LOL ? Kirkland WA Service Center

[rso544]

Thought you’d all get a kick out of this the soft opening of the new Kirkland WA service center. I half expected Ron Burgundy and his news crew to come around the corner for a fight.

Service Centers are where Rivian is really completely out of its depth. The whole thing from appointments to wait times is just C- stuff.

Hopefully they level up and come up with some polished spaces in the next couple of years. Because this is pretty Mickey Mouse.

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[stackofdimes]

I was there 2 weeks ago. The manager told me they like that it is hidden away - they don’t get any looky-loos ?
That said, the street ingress/egress to that building is bonkers.

 

[chrismc]

Ooooh so THAT’s why Stew’s closed down!! There was a Reddit thread a few months ago lamenting that Stew’s had closed due a “large customer” buying out all capacity for the foreseeable future. It’s bittersweet since Stew’s was awesome, but I’m glad to see more Rivian service capacity. I have an appointment at this location in a few weeks!

 

[Benatar]

Haha. I’ve been the that self service garage. That location is terrible. Really surprised this is the Kirkland location.

 

[cohall]

They’re clearly trying to get them open quickly to reduce the wait times for service. But now that they’re doing that, they’re not pretty enough either? Every other Rivian SC has a very defined upscale look and feel. I’m quite certain this is a temporary resolution. We sure are a tough crowd sometimes (myself included).

 

[SeaGeo]

It's a temporary location that they added because Bellevue SC was overwhelmed, we were all flipping out, and they got shafted by the owner of the location they were trying to lease in that area. Not their fault.

The Auburn location is also temporary while they wait for the permanent Tukwila location to open up, which is probably a year behind schedule at this point because it got stuck in some permitting issues that weren't Rivian's doing as far as I can tell.

I suspect they're getting they are bleeding money on the temp service centers here because they paid Stew's Garage to effectively temporarily shut down their business on top of the actual lease costs of the site.

At this point, Rivian is doing pretty much everything I could ask of them given the circumstances. And to be totally honest, my recent service experiences with Rivian have been quite good and more timely than the last several experiences I had with dealers over the last four years.

We do need more certified body shops though.

 

[HeresRonnie]

I went to the service center at Stews in Auburn and the crew was top notch working out of there. Got me in quick and completed work same day. I think it was a good way for Rivian to quickly open new “service centers” without having to build a new building, although I’m wondering what the status is on the south Seattle space they are suppose to be getting into.

I also remember the early days of the tiny Tesla service center near the west Seattle bridge. Now there’s a service centers everywhere including a huge newer one in Fife. Takes time to build these things up.

 

[COdogman]

Isn’t this temporary solution an example of them “leveling up” and attempting to serve customers while they find more permanent locations?

I thought this was a good example of them thinking outside the box, but apparently the service locations must be full of Scandinavian furniture and hipsters before they get credit.

 

[rso544]

They’re clearly trying to get them open quickly to reduce the wait times for service. But now that they’re doing that, they’re not pretty enough either? Every other Rivian SC has a very defined upscale look and feel. I’m quite certain this is a temporary resolution. We sure are a tough crowd sometimes (myself included).

Dude the waiting room is two chairs next to a candy machine! Give me a break that I’m being so unfairly tough on them.

 

[SeaGeo]

I went to the service center at Stews in Auburn and the crew was top notch working out of there. Got me in quick and completed work same day. I think it was a good way for Rivian to quickly open new “service centers” without having to build a new building, although I’m wondering what the status is on the south Seattle space they are suppose to be getting into.

I also remember the early days of the tiny Tesla service center near the west Seattle bridge. Now there’s a service centers everywhere including a huge newer one in Fife. Takes time to build these things up.

They're doing tenant improvements. It was vandalized recently, which set things back.... again.

 

[SeaGeo]

Dude the waiting room is two chairs next to a candy machine! Give me a break that I’m being so unfairly tough on them.

You are. They found a creative solution to a problem that they would have had solved by not if not for some things that were outside of their control.

 

[rso544]

Isn’t this temporary solution an example of them “leveling up” and attempting to serve customers while they find more permanent locations?

I thought this was a good example of them thinking outside the box, but apparently the service locations must be full of Scandinavian furniture and hipsters before they get credit.

I’m very shocked that you would praise Rivian since it’s not like you literally defend them for everything like a puppy. It’s okay not to simp for them. You can have an identity outside of Rivian reply guy.

 

[rso544]

You are. They found a creative solution to a problem that they would have had solved by not if not for some things that were outside of their control.

They can do better. We can expect better. It’s okay to have standards.

 

[COdogman]

I’m very shocked that you would praise Rivian since it’s not like you literally defend them for everything like a puppy. It’s okay not to simp for them. You can have an identity outside of Rivian reply guy.

Aww… I should have known that a guy who thinks he’s too good to sit next to a candy machine in a waiting room would have a reply that childish.

Instead of complaining about what the location *isn’t*, how about looking at what it *is*, which is a temporary way for them to provide you service with less wait time?

 

[SeaGeo]

They can do better. We can expect better. It’s okay to have standards.

They had a Kirkland/Redmond SC agreed to in principal, but the owner decided to renege on the terms right before finalizing them. They have been stuck in permit hell (in a mix of municipalities and consultants dropping the ball) for the Tukwila location. What would propose they have done? This was a very creative (and I'm sure honestly expensive) temporary solution to a problem. How long did you spend in the SC?

It's ok, we can be understanding and appreciative that they pivoted and paid a company to shut down their business while they can get their permanent solutions up and running rather than making you continue to wait at the Bellevue, SC.

You can always drive down to Portland, up to Vancouver, or over to Boise if you'd like a quicker experience that's still as fancy as you'd like. Or just wait for an appointment at Bellevue.

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