Disillusioned New R1T Owner

[jktaylor]

Thank you, yes, we are a long way from a service center! My master stroke is when be go visit my in-laws I'm planning to drop the wife with her parents and visit the service center near them!!

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[lefkonj]

Sorry about the customer service experience but some of the things you mentioned are your own fault. No spare, so many cars don't come with them anymore, including in England. Not getting the range you thought, quick google and you would have found plenty of real world numbers like any other vehicle. No adapter, easy to solve they will send it to you.

It is never too late to walk away before delivery so not sure why you didn't just do that.

 

[NinjaWrap]

Today, the trend is to skip the spare tire in new cars.

I have not had a car that came with a spare in almost 20 years (Honda, Kia, Nissan, Teslas). I am surprised some still do.

 

[Kaiju]

Spare tires aren't completely dead. You'll find they're commonly included on various pickups still.

However I think Rivian's choice with the R1T bears a little bit of forgiveness. It has a place for a full spare, but usually OE spares are a steel wheel that's a different diameter than the various options on the truck with a unique tire. They're just not giving all R1T buyers a matching alloy wheel of the same size for free and decided to just not include a cheap spare that anyone who wants a matching one will throw away. You can be incensed that they don't give it to you for free, though I suppose I can respect that they opted to keep the sticker price across the range a little lower and make it an option instead. Especially for people who do aftermarket wheels anyway.

I happen to like that the R1T spare allows me to do five wheel rotations.

If you have anyone locally who does glass on exotic or otherwise expensive cars you can probably find someone who will replace a Rivian windshield without neccessarily needing to go to the service center. There isn't any mystery to the process, it's just an expensive piece of glass and the smaller shops who are afraid of warranty cost won't touch it. There is aftermarket (i.e. not-OEM branded) glass for Rivians that outside parties can get though it's still from Fuyao as I understand it.

As for the service center bungling the delivery? Yeeeah. Frustrations with the service centers are the bane of basically all troubled ownership. From what I gather Rivian corporate is penny-pinching and my guess is whoever offered you mats for wasting a day wound up getting shot down by their boss after the fact. The service centers are night and day because of the difference in management. From my perspective cheaping out there is the most expensive money they could be saving, because a customer that feels they've been wronged can hold a grudge against the company for life. Someone who doesn't like the brand will not only refuse to spend more money in the future, but they will definitely create negative sales if they're vocal about it. Seems to be a very stupid thing to do over a set of floor mats, but corporates can and will do stupid things.

Let me tell you about a corporate IT manager who ruined 20 years worth of digital records irreversibly 'compressing' video data to save a few thousand bucks on hard drives, only for the savings to become meaningless a few years later as hard drive sizes grew. There's some bean counter in Rivian's service apparatus doing the same thing.

 

[runwithscissors]

My guide was terrible. Had annoying dash rattles day 1 that made noise over almost every bump and had to wait 6 weeks to get it addressed (several times). Had a bunch of issues but Brooklyn was pretty good. Delivery day was a somewhat dirty car and a guy with a microfiber towel trying to wipe it and I'm like dude stop, you're just scratching it... Just frustrating to wait so long and have drive off issues but again that was in 2023.

 

[LivingInKaos]

You stated you were "too far down the road" to not take the vehicle. You have 14 days from delivery. If you aren't at 14 days yet, I highly suggest you return it. If these front end speed bumps get you upset, the ownership process is not going to bring you back. My 2 cents.

 

[jktaylor]

Thank you, I like the 5 wheel rotation idea.

 

[Zoidz]

There isn't a single thing on it that has worked the way it was supposed to.

The doors don't open and close? The windows don't work? You can't put it in drive?

You stated you were "too far down the road" to not take the vehicle. You have 14 days from delivery. If you aren't at 14 days yet, I highly suggest you return it. If these front end speed bumps get you upset, the ownership process is not going to bring you back. My 2 cents.

The return policy was cancelled two years ago. The web site states no return policy.

 

[azbill]

Rivian is the only EV on the market with a spare.

Hummer and Lightning have spare tires.

 

[Rade]

My purchase and delivery experience went fine. We had watched a lot of pre-delivery videos on YouTube and went into the final portion with a checklist of things to look for; thankfully everything was intact and functional when we accepted the vehicle. The fit and finish continue to be superb, as is the ride quality.

My R1T was our first full electric vehicle. It took me a good 8 months to get out of my mindset of comparing it to prior gas-powered vehicles. It also took about that long for the new vehicle nits to settle down; OS issues mainly. There were / are some things with the R1T that have been annoying, but in my almost 2 years of ownership, I just either found a work-around (like playing MY music through the sound system without using the Apple app), or just let it go. When it comes down to it; I just accepted that I am essentially driving a computer on wheels. Having retired from 36 years in that industry, I have an understanding that operating systems need patching and upgrades, and every now and then, you need to reboot to "clear the baffles". I also soured a bit on the Rivian, but I am back to loving my truck, again. I have come to the realization that it is the perfect vehicle for my age, physical capability and waning driving acuity.

As for parts; I received my NACS adapter by mail within a few weeks of taking delivery, and I have just gotten into the mindset that there is no spare tire for my 8,500 pound vehicle; just the run-flat repair kit. This is the second vehicle I've owned that has such a kit; the prior was a Saturn Vue. I recently looked into purchasing a spare, but $1,400+ for the tire is just a bit too cost prohibitive for me at this moment - perhaps there are after-market alternatives?

I am sorry to hear that your service center experience has been abysmal. I am well aware, from this forum, that the quality of service center attention varies widely from region to region. Here in the the Northeast, we are fortunate to have two superb centers within range; Chelsea and Canton MA. Hopefully something else will open up closer to you.

Keep with it; it's hard not to be discouraged, but the vehicle nits will clear out If consistent problems persist, you should be able to look into lemon laws - yes, once in a while, something does not come off the assembly line as functional. This forum will attest.

Good luck!

 

[iansriv]

Sorry to hear about your issues, mate. I've owned my fair share of nice cars and the initial pick-up experience for my R1 was one of the best. My local SC has been consistently great. Car has been great too for the most part. I would escalate your issues with Rivian so that you have documented concerns if you need to "lemon" the car. All the best.

 

[DD4ST]

There is a spare, you just need to buy it.

Rivian is the only EV on the market with a spare.

https://gearshop.rivian.com/products/compact-spare-tire

My Audi eTron has a spare. In fact, my R1T is the first vehicle I’ve owned EVER without a spare. At least it has the option for a full size spare.

 

[VandalSibs]

I recently looked into purchasing a spare, but $1,400+ for the tire is just a bit too cost prohibitive for me at this moment - perhaps there are after-market alternatives?

Hit up the tire/wheel sub-forum here, or maybe the sales one. There may be someone selling your tire/wheel combo and you could ask for one of them. I ended up doing something similar with a member of the Emerald City Rivian club, got a 21" wheel and AS tire from them for $200 bucks (I then replaced the tire when I got new ones, wanted everything to match).

 

[Rade]

Hit up the tire/wheel sub-forum here, or maybe the sales one.

Going there now! Thanks for the redirect!

 

[AlanP]

You probably did yourself a disservice not joining and learning sooner, to know what you are about to get yourself into.

Regardless of which car, ICE or otherwise, real world range results are highly dependent on how you drive and numerous factors (including temp, elevation and average speed). EPA-certified figures are only based on specific test cycle performed. The testing and reporting are done by each OEM on their own. Then sent to EPA for review and approval. Surprising that you say you've owned 5 EVs but isn't aware of this expected discrepancy between certified estimate and real-world results. Which tire option you choose matters too. I have seen people mistake the max range estimate for one particular tire/wheel package as the figure for all other packages.

As for windshield replacement, you can choose a Rivian Service Center, Rivian Certified collision repair center, or some Safelite locations. Rivian Service can handle everything including recalibration of cameras, but may turn you to a certified collision center to replace the glass. It depends on what your local Rivian Service advises. With Safelite, you're taking a gamble on quality of their workmanship (use forum search if you want to read experiences from those who chose it).

Most new cars sold do not include a spare. It's been like this for over a decade.

As for your other troubles... Don't know what to say. In 3 years, the only thing that has broken (and replaced under warranty) is the tailgate latch. And even while broken, I was still able to drive.

Yep, range is still a true mystery for me. Drove Glendale to Oxnard on Sunday. Indicator at start was 92%(278mi). Drove 128 miles (95% freeway), arrived home with 32%. Your mileage may vary. Just me and no cargo.

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