R1S Collision Repair Ordeal

[iansriv]

Ken-hate that you're going through this. I would politely push for a reasonable turn-time. Cant blame you for your position. You have to do what's best for your family. All the best mate.

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[Electrified Outdoors]

Thank you all for the thoughtful and honest responses.

To be clear I love what Rivian stands for. I love their employees at the service centers and who I have spoken to on the phone. Most of all I love all of you and the wonderful community of Rivian owners.

This was the hardest thing for me to put out there…it was very emotional for me because I love all those other things so much.

This is more an accumulation of things over the past year vs just this one incident.

You all correctly state this isn’t a Rivian only issue. I would say this is an area where Rivian needs to set itself apart from Tesla.

My take on this is that car makers (not Rivian specifically) are not stocking parts to keep their costs down. Much like the use of automated attendants and AI bots for service requests it saves the company money at the customers expense. The slow service times also save Rivian money because it’s basically delaying the repair.

All to save costs for shareholders at the expense of their customers. Resulting in increased frustration, anxiety, and expense.

In the case of parts, these things happen but it’s been a recurring theme for us with Rivian. If your Rivian doesn’t have any issues, which there are many members here who don’t, then most of this stuff is a non issue. If you need service though or if you’re needing repairs by a Rivian certified body shop then it’s an issue.

In our case, and it’s not typical surely, we have had problems with both. Exacerbated by poor comms.

I’m sure Rivian will improve with time and it’s unlikely folks here will experience both a replacement and an accident with parts supply issues in the same year so realize our situation is pretty unique and rare.

 

[TTedP]

Rivian Roulette I guess.

For counterpoint, I feel very fortunate. I just had a door replaced and it only took 2 1/2 weeks. Body shop had all the parts ready to go. SC even asked me to come in two weeks early on my appointment date.

Sorry this is your experience - you were a good resource for others here.

 

[scoutdogg]

All, after what has happened in the last day or two I am done with Rivian. The R1S needs a new door to repair the deer damage and its on national back order. Rivian certified shop who has 12 other Rivian in for repair estimates it at about 3 months to receive the part. Vehicle is torn down and not safe to drive. Once repaired my wife is finished with it.

The accident happened on January 18th and it took until March 26th to even get an appt at the Rivian certified shop. Three months from now puts us into July.

I am not looking for sympathy. My intent with my YouTube channel and with participating in the community has always been to show folks who don't own EVs what its like to live and adventure with Electric Vehicles. My other objective is to help others...something I am passionate about in other causes as well.

After the replacement of my wife's R1S last year and now having to pay out of pocket for a rental for however long it takes to get the door I can't ask my wife to continue to accept this.

For those that are enjoying their Rivian vehicles I am truly happy for you. Rivian makes awesome vehicles...I still stand by that. The problem is that most folks who drive them rely on them daily such is the case with us. The service wait times and now the parts supply problems are trouble enough but to have Rivian flip flop on me twice in one day about providing a loaner due to the parts supply issues is about all I can take.

I leave the door open to purchasing another Rivian, but only once Rivian has gotten this problem resolved. If you want a Rivian I think you should still buy one...but only if your able to deal with these problems in service and parts supply.

I still plan to support the forum as I have been but once the R1S debacle is over I will likely not be creating additional Rivian conent as we will be trading the R1S.

If the wife ain't happy ...nobody is happy. The R1S has put her through the ringer twice over the last year and I am not going to ask her to put up with anymore.

My flame suit is on...I respect every opinion even if I don't agree.

I don’t blame you. One of the major downsides to going with a new auto manufacturer, especially in an emerging industry (EVs), is the lack of service providers. The manufacturer doesn’t have the bandwidth to take care of all the problems, and third parties are few and far between and out of their element (or hamstrung by a manufacturer that wants to control warranty work).

I had an R1S LE in north Idaho and learned that a fairly serious issue I was having would take them 3 months to look at. It made me realize if something critical was going on, I may be without a vehicle for a long time. Doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in your investment or your ability to rely on your vehicle.

Now that the gen 2s are out, I got a Dune R1T, in hopes many of the initial issues I had with my R1S would be resolved or improved. Thankfully there are lots of improvements! But when I took delivery, there was paint overlay on the rear wheel fender cladding and rear bumper. I just got notification from Rivian that they will be able to come swap it out mid May (almost 7 weeks).

I’m hopeful the future for Rivian is bright! It’s easy to get sucked in from a well designed car and slick branding, but beneath it all is often lackluster service and immature infrastructure. Clearly I sympathize with you, but I decided to give them another try with my Dune purchase. Fingers crossed my experience is better than a couple years ago. If not, I’ll sadly be joining you and likely be going toward a GM EV or Tesla if they can design a vehicle I like the look of!

 

[Captain JB]

I cant blame you……service and repair is the worst thing about Rivian. Will take years for them to fix it also. (((

 

[Markbolick]

We had to wait four months to get a windshield for our Mustang MachE from Ford direct as no other replacement companies had the windshield in stock either. It’s not just Rivian having supply issues. We just keep driving with a busted windshield. I fail to understand how this is a Rivian issue when it was an accident. Supply chains still suck.

 

[Kenmecca]

Out of curiosity, was the RIS drivable before the tear down? I am thinking others could learn from your misfortune and not allow the removal of a part that renders the car inoperable until the replacement parts are in stock.

Body shops must break it down to see if other damage before quoting and starting repair process.

 

[Kenmecca]

Sadly this issue is going to get alot worse across the whole auto industry due to the massive tariffs that were started today. Even rivian will be affected as where do you Think that material for door ultimately was from?

 

[Nixapatfan]

Agreed can't blame you for not wanting to wait. Luckily I have many cars so not an issue for me but if I relied on the Rivian for my daily needs it would have been gone already, service wait times and replacement parts are a huge problem, the last 2 times I needed service was a 2 month wait.

Sometimes when I see all the RAN and popup space announcements I just think to myself is that really the best use of resources trying to lure in more customers at the expense of existing owners.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

I fail to understand how this is a Rivian issue when it was an accident. Supply chains still suck.

That's fair. Its an accumulation. What really upset us is that in 24 hour period Rivian said they will "not support a rental", then they called us and said they would provide one, then I spoke to a nice lady in service support who setup the rental, then the same lady called me back 90 minutes later and said Rivian has changed course and will not support a rental.

Its an accumulation of the replacement last year, the 4 month ordeal with my R1T, and then this issue. Forget Rivian for a second....if this was any other car maker we would be in the same boat....in fact....I would have probably walked away last year had it been any other brand. Because it is Rivian we were more willing to be patient and understand than we would have been with other brands.

We are seeing the repair through but we aren't going to put ourselves in the position to have this potentially happen again.

 

[JM.]

Your post has great value to those of us considering a Rivian or all the other options. It doesn't seal the deal against Rivian for me, but adds another large sum in the "against" column. The unfortunate reality is that shitty EV trucks like the F150 do have an advantage. Owners report that Ford is able to fix them quickly, like any normal vehicle, for most problems.

 

[bigsky]

You seem to have had more than a fair share of issues with your Rivians. No point in sticking with a vehicle and company that does not meet your needs. I hope that you find one that does.

Rivian service has apparently changed and not for the better. My R1S had the rear pass. door replaced last September. The Rivian-certified shop completed the work in "only" 5 weeks, most of that time just waiting for all the many parts from Rivian.

Surprised that Rivian reneged on rental. In my case, it set me up with Enterprise for the entire duration of the repair. I declined the rental because did not want the responsibility and do not need a rental ever (I have my own small fleet.)

Will subscribe to your channel for the updates. Best of luck.

 

[mswlogo]

Have you looked into a used door?

I had a deer accident in my Tesla X.
I waited for the parts before tear down. Didn’t actually take long. Couple weeks.

But when they did tear down the headlight mount was cracked. $1200 and on back order.

I hoped on EBay and had a perfect part number match in 2 days. Handed it to the body shop and I was back on schedule.

I also paid out of pocket for the whole thing. To save on trade in value. That paid off too. It was during the car price craze and I got almost full price what I paid.

I talked with Body shop about lead times and they said BMW was one of the worst.

 

[KRG]

Can’t speak to Rivian’s handling of it, and I didn’t read the comments, but I will say this happens with other automakers.

I had a 2018 Range Rover that was sideswiped a year into ownership and it literally sat for months for the same thing; parts shortage. And this was at body shop run by a major Land Rover dealer. It sat so long I actually demanded they give me the car back to keep at home until they were ready to work on it bc I didn’t want it sitting in a lot outside for months.

Unless you’re buying a super mainstream vehicle, I think this is more common than people may realize.

It’s a sucky situation. Fingers crossed I never have to deal with it again.

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