Advice on lease order where vehical was cancelled

[waveroamer]

So I put in an order to lease a 2023 R1 at a great MF (0.0001) and Residual but at last min of pickup (literally days), the vehicle is suddenly no longer available. Due to limited 2023 inventory, I'm told to select from remaining inventory. Since there's no more QM in my configuration available, I'm forced to select from 2024, where MF is much worse.

By my calculation, the difference in rent charges and more expensive options adds up to be about $5k more expensive for 2024 R1s. I'm unsure how to move forward at this stage, I hate to just swallow the $5k cost over 36 months but it seems like reading the threads on here there's limited leverage on customer's end. I'm getting some responses from customer service and SC but as nice as they are, they seem to be limited in decision making. Not sure how to escalate. Any wise words? Just eat the cost? cancel and ask for refund and wait for refresh then pay more? Feels like I'm in limbo hell here. halp?

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[jjswan33]

Well first thought. Do you plan on buying the vehicle or turning it back in? If you plan on keeping it you will only pay the rent fee as long as you pay the lease, ie you can pay the lease off after three months and avoid the remaining rent charge. If you plan on turning it back in then get a feeling for the payments, the residual may be higher on the 2024 so your total cost over 36 months may not be that much higher.

Last of all if you can wait it out they might be more willing to offer deals on the 2024s towards the end of the quarter.

 

[waveroamer]

Great points. Uncertain if I'll be keeping the vehicle, the lease was meant as a way to both test the lifestyle fit and level of commitment to the car. However to your point, I did try to compare apples to apples from 2024 models using the online calculator, though residual is likely higher, the markups for desired optional items are also significantly higher - e.g. Large battery on 2023 is $3000 vs. $9000 in 2024 model.

Basically it ends up jacking up the total MSRP and causes adding additional MF which makes the monthly rates much higher. My rough back of napkin math for equally equipped car results in $5k or so extra payment. Not sure if negotiation is possible to bring it down but I haven't seen any threads where people have successfully negotiated rates or MSRP so that seems moot

 

[MidnightRivian]

You might be able to talk to your guide and see if they can help you split the difference on the upgrade cost to the 2024 model by partially covering the cost for quad motor, large battery pack, interior, etc.

 

[Bluedabear]

You might be able to talk to your guide and see if they can help you split the difference on the upgrade cost to the 2024 model by partially covering the cost for quad motor, large battery pack, interior, etc.

This is the way

 

[waveroamer]

You might be able to talk to your guide and see if they can help you split the difference on the upgrade cost to the 2024 model by partially covering the cost for quad motor, large battery pack, interior, etc.

This seems like an possible ideal scenario. SoCal seems to no longer have guides. My experience thus far has been just ping-pongin' to different people at SC or customer service. I guess that's part of why I was curious if anyone's found a way to escalate. Will keep trying.

 

[carsly]

May 9th gives you little leverage, you could/should slow play it.

However...

June 9th would give you a lot of leverage as they try to catch up on units delivered in Q2, especially coming off the factory shutdown/retooling in April which means pressure on Rivian moving units in June will be very, very high.

 

[waveroamer]

May 9th gives you little leverage, you could/should slow play it.

However...

June 9th would give you a lot of leverage as they try to catch up on units delivered in Q2, especially coming off the factory shutdown/retooling in April which means pressure on Rivian moving units in June will be very, very high.

Really great call. Will try a slow play of bugging customer service from time to time and push harder in June.

 

[waveroamer]

Out of curiosity though, has anyone had their VIN yanked out of their order last min? In my mind it's either some extreme circumstance like the car caught on fire or just the system oversold a ghost vehicle somehow and didn't notify me until the the day before pickup.

 

[sub]

Out of curiosity though, has anyone had their VIN yanked out of their order last min? In my mind it's either some extreme circumstance like the car caught on fire or just the system oversold a ghost vehicle somehow and didn't notify me until the the day before pickup.

Yes it happens occasionally. Usually when the vehicle is damaged in transit or fails the predelivery inspection at the delivery center.

Would you really want them to sell you a vehicle that tell off the transport truck when they were trying to unload it?

 

[DuoRivian]

Seems they sold down their 2023 models so
You will have to pay more for the 2024 or not buy. Still good deals including cheap powered tonneau cover etc.

 

[waveroamer]

I get accidents happen, but the lack of transparency and coupled with inability for their support personnel to escalate and make customer whole is my gripe. Especially when as customers we put down $1k non refundable deposit and have our credit run and approved to get to the delivery stage.

It does look like 2023 models are out and lease incentive goes out with it. Like many people complained on this forum, the buying process is somehow convoluted even with best intentions. And I’ve leased a handful of cars before so I’m no stander to leasing vehicles.

I hadn’t considered cross shopping as I’ve been looking forward to a R1 for a while but this experience is having seriously consider and scheduling test drives for Lightening, iX, and e-tron. I still think R1 is the right buy for our family so may have to just grind it out with Rivian CS by bugging them at random intervals to see what can be done. I’m not hopeful though.

 

[carsly]

You should try out other vehicles, I've looked at a few of those.
- BMW iX - big on the outside, small on the inside, dash falling towards you is a little odd. I think they got a bit too fancy with the styling of the switchgear and use of bronze/quasi-gold. Rear seat room is pretty tight, much tighter than you might believe from the spec sheets. Didn't even bother driving it.
- Audi eTron - while the Q8 eTron (previously the eTron) was just refreshed with a bigger battery it's still pretty inefficient and runs the same software that my 2021 Q7 was running. That software was pretty dated in 2021, I can't contemplate a 2024/2025 vehicle with that stack. App connectivity would go out for months on end due to "known issues" with no ETA for resolution. That said, it looks and feels like many of the Audi SUV's which means comfortable seats, good sightlines, decent trunk storage, negligible interior storage but smooth ride. Also VW group doesn't believe in regen so you have to manage a paddle to use regen, seems like a bad hack. If you're not using it for family trips or longer distances I know quite a few folks who love them as commuters because they are almost exactly like the gas Audis.
- Hummer EV - similar price point, oddly enough, and really comfortable seats. Second row width and legroom seems like the best of the bunch. You can't escape the fact that you're sitting atop 170-200kwh of batteries though. Trunk isn't as big as you might expect as the interior is not that tall (again, the double stack of batteries) but it is wide and has good depth. Outside of the gargantuan width, length, height and turning diameter are similar to many midsize SUV's so if you can manage the width it is pretty solid. There is wind noise, however, due to the massive all-terrain tires, vertical windshield and removable roof panels. Not noticeable at low speeds but definitely there at highway speeds.

Of those three, I'd go Hummer EV SUV. The comfortable ride, solid interior space for passengers, big battery and 300kwh peak charging (and Supercharger network access as soon as adapters ship) are all wins. But it's a big hunk of machine, not dissimilar from the R1S.

 

[waveroamer]

You should try out other vehicles, I've looked at a few of those.
- BMW iX - big on the outside, small on the inside, dash falling towards you is a little odd. I think they got a bit too fancy with the styling of the switchgear and use of bronze/quasi-gold. Rear seat room is pretty tight, much tighter than you might believe from the spec sheets. Didn't even bother driving it.
- Audi eTron - while the Q8 eTron (previously the eTron) was just refreshed with a bigger battery it's still pretty inefficient and runs the same software that my 2021 Q7 was running. That software was pretty dated in 2021, I can't contemplate a 2024/2025 vehicle with that stack. App connectivity would go out for months on end due to "known issues" with no ETA for resolution. That said, it looks and feels like many of the Audi SUV's which means comfortable seats, good sightlines, decent trunk storage, negligible interior storage but smooth ride. Also VW group doesn't believe in regen so you have to manage a paddle to use regen, seems like a bad hack. If you're not using it for family trips or longer distances I know quite a few folks who love them as commuters because they are almost exactly like the gas Audis.
- Hummer EV - similar price point, oddly enough, and really comfortable seats. Second row width and legroom seems like the best of the bunch. You can't escape the fact that you're sitting atop 170-200kwh of batteries though. Trunk isn't as big as you might expect as the interior is not that tall (again, the double stack of batteries) but it is wide and has good depth. Outside of the gargantuan width, length, height and turning diameter are similar to many midsize SUV's so if you can manage the width it is pretty solid. There is wind noise, however, due to the massive all-terrain tires, vertical windshield and removable roof panels. Not noticeable at low speeds but definitely there at highway speeds.

Of those three, I'd go Hummer EV SUV. The comfortable ride, solid interior space for passengers, big battery and 300kwh peak charging (and Supercharger network access as soon as adapters ship) are all wins. But it's a big hunk of machine, not dissimilar from the R1S.

Amazing analysis! It reflects my instinct well, which is that R1S seems to be the most elegant solution in current EV market that enables outdoors adventures while being utilitarian at home on pavement. Perhaps a Broncos EV, wrangler or something like it will come and steal the show soon but not yet.

Being spoiled by 1 pedal driving on my last EV, it sounds like e-tron would be a no go. lightening seems to have a larger cabin than R1T so it feels like that’d be worth exploring as an in-between. Will test it out and see but I’ll probably come back to Rivian and try to work something out. I just hope they’d at least honor some parts of the pricing of my ‘23 configurations.

 

[Enjen]

Out of curiosity though, has anyone had their VIN yanked out of their order last min? In my mind it's either some extreme circumstance like the car caught on fire or just the system oversold a ghost vehicle somehow and didn't notify me until the the day before pickup.

Yep, just happened to me as well with a 2023 earlier this week. I was 3/4 of the way through the purchasing steps with a scheduled pickup of this coming Monday and suddenly the VIN was changed to a 2024 at 2024 pricing. After several long days of deafening silence from Rivian, they finally came back and informed me they found a matching 2023 VIN at the factory for me. Still waiting for the paperwork though, so I continue to hold my breathe.....

Sorry you're going through this. It sucks. The emotional roller coaster ride while purchasing a Rivian is real. The number of false starts and challenges along the road has been many for me, and I too have considered moving on many times. But it just seems like the perfect vehicle for my family's needs.

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