Great Truck - Unrealistic to Maintain

[Trinculo73]

Given the absolute lack of details regarding "maintenance" and zero response to multiple questions about it, I'm starting to assume yet another troll post. I'm 35k miles in and the only "maintenance" I've paid for are the new set of tires I'm about to have installed this morning.

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[Greg Chick]

I fear you may be right, or he's a working man and too busy to get back quickly. However, your point is well made and we must all view posts anywhere online to be an empty post till verified. That goes for any subject except poetry!

 

[krb1183]

Honest review after 4 years of owning. Early adopter, huge supporter, shareholder, big promoter of the company. Let me say first that I am fully bought in on growing pains and sharing in the cost of that as an early adopter. Having said that, there was very little cost in sharing that burden...at first.

Owned some very nice cars in my day. This is on the mid-high range on initial purchase price, but extremely high on maintenance costs. I'd say I'm halfway or maybe 1/3 through a traditional vehicle lifecyce and have already put 50% of the vehicle price into maintenance. I guess it's more of a PSA...love the truck and the brand, but the realistic cost to own has them in a whole new category by themselves.

Interested to hear other experiences from those over or nearing 100k. I have a fleet order I'm sitting on as well as immediate family ive convinced to consider Rivian, and am now realizing that the value proposition is well below average.

Performance is great, but down time for maintenance and costs to repair are astronomical. I have quite a few driving options so I was nieve to not calculate until now. Was really enjoying as a daily driver, but no way it makes financial sense for most. Fleet purchase would have to consider 30%+ larger fleet just to combat standard downtime (no accidents or major rework) based on what I've seen.

Edit: For clarity I mean a single vehicle starting to clear 100k miles. Zero issues overall prior to 80k. From 80k to 120k I've already incurred $45k+ in "maintenance." Some of it routine, most of it suspension/frame/etc. Crazy to think what the big worries will cost (motors, batteries, etc). It appears you should treat as a perishable product at 100,000 miles unfortunately.

Honestly i've been starting to grow more and more concerned about this as well. Granted i'm halfway through comprehensive warranty, as i'm at 25k miles and 2 years on my Gen2 R1S. Service visits have been less and less over time, and i haven't had out of pocket costs yet, but it does have me worried after 50k miles, how much will it cost to maintain this vehicle from 50k to 100k miles.

 

[Greg Chick]

I fear what will happen to utility costs, food costs, insurance costs, war costs, as well the cost of fear itself. I am not trying to be a smart ass, I too have an R1T out of warranty now. But my only option for resolve is to buy a new vehicle just before warranty expires. Even if I do that, Im left with my other fears to haunt me... Just enjoy the day, and the next 30,000 miles.
My point is choose wisely, invest wisely, drive wisely, marry wisely, worry wisely, Etc.

 

[ENVErider]

I'm at 70,000 miles on my 22 R1T. Total maintenance cost has been $500, replacing the two 12V batteries about a month ago. There was one warranty repair done, fixing the charge port cover that didn't close properly about a couple of years ago.

I don't think I've ever owned a vehicle that had maintenance costs this low. Nothing else is even close.

It's like the original poster and I have two completely different vehicles, not the same one.

I'm at 72K, and my costs have been similar, not counting tires. Just replaced batteries for $550, got lucky with the tanneau cover failing at 59K. HS washers are clicking again, and I've decided to just live with it. It's less convenient to take her in to SC, 30-40 mins away, than the local dealership, but it is so nice to skip all those oil changes and gas station stops.

 

[DuoRivians]

My R1T has been in service 20+ times for repairs covered by warranty, so I understand the OP’s perspective.

I’m going again in a few weeks because of a rust bubble under the paint. Of all things…

 

[MountainBikeDude]

My R1T has been in service 20+ times for repairs covered by warranty, so I understand the OP’s perspective.

I’m going again in a few weeks because of a rust bubble under the paint. Of all things…

Let me preface my comment by saying I pay for the comprehensive service inspection every time.

I've been somewhat fortunate with my R1T in that the front welded subframe developed clicking issues a little over a year and a bit into ownership, which led to it being replaced with a Gen 2 cast retrofit, at the time, I also took advantage of the jounce line retrofit, and AC line retrofit. so hopefully that mitigates some of my future out of warranty issues.

But, in paying for the comprehensive inspection at each service interval (roughly 500cdn) I've almost always had a damper or two replaced due to small amounts of fluid leaking through the gaskets etc, which are noticed on the inspection, but not from a driving perspective.

So does that make my vehicle crazy unlucky with suspension, or is it just Rivian being extremely meticulous and ensuring each component is fully to spec because of the service I'm paying for? I really don't know.

I had a suspension issue crop up a couple months ago from the front left damper, which along with some clear half shaft play throughout front and rear, lead them to fully replace all 4 half shafts, Front dampers were swapped with Gen 2 retrofit Firestone dampers, and drivers rear damper was also replaced.

So do I believe that OP has had some high repair bills? Absolutely. But the real question is if long term owners are comfortable flipping the bill for some of these consistent repairs? In my wife and I's case, at this point 23,000kms away from the end of our warranty, yes, because the vehicle is that good. But as bills add up as time passes, will we feel the same? Time will tell.

 

[TTedP]

I think context is important. R1 Gen 1 vs Gen 2 vs R2.

We're now getting to where long term reviews of R1's are coming in and a lot of the common concerns are around the suspension design and early manufacturing choices.

I expect/hope that the 4yr reviews on R2's will be different.

 

[BanditTA]

I wish we could actually get real stats on how the R1T and the R1S are improving in terms of quality over time. I decided to take a leap of faith that a mid year 2026 R1T Tri would have a lot of the bugs figured out. So far so good in the first 2 weeks of ownership.

There’s just no other truck out there that’s so enjoyable to drive on the road.

 

[boosted20v]

Given the absolute lack of details regarding "maintenance" and zero response to multiple questions about it, I'm starting to assume yet another troll post. I'm 35k miles in and the only "maintenance" I've paid for are the new set of tires I'm about to have installed this morning.

^^^This

 

[CharonPDX]

What do you mean by maintenance? Assuming your warranty is over when talking about repairs. Yeah I agree owning outside of warranty is ridiculous on these cars.

This.

"Maintenance" and "Repairs" are two separate buckets. "Maintenance" should be minimal for a fleet. New tires, occasional system checks.

"Repair" - really shouldn't have any with significant cost during warranty period, of course. After warranty, there aren't many major failure points to cause expensive repairs.

Crash-related repairs will be more expensive, due to it being a "premium" vehicle, just as crash-related repairs would cost more for a Land Rover than a Jeep.

 

[Jonger1150]

Agreed out of warranty costs are beyond reasonable mostly because sourcing parts is problematic since some parts are "restricted" and other minor things like seals and o-rings aren't available, have to resort to full component replacements. Being locked into only Rivian as a service option isn't helping.

This is a problem.

 

[Jonger1150]

All valid points, but have you ever purchased and owned a vehicle from a startup whose first production vehicles were delivered to customers less than five years ago (October 2021)?

According to specialists in the automotive field, the R1 was over-engineered. Rivian realized this as well, which is why they’ve continued to iterate on the R1 (Gen 2, eventually Gen 3, etc) and developed the R2/R3 platform.

Tesla, by comparison, released their first mass-market vehicle the Model S in 2012, over 14 years ago. They went thought enormous growing pains with fit and finish, reliability, etc, including almost going bankrupt. Their current offerings are worlds apart from those early days. There’s a reason the Model Y is one of the best selling vehicles in the world. I believe the R2 will be up there in the coming years, at least in the US.

Before Tesla, the last significant new automaker in the United States was Chrysler, founded in 1925 over 100 years ago! Not including subsidiaries, like GM’s Saturn, which was founded in 1990 and overseas brands, like Toyota (1937), Honda (1946), etc.

Most automakers have had decades to hone their craft. If all goes well, Rivian will too. You’ve had a unique opportunity to participate in the early days of a new company. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t frustrating or expensive, but it will only get better from here on out.

Rivian has an amazing team of engineers, designers, and leadership. Mark my words, the lessons learned from these recent developments (R2/R3) will be applied to future (R4/R5) and former platforms. I hope you’re along for the ride.

I always say this.

You only need 1 hand to count the amount of ground up new automakers in the US since the 1950s.

Tesla & Rivian may be the only new automakers to survive since WW2.

And that's because of the huge shift in drivetrain.

 

[racekarl]

"Repair" - really shouldn't have any with significant cost during warranty period, of course. After warranty, there aren't many major failure points to cause expensive repairs.

I think your second sentence there is the crux of the matter, and on which the OP would presumably disagree. There seems to be an increasing drumbeat of posts here that there are indeed major failure points which cause expensive repairs, which could be unmanageable when out of warranty.

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