Hit and Run - But No Motion Cam Recording - Ugh

[MookieMV]

I went outside today and discovered someone had run into my R1T and destroyed the front quarter while it was parked.

Despite the battery drain from recording with Gear Guard I leave it on for moments just like this. Sadly when I went to check the recordings there was no recording of the event. Nothing in motion cam, nothing in incidents, and I got no notifications that the car was hit, nor the alarm triggered. When I look through all the motion cam recordings it only seems to have saved the last two days worth, not the 10-11 days the manual suggests.

I received no notifications the hard drive was full (as indicated clearly in the user guide) or any other indication there was a problem. All systems seem to be working fine. There are recordings of people walking their dogs, and cars whizzing by, but nothing of this accident at all. To say I'm disappointed (and pissed!) is an understatement. With all the promises Rivian makes about security and video recordings it's shocking the very systems they put in place failed so miserably.

While calling service and being put on hold for 30 minutes I read the user guide, which states the motion cam recordings are made to the internal hard drive (yes I also have a 256GB external plugged in as well ) and save for up to 11 days. It also clearly states that if the internal hard drive is full I will get a notification. Sadly neither of these things happened. Now I'm looking at a repair bill between $7500-$10,000 and no one to go after. I am either on the hook for the whole thing or my insurance will cover and raise my rates by a huge amount (as they did after someone ran into my last R1T).

Is there something I'm missing here or can anyone shed light on why the system failed so miserably?

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[Dark-Fx]

Gear guard is more designed to secure your gear. If there aren't people involved, it will rarely save the recording. Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

It happens. And with gen 1's cameras, resolution isn't high enough for identification anyway. And even if it was, Police won't bother with footage unless there is loss of life. Most insurance companies don't go to that depth of investigation either—extra work, human resources and cost for them. They'd just process it like any other uninsured motorist incident. So, you're not missing anything.

Some parts take a while to get. So pick your Rivian-certified shop and get repair process started ASAP.

 

[MookieMV]

To be clear I was talking about Motion Cam, which seems to record people, dogs, and cars passing by just fine. But did nothing when someone actually ran into the truck. Not true about resolution, I can clearly read license plates and identify cars recorded with Motion Cam. The reason I want the recording is to go after the asshole who hit me and took off. With three other camera angles I would have easily been able to identify them...if the recording had worked.

 

[mudito]

I had issues with GearGuard recording with my previous SSD, but after I upgraded to the Samsung T7 2TB (https://amzn.to/4qSkMBj) I haven't had anything missed... (for about 1 yr now)

I do take the time to go through the notifications and delete stuff very often (when I get up and see notifications, I browsed them briefly and delete if nothing major happened)..

 

[MookieMV]

Motion Cam apparently only records to R1T internal hard drive, not to the external. My external drive works great but sadly the truck just didn't record this particular event at all. And no notifications came to my app or the truck's notification screen.

 

[mkg3]

I went outside today and discovered someone had run into my R1T and destroyed the front quarter while it was parked.

Despite the battery drain from recording with Gear Guard I leave it on for moments just like this. Sadly when I went to check the recordings there was no recording of the event. Nothing in motion cam, nothing in incidents, and I got no notifications that the car was hit, nor the alarm triggered. When I look through all the motion cam recordings it only seems to have saved the last two days worth, not the 10-11 days the manual suggests.

I received no notifications the hard drive was full (as indicated clearly in the user guide) or any other indication there was a problem. All systems seem to be working fine. There are recordings of people walking their dogs, and cars whizzing by, but nothing of this accident at all. To say I'm disappointed (and pissed!) is an understatement. With all the promises Rivian makes about security and video recordings it's shocking the very systems they put in place failed so miserably.

While calling service and being put on hold for 30 minutes I read the user guide, which states the motion cam recordings are made to the internal hard drive (yes I also have a 256GB external plugged in as well ) and save for up to 11 days. It also clearly states that if the internal hard drive is full I will get a notification. Sadly neither of these things happened. Now I'm looking at a repair bill between $7500-$10,000 and no one to go after. I am either on the hook for the whole thing or my insurance will cover and raise my rates by a huge amount (as they did after someone ran into my last R1T).

Is there something I'm missing here or can anyone shed light on why the system failed so miserably?

very sorry to read what happened to you and your vehicle.

Question. Is the front axle damaged? The image isn't clear if the lower end of the front wheel is pushed in - which implies suspension damage or at least the lower A-arm, hub, toe control and so on.

I would be pleasantly surprised if the repair is only $10k for Rivian. I've seen smaller dents repairs for well over $25k on this forum....

If you haven't thought of it already, many cities and businesses have outdoor cameras. Its worth exploring if there are any footage from the near-by businesses or the city camera.

 

[schlosrat]

To be clear I was talking about Motion Cam, which seems to record people, dogs, and cars passing by just fine. But did nothing when someone actually ran into the truck. Not true about resolution, I can clearly read license plates and identify cars recorded with Motion Cam. The reason I want the recording is to go after the asshole who hit me and took off. With three other camera angles I would have easily been able to identify them...if the recording had worked.

Man, that sucks! To say it's disappointing is quite an understatement. There's not much you can do now, and beating yourself up will not help either. Maybe a dashcam with 24x7 time-lapse and collision detection would have helped, but probably not under these circumstances. Maybe a different/larger/(better?) SSD would have helped, but please don't beat yourself up with that over this. Maybe a regimen of routinely clearing the SSD would have helped, but again, you don't really know for sure. If this happened at night, it's pretty likely that Gen 1 cameras would not have been good enough to positively and definitely identify the person/car that did the damage.

Bottom line - this really, really sucks; and even if the cameras and SSD had performed flawlessly, it's possible you still would not have enough info to positively id the person responsible. It sounds to me like you did a lot of prudent and reasonable things, and then were really unlucky.

If you decide to try to cover it yourself, I'd definitely take it to a paintless dent repair place or three first. It's really amazing what they can do. I backed into a barn post on my sister's property and put a big dent in the left rear quarter right over a break line where the surface is not smooth (similar to what you're dealing with in your right front quarter). Smothing things out across a break line like that is not simple, and some will say it's not even possible. They would be wrong about that - at least they were in my case. The Rivian Certified shop I took it to in Portland, OR, estimated almost $5k, but I got it done for a little over $1K at a really good PDR place, and you can't even tell there was ever any damage.

It's also possible that there is more major damage beyond/behind the crumpled fender. Definitely take it to a Rivian Certified shop to see what they find, too.

Whatever you decide to do, my heart goes out to you. This whole thing sucks, and it especially sucks that you may be left holding the bag for the cost of the repairs - either up front, or in increased insurance premiums down the road.

 

[cbrcanuck]

It happens. And with gen 1's cameras, resolution isn't high enough for identification anyway. And even if it was, Police won't bother with footage unless there is loss of life. Most insurance companies don't go to that depth of investigation either—extra work, human resources and cost for them. They'd just process it like any other uninsured motorist incident. So, you're not missing anything.

Some parts take a while to get. So pick your Rivian-certified shop and get repair process started ASAP.

Not applicable here as the OP isn't in BC, but for us - it would save you the deductible and possibly a points hit if you can prove it was a hit and run (even if they can't identify the other driver). Always good to have that footage.

 

[jeffychung]

I was hoping to learn something, but looks like there is nothing we can do to improve the "motion detection".
I got rear ended on the highway and I was surprised that nothing was recorded. Typically, when I accelerate or hit my brake hard, motion cam video automatically records the event.

 

[ENVErider]

I was hoping to learn something, but looks like there is nothing we can do to improve the "motion detection".
I got rear ended on the highway and I was surprised that nothing was recorded. Typically, when I accelerate or hit my brake hard, motion cam video automatically records the event.

Good to know. My Gen1 also records excessive acceleration like hard braking, and I thought it would record any hard motion. That might explain why I had no recording of someone making a big ding on my door. Maybe the trigger is tied to the brakes and not an accelerometer?
It wouldn't have helped with the @MookieMV incident, but it sounds like we all need to lay on the horn for 1-2 seconds after an accident to manually trigger recording, assuming we can actually remember to do so after the shock of being hit.

 

[beatle]

Rivian should be ashamed of themselves. They tout how the cameras keep your "gear" safe all over their sales material. Okay, that's nice marketing fluff, but really the situation OP experienced is far more likely to occur, and far more expensive to address. Triggering a capture event to write data to as many locations as possible (internal and external storage) in the case of an impact should be a feature working at release.

 

[MookieMV]

Gear guard using the cable is a different story altogether. I've actually never used it an don't know how well it works.

My guidance to Rivian is to have Motion recordings go to the external hard drive if the internal drive fills up. Fix the notifications when the drive is full (I never got one), and add a sensitivity control to the motion recordings so people in different conditions can set the trigger point What's really odd to me is that while it records seemingly every pedestrian or dog who walks by without stopping, as well as many cars and trucks whizzing by, it failed to trigger when a large city garbage truck slowed down, then hit my vehicle, taking out the front fender panel, door panel, and all the lights/electronics, and then sped off.

(I discovered the culprit after walking around the neighborhood asking to see my neighbor's security cam footage.)

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Not applicable here as the OP isn't in BC, but for us - it would save you the deductible and possibly a points hit if you can prove it was a hit and run (even if they can't identify the other driver). Always good to have that footage.

If your car is damaged while parked, it’s covered by comprehensive insurance. Pay your deductible and that’s it. It does not affect your rates. This is the no brainer time to use insurance (in the US).

 

[Erik+]

Were you parked at home? If so, you may have had gear guard turned off based on the vehicles location? The vehicle may have been asleep, and then did not awake to to start recording until after the impact.

Good to hear you found the culprit! Guessing they have a red vehicle?

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