.

Since Rivian won't have a dealerships and will likely be running its own service centers, it'll be directly making repairs and setting their own pricing for aluminum body parts, so it can control how much it requests from insurance company. But, is the Rivian body considered modular compared to the F-150?
 

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R1T for ME

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Tesla service is horrendous right now. My model S has never been right since I picked it up on 12/21/19 and for anyone that might not think I know what I am talking about, its my 3rd one. I never had a systems powering up message and now I get one all the time. While they kept trying to tell me it was a computer issue, after bringing the car 2.5 hours away for service, they reached out and said there was only a 30% chance the computer replacement would fix my issue. Sure enough, it didn't fix it at all and what is really awful and an even bigger concern for me now is that they returned the car and decided without me asking or my approval to have someone wax it with a buffer wheel!! Now I have swirl marks all over my Model S with less than 2500 miles on it.

The worst part of Tesla service is you cant even talk to anyone anymore!! While trying to find out where my car was yesterday as it was with a transporter, since I couldn't get ahold of anyone in NYC, I had to call CA sales dept and have them try in get in touch with someone from Tesla in Mt Kisco and when I was on the phone with CA, the lady even said I have been having trouble getting ahold of the Mt. Kisco location today. Tesla service is the worst I have seen in 5 years.

Looking forward to hearing how Rivian will handle service and even more importantly, where the service centers will be located....
 

Alan Burns

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I would like to see a way to arrive at Normal about 3 days early to spend a day in a classroom getting lectures and manuals concerning operations and maintenance about the vehicle we are buying and how to interact with the Rivian support system.
 

PoorPilot

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I would like to see a way to arrive at Normal about 3 days early to spend a day in a classroom getting lectures and manuals concerning operations and maintenance about the vehicle we are buying and how to interact with the Rivian support system.
In theory, this might work, but based on my experience with Tesla (and Rivian will probably be the same), there isn't much maintenance that the everyday user can do. There are no oil changes, transmission fluid checks, even brake pads can last 200k+ miles if driven correctly. The only thing I can check on my Tesla is the wiper fluid and the tire pressure. Most "fixes" can be done via over-the-air software updates (much like a cell phone). If that doesn't work, then, at least in the case of Tesla and possibly Rivian, they send a mobile mechanic out to fix the issue. If I lived close to a Tesla service center, then I could bring it in for a traditional dealership mechanic, but that has not been necessary in my case. Tesla recommends an annual service check where they check everything for me which takes all of about 30mins to an hour. I think every 4th or 5th year, Tesla will replace the battery cooling fluid as well.

Overall, EV's are truly different beasts compared to traditional ICE vehicles. A lot of people don't understand that and still want to have their Saturday afternoon "work on the truck" days with their buddies. That's not the case with these vehicles. There's nothing to work on.
 

Alan Burns

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I will be 69 or 70 when I get my R1T. If Rivian establishes service centers they might be in Billings 300 miles east or Spokane 200 miles west. If 2 or 3 others in Missoula purchase Rivian perhaps we can form a local users group and meet for breakfast once a month or something.

There will be some local car dealers with electric car lines by then for Mercedes, Buick, Cadillac and Nissan. The local Mercedes dealer who handles my GMC thinks Mercedes may not allow him to use his electric mechanics on non Mercedes vehicles. Mayhaps Buick will not apply the same restrictions. It is nice to know troubleshooting can be handled wirelessly. My GMC has some of that included and a more with an advanced extra cost version. The car even checks my tire pressure and alerts me when a tire gets out of range.
 

PoorPilot

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Hopefully the word will spread in your area and you all can have some drive-ins to show off your new toys.

I don't know, nor does anyone other than a few select Rivian folks, what the service-center, repair shop picture will look like. They have hinted at starting with a few service-centers (much like Tesla) in a few select markets to start with the hopes of expanding, but other than that, it is anyone's guess.
 

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EyeOnRivian

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FWIW, I had read the following in this late November Motor Trend article:

"... Rivian plans to borrow Elon Musk's direct-to-customer sales model, using mall store kiosks, potentially offering subscription usage models, and possibly contracting with third-party providers to deliver Genesis-like concierge maintenance and service."

I was at the Chicago Auto Show last month and since Rivian disappointingly did not attend I had asked a representative from Genesis what kind of "concierge maintenance and service" they provide. She basically said they use Hyundai service centers since Hyundai is their parent company. OK, but Rivian doesn't have a parent company (yet?). Perhaps this is/was "part" of the reason GM (along with Amazon) were "possibly" interested in investing in Rivian? Perhaps Rivian will broker some type of partnership with a presumably large car manufacture with ample service centers?
 

GreenMonster

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FWIW, I had read the following in this late November Motor Trend article:

"... Rivian plans to borrow Elon Musk's direct-to-customer sales model, using mall store kiosks, potentially offering subscription usage models, and possibly contracting with third-party providers to deliver Genesis-like concierge maintenance and service."

I was at the Chicago Auto Show last month and since Rivian disappointingly did not attend I had asked a representative from Genesis what kind of "concierge maintenance and service" they provide. She basically said they use Hyundai service centers since Hyundai is their parent company. OK, but Rivian doesn't have a parent company (yet?). Perhaps this is/was "part" of the reason GM (along with Amazon) were "possibly" interested in investing in Rivian? Perhaps Rivian will broker some type of partnership with a presumably large car manufacture with ample service centers?
Servicing your Rivian at a GM (Cadillac or Chevy) service center?! Besides the fact that GM service centers are inept, I doubt many Rivian owners would be happy having to bring their vehicles into another brand's service centers. If I'm paying$70-90k for a car I want to have a certain ownership experience and that includes having our own service centers.

And I really hope if GM comes on as an investor they'll only be doing so for a financial return and access to Rivian technology.
 

Electronaut

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Good read and reassuring to hear that aluminum body may not necessarily increase insurance costs.

From the article it sounds like Ford took proactive steps to make sure repair costs of their aluminum F-150 didn't go up by offering discounted repair equipment and training to dealers, lowering price of aluminum body parts, and making the truck more modular.

Since Rivian won't have a dealerships and will likely be running its own service centers, it'll be directly making repairs and setting their own pricing for aluminum body parts, so it can control how much it requests from insurance company. But, is the Rivian body considered modular compared to the F-150?
Talking about aluminum - Rivian's chief engineer Brian Gase was on the team at Ford that created the aluminum body F-150. So there's plenty of expertise at Rivian for properly developing an aluminum truck body.
 

Electric Rivilution

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I think servicing is one of the biggest challenges for a startup. Even if you bypass having stores and sell online only, you still have to have physical service centers, there's just no getting around that. And only so much can be serviced by mobile service teams. Most things will still require the vehicle to be brought into a service facility.

And here's where a startup can be a victim of its own success. Take Tesla for example - its easy enough for me to make a service appointment via the online appointment system, but appointments are weeks out. I attribute this to: 1) Tesla's service centers not being able to keep up with the company's sales success in terms of # of vehicles sold and 2) questionable vehicle reliability is putting a strain on service. Parts shortages are also a possible issue for startups. I've been waiting on an axle replacement for my Model X for weeks now and they still can't give me an ETA on when they expect it to arrive. :headbang:
 

CappyJax

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Service & charging are still unknowns, and Rivian is going to have to address these before they start delivering. Otherwise, people will just cancel their reservations.

Many manufacturers do not consider maintainability when designing vehicles. Personally, I think all engineers should be mechanics for 5 years before they get to design anything. So, depending on how much thought was put into maintainability, mobile service centers may or may not be feasible. But the skate board design does look amazingly simple, and I don't think there is much that couldn't be replaced in the field.
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