it is glazed. The crack was not all the way through (you could not feel it on the inside of the vehicle), so it does not appear to be a safety issue to that degree.
Not sure ‘luck’ factors into the root cause analysis here. Manufacturing is never perfect, and every manufacturer knows with certainty that QC will not catch everything before it goes out the door. Generally they’re dealing in fractions of a percent, and they do prioritize fixing safety and functionality issues over cosmetic issues, but it boils down to cost to fix versus likelihood of failure. Regulators force them to fix safety issues (via mandatory recalls), but non-safety quality issues are 100% up to them. They won’t typically openly admit to any of those being an issue, but they will comp the repair when such issues arise since they’re always worried about a class action lawsuit.
fair points. id actually prefer it being bad luck because its russian roulette if were all driving around with one of the roofs that could potentially crack at any given moment.
I hear you.On Christmas Eve I decided to string some Christmas lights around my roof rails to get in the holiday spirit. The weather was pleasant for that time of year in SC (definitely not freezing). While standing on a 5-rung step ladder with the roof line a little under chest-level, I happened to rest my left elbow about 12-15 inches inside the edge of the roof glass (passenger side, above the area just behind the front passenger seat-back). Immediately there was a crunching sound as if a layer of ice suddenly crushed under my elbow. It was not ice, but it was the glass roof of my brand new R1S.
Now I am not an engineer, but I’d be shocked if I had more than 20 lbs of pressure on that spot—probably about what someone would exert when forgetting their manners at the dinner table). I am, however, an experienced corporate attorney that has worked in-house for a major manufacturer handling their litigation and quality-related claims—so I know a bit more about products liability and manufacturer warranties than the average person.
I’m seeing quite a few reports on this forum about similar issues with the roof glass. Even situations where the glass spontaneously cracks going through a car wash on a hot day.
In my case (and by the sound of it, in many of your cases), I suspect the crack has a lot to do with the misalignment of the body panels that support the edge of the glass which would likely cause the panel to have a slight amount of flex to it, rendering it vulnerable to cracking with very little pressure. I doubt it’s a material selection issue—despite me asking at least 3 customer service reps since the incident, no one at Rivian can tell me how much weight or pressure the glass is designed to withstand before cracking (what happens in the event of a rollover???).
Of relevance to that suspicion, when my R1S was delivered, I had to immediately schedule a service appointment to fix a misalignment in the rear hatch which caused it to make a loud thumping sound each time it opened. The left rear door was also misaligned relative to the rest of the body, and the door handle was missing a bracket or something which caused it to recess inward instead of being flush with the door panel when locked.
At that time I also noticed that the edges of the roof where the body panels meet and support the glass looked to be slightly misaligned by a few millimeters at the joints. I didn’t raise it as an issue for that first appointment because I figured it wasn’t a big deal and that they’d probably fix it during that service appointment if it were.
Fast forward to the glass incident: when I dropped it off for this second service appointment (which was also for them to re-repair the door and door handle issue because the first repair was poorly performed and didn’t resolve the issue), the service center immediately concluded that the glass was not a repair they would cover under warranty, and they plan to charge me $2500 when it is complete.
Here’s the rub: While the warranty states that generally broken glass is not a covered item, there is a very clear exclusion for defective materials and/or workmanship.
When you stop and think about it, Rivian markets itself as an adventure vehicle brand. The vehicles are shown traversing all kinds of rugged terrain, and they obviously include features that enable owners to do all sorts of off-roading. They sell roof rack attachments for all kinds of recreational equipment (kayaks, bikes, skis, boards), and even a tent that gets mounted on the roof. Does it really square with that ethos that such a minor amount of pressure (not even an impact, mind you) would cause it to crack? I do not think so.
Obviously I cannot prove to them that what I said happened actually happened, and that I didn’t smash it with a hammer or drop a kayak on the roof to cause the crack, and I don’t necessarily expect them to automatically take my word for it. However, it was very clear to me they did not bother looking further than the crack in the glass before coming to their conclusion.
I’ve seen people on here weigh in and say “report it to your insurance” or “it’s broken glass, so therefore you should just suck it up and pay.” For one, that doesn’t help Rivian improve (they need this sort of feedback loop from us Beta testers of their almost $100K vehicles), and secondly that completely ignores the warranty language permitting recovery for failure in materials or workmanship.
In my mind one of these must be true 1. Rivian designed the vehicle this way—-it selected glass for the roof that should and will crack under the slightest pressure (seems unlikely, and I didn’t see any warnings about that in the manual—you can literally stand on a Tesla Model X glass roof without it cracking). If that’s the case then they should let owners know that it is unusually fragile for a luxury adventure vehicle (to the point where I’d argue a reasonable person would not expect it to be so fragile), or 2. The glass was installed in such a way that made it especially vulnerable to cracking when any pressure was applied to the vulnerable areas. If that’s the case, then it’s clearly an issue of poor workmanship or defective materials, which is covered under warranty.
At any rate, I would love to hear from anyone that has experienced a similar event and got more information out of Rivian which could be helpful (especially if they’ve told you how resilient the roof glass is designed to be). I have included some pictures of my issue for your reference.
If your adventures are putting the glass roof at risk, you are doing something wrong.
EVERYTHING in life comes with some risk, friend.
The roof is not designed nor intended to be used as a weight bearing surface.
Same shit that happens if a rock hits your windshield? For what it's worth, I've had some pretty loud crack noises eminating from above while driving down the freeway, and no broken roofs (rooves?) here.
Evenly distributed weight? no problems at all.
Am I missing something? What vehicle with a glass roof is intended to be used to support weight at all? None of them. Don't do it. Don't rest your elbow, or your ass, or your chest, on the glass roof. Don't step on it. Don't hit it with your thick skull. Don't carry it up a ten foot ladder and drop it. And you won't have a problem breaking it.
I booped the glass with the crossbars while re-mounting them a while back. Thought for sure it was going to be an expensive mistake.
I think it no coincidence that someone at Rivian read your articulate posting and decided this litigation attorney shouldn’t have to pay for this repair. I thank you for establishing a precedent around who is responsible for glass roof breakage in incidences such as yours.On Christmas Eve I decided to string some Christmas lights around my roof rails to get in the holiday spirit. The weather was pleasant for that time of year in SC (definitely not freezing). While standing on a 5-rung step ladder with the roof line a little under chest-level, I happened to rest my left elbow about 12-15 inches inside the edge of the roof glass (passenger side, above the area just behind the front passenger seat-back). Immediately there was a crunching sound as if a layer of ice suddenly crushed under my elbow. It was not ice, but it was the glass roof of my brand new R1S.
Now I am not an engineer, but I’d be shocked if I had more than 20 lbs of pressure on that spot—probably about what someone would exert when forgetting their manners at the dinner table). I am, however, an experienced corporate attorney that has worked in-house for a major manufacturer handling their litigation and quality-related claims—so I know a bit more about products liability and manufacturer warranties than the average person.
I’m seeing quite a few reports on this forum about similar issues with the roof glass. Even situations where the glass spontaneously cracks going through a car wash on a hot day.
In my case (and by the sound of it, in many of your cases), I suspect the crack has a lot to do with the misalignment of the body panels that support the edge of the glass which would likely cause the panel to have a slight amount of flex to it, rendering it vulnerable to cracking with very little pressure. I doubt it’s a material selection issue—despite me asking at least 3 customer service reps since the incident, no one at Rivian can tell me how much weight or pressure the glass is designed to withstand before cracking (what happens in the event of a rollover???).
Of relevance to that suspicion, when my R1S was delivered, I had to immediately schedule a service appointment to fix a misalignment in the rear hatch which caused it to make a loud thumping sound each time it opened. The left rear door was also misaligned relative to the rest of the body, and the door handle was missing a bracket or something which caused it to recess inward instead of being flush with the door panel when locked.
At that time I also noticed that the edges of the roof where the body panels meet and support the glass looked to be slightly misaligned by a few millimeters at the joints. I didn’t raise it as an issue for that first appointment because I figured it wasn’t a big deal and that they’d probably fix it during that service appointment if it were.
Fast forward to the glass incident: when I dropped it off for this second service appointment (which was also for them to re-repair the door and door handle issue because the first repair was poorly performed and didn’t resolve the issue), the service center immediately concluded that the glass was not a repair they would cover under warranty, and they plan to charge me $2500 when it is complete.
Here’s the rub: While the warranty states that generally broken glass is not a covered item, there is a very clear exclusion for defective materials and/or workmanship.
When you stop and think about it, Rivian markets itself as an adventure vehicle brand. The vehicles are shown traversing all kinds of rugged terrain, and they obviously include features that enable owners to do all sorts of off-roading. They sell roof rack attachments for all kinds of recreational equipment (kayaks, bikes, skis, boards), and even a tent that gets mounted on the roof. Does it really square with that ethos that such a minor amount of pressure (not even an impact, mind you) would cause it to crack? I do not think so.
Obviously I cannot prove to them that what I said happened actually happened, and that I didn’t smash it with a hammer or drop a kayak on the roof to cause the crack, and I don’t necessarily expect them to automatically take my word for it. However, it was very clear to me they did not bother looking further than the crack in the glass before coming to their conclusion.
I’ve seen people on here weigh in and say “report it to your insurance” or “it’s broken glass, so therefore you should just suck it up and pay.” For one, that doesn’t help Rivian improve (they need this sort of feedback loop from us Beta testers of their almost $100K vehicles), and secondly that completely ignores the warranty language permitting recovery for failure in materials or workmanship.
In my mind one of these must be true 1. Rivian designed the vehicle this way—-it selected glass for the roof that should and will crack under the slightest pressure (seems unlikely, and I didn’t see any warnings about that in the manual—you can literally stand on a Tesla Model X glass roof without it cracking). If that’s the case then they should let owners know that it is unusually fragile for a luxury adventure vehicle (to the point where I’d argue a reasonable person would not expect it to be so fragile), or 2. The glass was installed in such a way that made it especially vulnerable to cracking when any pressure was applied to the vulnerable areas. If that’s the case, then it’s clearly an issue of poor workmanship or defective materials, which is covered under warranty.
At any rate, I would love to hear from anyone that has experienced a similar event and got more information out of Rivian which could be helpful (especially if they’ve told you how resilient the roof glass is designed to be). I have included some pictures of my issue for your reference.
[UPDATE 1/25/24]: Service Center agreed to repair it for free, and that they will test the resiliency of the glass to ensure it isn’t so fragile before they get it back to me. That said, they’re still researching what the designed load/impact resistance is supposed to be in order to validate the repair resolved the issue permanently (the technician off the record said that it definitely should not crack that easily). My obvious concern is that if it’s an issue with how the body panels supporting the glass are aligned, then it will still have uneven tension around the glass and eventually crack again. Will update with more info on that front if and when I get it.
Yeah, man, and this is the last thing I have to say about it, because whatever bug crawled up your butt is making you quite unpleasant...
