SF_MOTOGRRL
Member
- First Name
- Paige
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2024
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 4
- Location
- San Francisco
- Vehicles
- 2024 R1T
- Thread starter
- #1
I am a longtime motorcycle adventurer, Rivian shareholder, and R1T owner. My truck has had recurring drivetrain clunking since 3,506 miles, stranded me near the Snake River, required a rear drive-unit replacement, caused me to abandon permit-only backcountry plans in Moab, and is still clunking today. After an arbitrator told me to return to Rivian if the problem happened again, Rivian refused to accept the truck for service—and the appointment later disappeared from the history visible in my app.
I bought my Rivian because I refused to let cancer make my world smaller.
Instead, this truck has made my world smaller.
I have been riding clutch motorcycles across North America and through countries near and far since the early 2000s. I am not precious about travel. I know machines break, weather changes, roads disappear, and plans go sideways. I understand adventure, and I understand that adventure is not always comfortable or convenient.
I also survived two separate late Stage III cancer diagnoses. The desire to keep exploring never left me, but my physical needs changed. I needed more shelter, climate control, equipment storage, security, and comfort than a motorcycle could provide.
The R1T seemed purpose-built for the next chapter of my life. I believed in Rivian so much that when I leased the truck, I also bought Rivian stock. I added an approximately $10,000 Go Fast Camper so the R1T could become transportation, shelter, and a mobile basecamp for me and my dog.
I bought into “Keep the World Adventurous Forever.”
Then the clunking started.
The first complaint came at 3,506 miles
I leased my 2024 R1T Adventure on June 24, 2024. On July 31, at only 3,506 miles, I brought it to Rivian for loud front-end clunking during braking and deceleration.
Rivian said it was normal regenerative-braking behavior.
But it did not stop.
Over time, the truck exhibited recurring clunking, hard engagement, skipping or surging sensations, drivetrain warnings, abnormal physical feedback, and an AWD system that became stuck in All-Terrain mode.
From the driver’s seat, the recurring event has remained consistent: something in the drivetrain clunks, drops, skips, surges, or engages in a way it should not.
Rivian later found real mechanical problems
In September 2024, Rivian determined that the rear-disconnect position sensor had lost calibration and required engineering escalation and recalibration.
Then, in November 2024, everything went sideways in a remote part of Idaho near the Snake River.
The truck clunked during deceleration, displayed a four-wheel-drive warning, and illuminated the turtle icon. I called Rivian and was told that a tow could take several days because of my location. My other option was to try to limp the truck into the Boise Service Center myself.
So that is what I did.
The truck was not merely carrying luggage. It was our home. When it failed, my dog and I lost both transportation and shelter.
I paid for a hotel while Rivian evaluated the truck. Rivian ultimately found an internal mechanical fault in the rear drive unit and determined that the rear disconnect was sticking. They replaced the rear drive unit.
I could not stay in Boise waiting for the repair, so I left the R1T and camper in Idaho, loaded everything into a gas-powered replacement vehicle, and drove home.
This was exactly the situation in which an adventure vehicle needed to be trustworthy.
It was not.
The clunking came back
In June 2025, I returned with more skipping, surging, and abnormal noises. Rivian said it could not reproduce the drivetrain behavior during road tests. It did, however, find a split and warped washer and damage to a wheel-speed sensor, followed by repairs involving all four wheels.
The clunking continued.
Then came Moab.
In November 2025, we had planned permit-only backcountry driving—the exact kind of trip I bought and equipped this truck to handle. The R1T began clunking severely again, and Rivian told us to get to a service center as quickly as possible. Las Vegas was offered as an option.
We canceled the backcountry portion of the trip. Not because the trail was too difficult or the weather changed, but because I no longer trusted the truck.
A vehicle sold as an adventure vehicle caused us to abandon the adventure.
I took Rivian through BBB AUTO LINE
I represented myself during a formal BBB AUTO LINE arbitration hearing in March 2026. The arbitrator denied repurchase or replacement, treating the issues as separate rather than a recurring drivetrain condition.
He also accepted extremely narrow time-out-of-service calculations based on technician time rather than the real periods the truck was unusable.
But the written decision was not exactly flattering to Rivian.
The arbitrator said Rivian’s written response failed to address my allegations, provided no factual or legal basis for denying repurchase, and had little evidentiary value. He also noted Rivian submitted work orders only one day before the hearing despite a seven-day evidence deadline.
Most importantly, he said the truck remained under warranty and instructed me to return to Rivian if the condition manifested again.
The arbitration ended.
The clunking did not.
“Maybe you just don’t understand how an electric motor feels”
The basic position I kept hearing was that Rivian could not duplicate the condition—or that I did not understand what normal motor engagement feels like.
Come on!!!
I ride motorcycles. I have spent more than twenty years operating machines where you feel the drivetrain through your entire body. I know what normal engagement feels like, and I know what it feels like when something clunks, skips, drops, or surges in a way it should not.
I took videos. I made notes. I tracked what the truck was doing.
But after repeatedly being told Rivian could not duplicate it or that what I felt was normal, I became completely worn down. For a while, I could not bring myself to make another appointment just to be told again that something I could plainly hear and physically feel was not real.
That does not mean the clunking stopped.
It means the process wore me down.
June 24, 2026: I finally tried again
On June 24, 2026, I arrived for a scheduled appointment involving outstanding recall work and the continuing drivetrain condition.
Before the appointment, I sent Rivian video recorded inside the truck with a retired Rivian service professional present. When I arrived, Rivian declined to take the truck in for the recall work. They also declined to perform the longer road testing needed to evaluate the intermittent clunking.
I provided the videos and was told there would be follow-up.
There was no meaningful follow-up.
Then the June 24 appointment—and the fact that Rivian declined the requested work—stopped appearing in the service history visible in my app.
I am not claiming to know why the record disappeared. I am asking why an appointment at which Rivian refused recall and diagnostic work is no longer visible in my service history, and whether the complete internal record is being preserved.
It is still happening
As of July 27, 2026, the truck has approximately 34,664 miles.
The most recent event occurred on July 24, 2026, while decelerating at approximately 35 mph. After the clunk, I switched the truck into Sport mode to see whether all four motors would engage. They did.
The recurring drivetrain condition remains unresolved.
What I am asking Rivian to do
I am formally asking Rivian to:
I am not willing to enter another cycle of short drives, “could not duplicate” closures, and being handed back the same unresolved truck.
I bought an R1T because I believed Rivian understood that adventure is not merely recreation.
I bought this truck because I refused to let cancer make my world smaller.
But the truck has made my world smaller.
I have limped it out of remote Idaho, left it behind in another state, driven home in a gas-powered replacement vehicle, abandoned permit-only backcountry routes in Moab, and spent nearly two years documenting clunks and chasing appointments.
I still own Rivian stock because I believed this company could be different.
Now I need Rivian to prove it.
RJ and Rivian: I bought this truck to keep adventuring forever. I did not expect to spend forever trying to get you to fix it.
Has anyone else experienced recurring drivetrain clunking, rear-disconnect issues, or disappearing service appointments? I'd love all the advice, tips and experiences any of your who have made it through this whole post can share. What Lemon Law Lawyer did you choose if you did? I am just so frustrated - It almost breaks my nearly steel soul everytime I THINK about this..
Paige
Rivian R1T owner and shareholder
VIN ending: 2581
I bought my Rivian because I refused to let cancer make my world smaller.
Instead, this truck has made my world smaller.
I have been riding clutch motorcycles across North America and through countries near and far since the early 2000s. I am not precious about travel. I know machines break, weather changes, roads disappear, and plans go sideways. I understand adventure, and I understand that adventure is not always comfortable or convenient.
I also survived two separate late Stage III cancer diagnoses. The desire to keep exploring never left me, but my physical needs changed. I needed more shelter, climate control, equipment storage, security, and comfort than a motorcycle could provide.
The R1T seemed purpose-built for the next chapter of my life. I believed in Rivian so much that when I leased the truck, I also bought Rivian stock. I added an approximately $10,000 Go Fast Camper so the R1T could become transportation, shelter, and a mobile basecamp for me and my dog.
I bought into “Keep the World Adventurous Forever.”
Then the clunking started.
The first complaint came at 3,506 miles
I leased my 2024 R1T Adventure on June 24, 2024. On July 31, at only 3,506 miles, I brought it to Rivian for loud front-end clunking during braking and deceleration.
Rivian said it was normal regenerative-braking behavior.
But it did not stop.
Over time, the truck exhibited recurring clunking, hard engagement, skipping or surging sensations, drivetrain warnings, abnormal physical feedback, and an AWD system that became stuck in All-Terrain mode.
From the driver’s seat, the recurring event has remained consistent: something in the drivetrain clunks, drops, skips, surges, or engages in a way it should not.
Rivian later found real mechanical problems
In September 2024, Rivian determined that the rear-disconnect position sensor had lost calibration and required engineering escalation and recalibration.
Then, in November 2024, everything went sideways in a remote part of Idaho near the Snake River.
The truck clunked during deceleration, displayed a four-wheel-drive warning, and illuminated the turtle icon. I called Rivian and was told that a tow could take several days because of my location. My other option was to try to limp the truck into the Boise Service Center myself.
So that is what I did.
The truck was not merely carrying luggage. It was our home. When it failed, my dog and I lost both transportation and shelter.
I paid for a hotel while Rivian evaluated the truck. Rivian ultimately found an internal mechanical fault in the rear drive unit and determined that the rear disconnect was sticking. They replaced the rear drive unit.
I could not stay in Boise waiting for the repair, so I left the R1T and camper in Idaho, loaded everything into a gas-powered replacement vehicle, and drove home.
This was exactly the situation in which an adventure vehicle needed to be trustworthy.
It was not.
The clunking came back
In June 2025, I returned with more skipping, surging, and abnormal noises. Rivian said it could not reproduce the drivetrain behavior during road tests. It did, however, find a split and warped washer and damage to a wheel-speed sensor, followed by repairs involving all four wheels.
The clunking continued.
Then came Moab.
In November 2025, we had planned permit-only backcountry driving—the exact kind of trip I bought and equipped this truck to handle. The R1T began clunking severely again, and Rivian told us to get to a service center as quickly as possible. Las Vegas was offered as an option.
We canceled the backcountry portion of the trip. Not because the trail was too difficult or the weather changed, but because I no longer trusted the truck.
A vehicle sold as an adventure vehicle caused us to abandon the adventure.
I took Rivian through BBB AUTO LINE
I represented myself during a formal BBB AUTO LINE arbitration hearing in March 2026. The arbitrator denied repurchase or replacement, treating the issues as separate rather than a recurring drivetrain condition.
He also accepted extremely narrow time-out-of-service calculations based on technician time rather than the real periods the truck was unusable.
But the written decision was not exactly flattering to Rivian.
The arbitrator said Rivian’s written response failed to address my allegations, provided no factual or legal basis for denying repurchase, and had little evidentiary value. He also noted Rivian submitted work orders only one day before the hearing despite a seven-day evidence deadline.
Most importantly, he said the truck remained under warranty and instructed me to return to Rivian if the condition manifested again.
The arbitration ended.
The clunking did not.
“Maybe you just don’t understand how an electric motor feels”
The basic position I kept hearing was that Rivian could not duplicate the condition—or that I did not understand what normal motor engagement feels like.
Come on!!!
I ride motorcycles. I have spent more than twenty years operating machines where you feel the drivetrain through your entire body. I know what normal engagement feels like, and I know what it feels like when something clunks, skips, drops, or surges in a way it should not.
I took videos. I made notes. I tracked what the truck was doing.
But after repeatedly being told Rivian could not duplicate it or that what I felt was normal, I became completely worn down. For a while, I could not bring myself to make another appointment just to be told again that something I could plainly hear and physically feel was not real.
That does not mean the clunking stopped.
It means the process wore me down.
June 24, 2026: I finally tried again
On June 24, 2026, I arrived for a scheduled appointment involving outstanding recall work and the continuing drivetrain condition.
Before the appointment, I sent Rivian video recorded inside the truck with a retired Rivian service professional present. When I arrived, Rivian declined to take the truck in for the recall work. They also declined to perform the longer road testing needed to evaluate the intermittent clunking.
I provided the videos and was told there would be follow-up.
There was no meaningful follow-up.
Then the June 24 appointment—and the fact that Rivian declined the requested work—stopped appearing in the service history visible in my app.
I am not claiming to know why the record disappeared. I am asking why an appointment at which Rivian refused recall and diagnostic work is no longer visible in my service history, and whether the complete internal record is being preserved.
It is still happening
As of July 27, 2026, the truck has approximately 34,664 miles.
The most recent event occurred on July 24, 2026, while decelerating at approximately 35 mph. After the clunk, I switched the truck into Sport mode to see whether all four motors would engage. They did.
The recurring drivetrain condition remains unresolved.
What I am asking Rivian to do
I am formally asking Rivian to:
- Repurchase the vehicle and unwind my lease
- Preserve the complete service, appointment, diagnostic, communication, and vehicle-data history
- Produce or restore the June 24 appointment record
- Complete the outstanding recall work
- Assign a senior executive with authority to resolve the case
I am not willing to enter another cycle of short drives, “could not duplicate” closures, and being handed back the same unresolved truck.
I bought an R1T because I believed Rivian understood that adventure is not merely recreation.
I bought this truck because I refused to let cancer make my world smaller.
But the truck has made my world smaller.
I have limped it out of remote Idaho, left it behind in another state, driven home in a gas-powered replacement vehicle, abandoned permit-only backcountry routes in Moab, and spent nearly two years documenting clunks and chasing appointments.
I still own Rivian stock because I believed this company could be different.
Now I need Rivian to prove it.
RJ and Rivian: I bought this truck to keep adventuring forever. I did not expect to spend forever trying to get you to fix it.
Has anyone else experienced recurring drivetrain clunking, rear-disconnect issues, or disappearing service appointments? I'd love all the advice, tips and experiences any of your who have made it through this whole post can share. What Lemon Law Lawyer did you choose if you did? I am just so frustrated - It almost breaks my nearly steel soul everytime I THINK about this..
Paige
Rivian R1T owner and shareholder
VIN ending: 2581
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