No more return policy on newly purchased Rivians. Only mandated warranty exceptions.

[HighVoltOverland]

I wouldn't doubt many were returned because of a bad financial decision made by the new owner, and it sunk in quick

Nah, whenever I feel like I bought too much truck I run some errands and realize I made out like a bandit

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[Electron]

Scenario: Someone took delivery of their Gen 1, then the Gen 2 news came out. j/k

What Rivian really needs to do is to make the $1000 deposit refundable. That in itself is already a bad look and now removing the return policy is an insult to injury. It's more so the principle, for both cases actually.

 

[Southern R1S]

The policy made sense when it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, to actually do a demo drive. Remember the days when very few people had shop access and there were minimal service centers? Many early adopters had to buy their vehicle sight unseen without ever test driving one. That’s not the case anymore, so the policy change seems fine to me.

I posted almost the exact same thing before reading up and seeing you'd already said it ?

Completely agree, and Tesla did the same with their policy about 4 years ago.

 

[mpshizzle]

Here's my question. Will they let you drive YOUR vehicle before taking delivery?

I'm fine with this policy so long as they let you take it for a drive first. There are some quality issues that you can't catch just by inspecting it in a parking lot.

 

[André]

Here's my question. Will they let you drive YOUR vehicle before taking delivery?

I'm fine with this policy so long as they let you take it for a drive first. There are some quality issues that you can't catch just by inspecting it in a parking lot.

I never been allowed to do that from any other car manufacturers in my entire life (Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, WV, Honda, Nissan, BMW, etc.)…

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

That’s interesting. I’m test driving an R1S in a few days. If I liked it, I was going to reserve one. The return policy was a pretty big reason I was going to be comfortable with buying one because of all the issues I’ve read about.

this may change the calculus. But I’m probably an outlier.

 

[R1Tom]

That’s interesting. I’m test driving an R1S in a few days. If I liked it, I was going to reserve one. The return policy was a pretty big reason I was going to be comfortable with buying one because of all the issues I’ve read about.

this may change the calculus. But I’m probably an outlier.

I don't think you are an outlier. I have one with over 40k and two years, and while I absolutely love it....the random quality control and backed up service combo put me in the same boat when considering replacing with another.

Problem is they are the only game in town for the amazing product they sell....so they can make moves like this I guess.

I just keep hoping quality and service improve by the time I am ready to replace. Or I might take the approach to search out a perfect lightly used one that I can test drive for an extended period to make sure it is all good.

 

[Mountain Life]

Seems like a suspect move. If they were truly having issues with people returning their vehicles then they should look into WHY they were returning those vehicles and address those problems instead. If you believe in your product you should stand behind it. So what that "Telsa doesn't do it".

 

[Hillbilly]

If y'all want to wait and drive one before buying, go buy a used one and test drive first.

 

[mpshizzle]

I never been allowed to do that from any other car manufacturers in my entire life (Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, WV, Honda, Nissan, BMW, etc.)…

Well that must be a Canadian thing then? That's part of a normal car buying experience here. EVERY dealership will let you look over and drive the vehicle before buying. I've never purchased a vehicle without driving it first.

That being said, I love that companies like Rivian are breaking the old dealer model. But that does leave a bit of a bad taste when they don't let you do a true end to end inspection but also don't have a safety net like a return policy.

You just have to trust that their QC caught everything mechanically. And while it isn't the norm for there to be driving issues, it's certainly not heard of.

If they REALLY don't want you putting miles on it if you're not going to pay for it, I get it... But even just a 3 hour 50 mile return policy would go a long way in my eyes. Just SOME kind of reasonable safety net to know that in the off chance that there's a driving issue, I won't be stuck with a Brand new car I can't drive

 

[André]

Well that must be a Canadian thing then? That's part of a normal car buying experience here. EVERY dealership will let you look over and drive the vehicle before buying. I've never purchased a vehicle without driving it first.

That being said, I love that companies like Rivian are breaking the old dealer model. But that does leave a bit of a bad taste when they don't let you do a true end to end inspection but also don't have a safety net like a return policy.

You just have to trust that their QC caught everything mechanically. And while it isn't the norm for there to be driving issues, it's certainly not heard of.

If they REALLY don't want you putting miles on it if you're not going to pay for it, I get it... But even just a 3 hour 50 mile return policy would go a long way in my eyes. Just SOME kind of reasonable safety net to know that in the off chance that there's a driving issue, I won't be stuck with a Brand new car I can't drive

You mean test drive a demo or drive your actual VIN before taking delivery ?

 

[mpshizzle]

You mean test drive a demo or drive your actual VIN before taking delivery ?

THE actual vehicle. Toyota, Jeep, Mercedes, Ford, Chevrolet...

Sure, some dealerships have dedicated "test drive" vehicles. But when it comes to actually choosing THE car, they'll let you look inside and drive it. The difference being, unlike Tesla and Rivian you can go and buy a car without first having gone through an online ordering process. They have a lot full of vehicles with no owners already attached to them. So within reason they'll let you do a thorough inspection before you go inside to do the negotiations, financing, etc

 

[André]

THE actual vehicle. Toyota, Jeep, Mercedes, Ford, Chevrolet...

Sure, some dealerships have dedicated "test drive" vehicles. But when it comes to actually choosing THE car, they'll let you look inside and drive it. The difference being, unlike Tesla and Rivian you can go and buy a car without first having gone through an online ordering process. They have a lot full of vehicles with no owners already attached to them. So within reason they'll let you do a thorough inspection before you go inside to do the negotiations, financing, etc

I did all that except test drive my actual VIN before being the legal owner. Is it really the norm in the US or just you ?

 

[JWreck]

I never been allowed to do that from any other car manufacturers in my entire life (Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, WV, Honda, Nissan, BMW, etc.)…

I think you’re buying from the wrong people then. I’ve never even had to ask to do this.

 

[JWreck]

I’m whatever about the return policy going away, but they need to drop the non-refundable deposit shtick. They don’t have enough demand to warrant that requirement, and they don’t have enough options to have any risk in an “unique” order spec being unwanted if the initial buyer doesn’t take delivery.

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