Great Truck - Unrealistic to Maintain

[Redline]

Op drops a dramatic post, with almost no detail and bolts...

Where have we seen this before?


That said, I'm not interested in owning my Gen 1 out of warranty. Wife gets the R2 any week now, and I'll trade in my Gen 1 into Rivian for whatever version of the R1S that's available when my warranty ends. Hoping for captains chairs.

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[Kidentist]

JESUS.......$45K in "out of warranty" expenses???
Thank god I leased......

 

[RivAW]

R1, especially Gen 1 was not designed with repairability in mind. I think that's probably normal for a first vehicle from a new company but it's certainly a limiting factor for long term ownership. I've got around 80k miles total between a 22 R1T and a 23 R1S and the biggest negative on ownership during that period is the fear of a major repair required.

I'd probably consider keeping the R1S in favor of the R2 if out of warranty repairs weren't such a big issue. My hope is that the R2 fixes most of these issues and is a vehicle I can realistically put 100k+ miles on.

Same. I have a Quad R1T that I love nearing 70k miles with no issues. That said, the potential for expensive out of warranty repairs does concern me, maybe enough to move to an R2 (which incidentally I test drove recently). That said, for roughly the same price, I’m back into a hybrid 4Runner

 

[ribuck97]

For the OP listing suspension and frame, I could see it adding up quick with multiple replacements of suspension components, shafts... then tack on a welded subframe to cast aluminum gen2 replacement (perhaps OP couldn't warranty this even though a known issue). Add in multiple tire sets. All that is adding up...

 

[s4wrxttcs]

Per Gemini, None of the third party warranties including XCare will cover the dampers themselves. Relayed suspension components, yes.

I might sell this just before warranty, if they don't come up with Rivian Care in WA. I usually keep my vehicles for 10 years, but if I have to sell, I am never coming back to Rivian brand. I cannot spend $19k to $28k on dampers alone when they fail every 3-4 years. My front ones were already replaced once at 25k miles.

Thankfully it looks like Rivian Care has come to WA State.

I'm going to try to get a quote.

 

[portdirect]

some back of the envelope (gpu?) maff for thought:

Year	Warranties issued	Deliveries	Accrual per delivery
2023	$233 million	50,122	$4,649
2024	$261 million	51,579	$5,060
2025	$184 million	42,247	$4,355

Additionally Rivian in 2021 estimated that each vehicle would bring in $3.5K revenue to service center for out of warranty repair work (excluding consumables - eg tires, brake pads etc).

 

[CrazyOne]

Thankfully it looks like Rivian Care has come to WA State.

I'm going to try to get a quote.

Where did you see that? It's not listed in https://rivian.com/support/article/rivian-care

 

[lefkonj]

50k miles here over 3.5 years other than tires zero maintenance.

 

[Kaiju]

I don't suppose we can get an idea of what the various repairs were?

There should be a warranty associated with any paid service work so I can't see things having to be done multiple times at cost and the drivetrain warranty would not have expired.

 

[peace and quiet]

I don't suppose we can get an idea of what the various repairs were?

There should be a warranty associated with any paid service work so I can't see things having to be done multiple times at cost and the drivetrain warranty would not have expired.

Seems like the OP took a shit and left.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

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.

Which other trucks did you try? Trying to get a sense of real world comparisons.

 

[BanditTA]

Which other trucks did you try? Trying to get a sense of real world comparisons.

Bought mine as I’m more of a muscle car/ sports car guy that really doesn’t enjoy driving trucks that much normally. I don’t see anything out there that can handle like the R1T or is as fast.

 

[1stPlace]

Additionally Rivian in 2021 estimated that each vehicle would bring in $3.5K revenue to service center for out of warranty repair work (excluding consumables - eg tires, brake pads etc).

Was this per year or over lifetime of vehicle?

Otherwise, I agree with others that OP not engaging on his own thread to back up anything indicates to me his claims were made-up.

 

[rodbrock]

I agree. Not realistic to own/maintain without a warranty. At 42K miles (3.5 years) have had rear dampers replaced twice and then all dampers, jounce lines and hydraulic pump replaced. I was told it was a $12k repair if wasn't covered (does not include the tow), Just had both front half shafts and lower control arms replaced. This suspension system is quite fancy but not robust enough for someone who lives on a dirt road. And keep in mind, suspension work is inevitable for any vehicle, so we are all sitting ducks.

I knew what I was getting into so I'm not complaining and it's really the only vehicle I want to be driving at the moment too.

I will be looking into an extended warranty, because I won't be buying another EV until the battery tech has changed and it does seem like we might have something much better (sodium?) within 5 years.

 

[R1TLG20BM]

Hey all, I dont monitor this site so apologies to those expecting quicker responses. Post was intended to be a heads up to those inside of warranty (nice when its "free", shouldn't be any less concerning), considering EV reliability, and real world experience vs forecasts. Not intending to throw shade. I own a ton of Rivian in almost all facets. They have a great future, some aspects have some challenges that will take some time to sort out. Maintainability vs cost is one of them. Real costs incurred minus some every vehicle has them standard costs that I didnt want to go back and look for:

Suspension (dampers/springs, half shafts, seals, control arms) ~$18,500

Sensor diag and re-alignment ~ $1900

Rear Subframe ~ $4800
Front Subframe ~ $6500

12v Battery replaced 2 times ~ $600 each

Rear Camera ~ $1200

Rear brakes ~$700

Tonneau realign ~ $600

Glass front x 3 ~ $2300x3
Roof glass ~ $6000

Not including tires and maintenance checks as those are conditional. You can understandably remove the glass as well, but ive never had glass replaced on a vehicle more than this one so just a data point. Remove all of that and I'm still at $35k+. Again, all of this happens for me at or above 100k miles so that has been pretty consistent. I had near zero issues under 80k so part of it is bad timing I'm sure.

We can argue over maintenance vs structure all day, but if this is occurring at these mileage intervals - are there justifiable reasons to suspect better in the future? I hope so, but my current forecast is looking like $90k to maintain for a 300k mile vehicle post purchase price with some exclusions. Hopefully a couple things won't re‐occur, but new things will replace them (motors, batteries, harnesses, etc). Might be significantly higher than $90k, but I dont see a lot of the current components all of a sudden getting more life just because, so I doubt it'll be less than $90k. Costs above are outside of warranty, so in fairness everything covered inside of the warranty is not added, so the full life of the vehicle calculation could be off on my part and significantly more.

Not looking to spark protest. Real world, just relaying for those under the line. $190k for roughly a 12yr vehicle is not a bad daily driver. But that's me...not everyone. Far better ratios with other vehicles without a doubt. Just a data point and a headache at times. It's fun to drive.

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