I love my R1S but god help you if it ever has a major issue

[defcon888]

Yes issue occurred on Memorial Day. My biggest frustration is not that it wasn’t remedied in 24 hours. For all I know, a part is needed that takes 2 weeks or more to even get. But then again I know nothing at this point.

My frustration is that no one can give me a straight answer. If they told me I had to drive a loaner that was an economy car and it would take 3 days to tow it and 1 month to fix it. I would be pissed… but at least I wouldn’t spend the day chasing people down and waiting. There is no way that all the errors reported are actually occurring, all at once and all at the same time.

We have been blessed that we have only had 1 major issue about a month after we got our R1T. It was a headlight system issue (e.g. couldn't drive at night and the bat signal on the mirrors wouldn't project on the ground the logo). We took it in and 4 days later they said "All fixed, we updated the software". We picked it up and within 5 miles of the SC it started again. We immediately called and they arranged to pick up the vehicle from our house. They did and dropped off a loaner R1T. Keep in mind that we had our R1T less than 3 weeks....maybe 2k miles on it.....they had it for 3 weeks and had to fly in a technician from Normal to finally diagnose it (a part was shorting out and only using a camera scope they found it). For our troubles, they made our first car payment.

My advice is to call the service center and talk with the manager and not a guide or the guide's boss....demand the top dog. Also, I know you're upset (with good reason), but be kind and understanding....as they say, "You get more bees with honey than vinegar".

We had a 12v battery issue back in March (on a Monday) and we had a mobile appt. on Thursday and it was fixed. They will prioritize "driveability" issues over cosmetic issues.

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[Captain JB]

It is the one really bad thing about owning a Rivian. I saw a EV Hummer the other day and thought they dont have these issues. I was actually jealous. I guess it is one of those “it is what it is” type deals…sadly.

 

[kpx110]

It is the one really bad thing about owning a Rivian. I saw a EV Hummer the other day and thought they dont have these issues. I was actually jealous. I guess it is one of those “it is what it is” type deals…sadly.

Dunno about Hummer. But have heard horror stories about Cadillac Lyriq's and the service experience. I followed closely for while when I was considering.

 

[Captain JB]

Point being that if a Hummer owner has a maintenance issue, he/she can make an appt within a few days or even just show up for the repairs. I did this several times with my Chevy Volt that I had for 10 years. I had an issue and Rivian told me July 1 is the next appt. ouch

 

[Wilson]

I wrote this exact same post a few weeks ago and didn’t post it. Love my R1S but service is so rough.
1. I had my car broken into, I finally got a service date and confirmed the part would be in (which took a week) and when I showed up for my service appointment they to say they couldn’t do it and would keep my car for 2 weeks… for a window replacement. Eventually they relented and agreed to do it that day but only after I turned on my a-hole charm. Keep in my I confirmed my appointment snd that they had the part, they never mentioned needing to take more than a few hours, until I showed up. .
2. Rear drive unit completely failed, turtle mode, etc. (less than 7k miles, it seems like this is a known issue that Rivian doesn’t want to acknowledge, that’s a different thread). I was able to book an appointment (a few days out) brought it in, very little communication, I could never get a hold of them, eventually fixed but I was in the dark the whole time.

in both cases they had no loaner cars which would have made the situation so much better. They offered Uber credits but when this is your primary car for transporting toddlers and car seats around, that doesn’t work. The second time they offered a rental car via Enterprise and that was its own terrible experience (can’t use an airport branch, many branches refuse to accept insurance rentals, many had no cars whatsoever much less a large SUV or minivan).

3. 12V failure - had a technician come to my house, he was awesome, communicative etc… but I took a few days to book him and when the 12V dies the is basically a brick with all your stuff trapped inside (aforementioned car seats, etc.).

I traded in my BMW X7 for my R1S and I genuinely like my R1S better. However, the BMW service experience is so much smoother, they clean your car (which Rivian did not do in either of my experiences), they communicate, they are reachable when you want an update, they offer loaner cars. For cars starting at $80k why would t you expect a level of service that is comparable? I get that the stock price is under pressure but understaffed service centers with terrible systems and communication is not good for creating long term value3.

 

[Redline]

I wrote this exact same post a few weeks ago and didn’t post it. Love my R1S but service is so rough.
1. I had my car broken into, I finally got a service date and confirmed the part would be in (which took a week) and when I showed up for my service appointment they to say they couldn’t do it and would keep my car for 2 weeks… for a window replacement. Eventually they relented and agreed to do it that day but only after I turned on my a-hole charm. Keep in my I confirmed my appointment snd that they had the part, they never mentioned needing to take more than a few hours, until I showed up. .
2. Rear drive unit completely failed, turtle mode, etc. (less than 7k miles, it seems like this is a known issue that Rivian doesn’t want to acknowledge, that’s a different thread). I was able to book an appointment (a few days out) brought it in, very little communication, I could never get a hold of them, eventually fixed but I was in the dark the whole time.

in both cases they had no loaner cars which would have made the situation so much better. They offered Uber credits but when this is your primary car for transporting toddlers and car seats around, that doesn’t work. The second time they offered a rental car via Enterprise and that was its own terrible experience (can’t use an airport branch, many branches refuse to accept insurance rentals, many had no cars whatsoever much less a large SUV or minivan).

3. 12V failure - had a technician come to my house, he was awesome, communicative etc… but I took a few days to book him and when the 12V dies the is basically a brick with all your stuff trapped inside (aforementioned car seats, etc.).

I traded in my BMW X7 for my R1S and I genuinely like my R1S better. However, the BMW service experience is so much smoother, they clean your car (which Rivian did not do in either of my experiences), they communicate, they are reachable when you want an update, they offer loaner cars. For cars starting at $80k why would t you expect a level of service that is comparable? I get that the stock price is under pressure but understaffed service centers with terrible systems and communication is not good for creating long term value3.

If you want the BMW dealer experience, a Rivian is not for you.

The fact I don’t have to deal with a dealership, is a benefit for me. Some people love to have a dealer fawn over them. I had 3 BMWs before this, I always used my local dealership and they were pretty decent, but nearly every other dealership I’ve ever dealt with is trash.

 

[Carscott]

The real problem is expectations. When you buy a rivian and shell out 100K for a vehicle it makes you feel like your part of a club or an elite group that well because of that you deserve attention and top service. I’m guilty of this and am trying to suppress it. There was a study that found that expensive vehicles are less likely to stop for pedestrians. Something goes off in our brains suggesting that we are better or different. So then when your expectations aren’t met you get angry in your head. “But I gave you 100K of my hard earned money! I need to be treated better!” Once the money transfers you no longer have negotiating power unless you have subscribers on you tube. good luck! Lead with kindness is my advice.

 

[Wilson]

Wait what?
One thing I love about BMWs is that there are also plenty of options beyond the dealership when you have problems.

This is not an option with RIvian, you are basically forced into the dealership experience when you have problems.

According to Rivian, two of my problems listed above are manufacturer’s error (according to them, I did nothing wrong), I haven’t even hit my first service appointment yet, so I had to get them fixed.
My point is not that I love BMW (I wouldn’t take a used car into a BMW dealership that wasn’t under warranty unless burning money becomes in vogue), but when I had to (warranties items, airbag recall on an older car) they were communicative, systematic, and accommodative.

The irony is that I like driving my R1S more than any of these so called ultimate driving machines. I didn’t love my BMW service experiences but in hindsight they were better, which I would have never guessed.

 

[Kuro-Rivian]

I can’t understand how they can hope to scale when they cannot do basic blocking and tackling like any other car company and I sincerely hope it changes.

You've made the most reasonable bitch & rant post I've seen here. (which is a compliment to be clear). It varies SC by SC but it's clear at this point you aren't necessarily an outlier & they definitely need to get their shit together on the service front.

 

[Southern R1S]

Basically agree with you here. But still some of this is kind of a bait and switch. 2 loaners for all of Atlanta. Then you don’t really provide a loaner. roadside assistance… well sort of… if you have a lot of time and patience. The service person I spoke to told me they would at least look at it that day… which they did not. Lastly a car being un-drivable with no accident and less than 4K miles is disappointing to say the least. One other thing that concerned me… I could not do a reset which was part of the initial troubleshooting until after a sleep cycle. Poorly designed diagnostics in this software for troubleshooting. Maybe what was most jarring is that I have only had minor issues and the Atlanta service center has been great

I'm not negating or downplaying your bad experience, but it still blows my mind that anyone driving a 1st gen vehicle from a "startup" EV manufacturer wouldn't spring the ~$150/year for AAA Premier (which includes up to 4 tows per year, one of which can be up to 200 miles and the remainder of which can be up to 100 miles).

While Rivian may be using the same dispatch services as AAA, there's no way I'm relying on them if I need a quick or long distance tow.

 

[kpx110]

Just to update my sitch.... the servce mgr said he would call me but didn't. However I did get a text through the app saying they are still diagnosing and will update me today (maybe they are doing this vs calling). I am a lot less frustrated now that I have a rental to drive.

That said - Rivian does need to bulk up and fix a few things for sure. The roadside assistance, at least in Atlanta needs some work or just totally re-imagining how it works. I didn't mention but when I booked service through app the earliest appt was July 10th. They need some way to prioritize disabled vehicles vs routine service. Lastly if they have no intention of providing a loaner (and in Atlanta at least they don't if they are only 2 of them) they need a faster system of providing transportation. When I rent for travel I can do everything online and then scan license and upc code and grab the car.

 

[kpx110]

I'm not negating or downplaying your bad experience, but it still blows my mind that anyone driving a 1st gen vehicle from a "startup" EV manufacturer wouldn't spring the ~$150/year for AAA Premier (which includes up to 4 tows per year, one of which can be up to 200 miles and the remainder of which can be up to 100 miles).

While Rivian may be using the same dispatch services as AAA, there's no way I'm relying on them if I need a quick or long distance tow.

fair point - I have never used one - so dunno how good or bad it is - would you recommend AAA?

 

[R1Tom]

If you want the BMW dealer experience, a Rivian is not for you.

The fact I don’t have to deal with a dealership, is a benefit for me. Some people love to have a dealer fawn over them. I had 3 BMWs before this, I always used my local dealership and they were pretty decent, but nearly every other dealership I’ve ever dealt with is trash.

This is what concerns me with Rivian big picture. What you say is currently true. Only I come from a few decades of sticking with only Acura and Lexus for daily drivers(mostly). And they have been absolutely perfect in the service side of the equation. Products somewhat boring. And the sales experiences were also always executed perfectly.

Yet my Rivian was more expensive than any of those cars, by a substantial margin. I fully understand that alot of the money spent in buying the Rivian went into the product and not the experience.

But....will the mass market overlook the service and purchase experience challenges? I don't think so...and that is concerning.

Edit....certainly QA/QC at plant would help ALOT!

 

[Taysh831]

I initially disagreed with the OPs post and thought they were being unreasonable and honestly I still do think that based on the fact that they were closed for the holiday. But Rivian really does need to get their service act together. Overall my service experience has been great with some hiccups but lead times for appointments are outrageous and communication while it is getting much better of recent is still lagging. That fact that you can’t call in and speak to an advisor at your local branch is my biggest turn off. I have had my R1T for two plus years and in that time I have seen service improve vastly but I would say they still have some work to do and don’t fault them for it as I know they are constantly expanding their footprint. Lastly I will say that compared to my experience with Tesla service I much rather deal with Rivian than Tesla. Just my two cents.

 

[Southern R1S]

fair point - I have never used one - so dunno how good or bad it is - would you recommend AAA?

I strongly recommend AAA personally. It's pretty cheap piece of mind to me for what works out to be about ~$10/month.

Yeah, it's an "old person" thing to have / pay for, but the towing alone is the reason I keep it (and, again, at the "Premier" membership level for the longer range tows), though there are also some additional perks like EV charging discounts (availability varies depending on the state of the "club" you join), employee pricing on Samsung products, and little things like that. They also have a "mobile EV charging" pilot they've been running in a few select areas (not available to me currently) that rolls a truck with a portable EV charger if you run out of juice on the road.

It also follows the driver rather than the vehicle, so you have the standard coverages (towing, lockout, gas delivery, battery jumping, tire change assist, etc.) even if your in a rental car or someone else's car which can be very helpful with some ICE vehicles.

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