Fender Bender... I'll let you know if it costs $42,000 to repair

[RivJob]

It happened and it stinks. I was in a crowded parking lot for my daughter's dance recital. I was in the furthest available row in the parking lot, as owning my truck has unlocked a new parking paint protection anxiety I didn't have before, when I came across two parking spots. I stopped, considering which would be the safest to occupy, when I heard the proximity chime. Alarmed, I checked my mirrors in time to see the truck on my left backing out of their parking spot to straighten out, and watch them collide with my rear quarter panel. I wish I had the presence of mind to simply tap the accelerator and move out of the way, but what's done is done.. It was an accident and while they didn't admit to being at fault, they provided me with all requested information, same as I did for them.

I texted my insurance agent the info and he responded with that now famous $42,000 repair for a dented bumper, haha. I'll keep laughing as long as it doesn't end up being that much.

I have Farmers insurance, but since it's obviously their fault, my agent had me file the claim with their insurance. He gave me some tips which I'll share once the other insurance officially takes responsibility (presumably Monday). I'll also share the experience I have going forward since I know many are curious what a claim is like when you don't have the insurance offered direct by Rivian at the time of purchase.

Pictured: My Truck's damage, and the damage on the 2018 Ram Bighorn that hit me.

Some interesting observations: The compressor still appears to work, though I haven't hooked up the air hose to it yet. I don't think there's damage to the tailgate, but the light, panel and bumper will need to be replaced. I think the battery pack is fine too - no warnings or messages are showing up. Most interesting - I never noticed until now that the rear quarter panel extends all the way to the roof and top of the windshield, though many have pointed that out on here. The best part is I can't see any damage in any mirrors from my drivers seat or on any of the cameras so I get to pretend everything's fine while I'm driving.

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[Donald Stanfield]

I wouldn't take the respective damage to speak to any quality differences. That corner where the ram hit you is the strongest part back there and the side of your fender is the most prone to denting like that.

 

[sillyME]

Hope your onboard camera recorded the whole event, in case of debate with the insurance companies.

 

[ORFynder]

Good Luck with the repair. when I was rear ended, I had to get a new tailgate and rear bumper. Total cost was $5800 and got my R1t back in 3 weeks. You will need to find a certified Rivian body shop as they will be the only one that have access to Rivian OEM Parts.

 

[R1Tom]

Good Luck with the repair. when I was rear ended, I had to get a new tailgate and rear bumper. Total cost was $5800 and got my R1t back in 3 weeks. You will need to find a certified Rivian body shop as they will be the only one that have access to Rivian OEM Parts.

Is that legal? Restricting OEM parts to "Certified Shops"?

 

[Blackhatch]

I wouldn't take the respective damage to speak to any quality differences. That corner where the ram hit you is the strongest part back there and the side of your fender is the most prone to denting like that.

Truth is somewhere in between those two things.

You can tap on bedside of my GM truck and the Rivian and the weight and thickness differences are audibly and tactilely significant.

 

[Blackhatch]

If they are willing to give you $42K for that repair....Keep it and have someone buy a back half from a totaled Rivian. And put 30K in your pocket.

 

[ORFynder]

Is that legal? Restricting OEM parts to "Certified Shops"?

Don't know as I am not a lawyer, but the Geico, the insurance that the driver that rear ended me had, didn't but up a fight regarding the Rivian Certified body shop that was out of their network, and the quote they gave me

 

[R1Tom]

Don't know as I am not a lawyer, but the Geico, the insurance that the driver that rear ended me had, didn't but up a fight regarding the Rivian Certified body shop that was out of their network, and the quote they gave me

That is good for sure!

 

[electruck]

A friend of mine was telling me Friday night about a neighbor whose daughter just had a very similar accident resulting in what appeared to be minor cosmetic damage, except it was a full size pickup backing out of a driveway into her 2020 Lexus IS. The Lexus sustained about $2200 in cosmetic damage so didn't look like that much damage until they tore into it and realized that it was going to cost well north of an additional $20k to repair the "bent frame". The insurance ended up declaring a total loss. Makes one wonder just how fast the guy in the pickup was backing out of his driveway!

Moral of the story is that newer vehicles with structural damage are expensive to repair, doesn't matter if BEV or ICE. That said, if a battery replacement is involved, the BEV repair will certainly cost significantly more. It is unfortunate that Rivian doesn't seem to have designed the R1 with repair costs in mind. I hope that doesn't end up being the Achilles heel of the brand as expensive to repair means expensive to insure means higher TCO. I would hate for Rivian to fail as a company because people can't afford to insure their vehicles. It won't take many reports of "$42k repairs for dented bumpers" to solidify a fledgling brand's reputation in this regard and drive consumers to other brands. Hopefully they are designing the R2 with lower repair costs in mind.

 

[ajbrutman]

It happened and it stinks. I was in a crowded parking lot for my daughter's dance recital. I was in the furthest available row in the parking lot, as owning my truck has unlocked a new parking paint protection anxiety I didn't have before, when I came across two parking spots. I stopped, considering which would be the safest to occupy, when I heard the proximity chime. Alarmed, I checked my mirrors in time to see the truck on my left backing out of their parking spot to straighten out, and watch them collide with my rear quarter panel. I wish I had the presence of mind to simply tap the accelerator and move out of the way, but what's done is done.. It was an accident and while they didn't admit to being at fault, they provided me with all requested information, same as I did for them.

I texted my insurance agent the info and he responded with that now famous $42,000 repair for a dented bumper, haha. I'll keep laughing as long as it doesn't end up being that much.

I have Farmers insurance, but since it's obviously their fault, my agent had me file the claim with their insurance. He gave me some tips which I'll share once the other insurance officially takes responsibility (presumably Monday). I'll also share the experience I have going forward since I know many are curious what a claim is like when you don't have the insurance offered direct by Rivian at the time of purchase.

Pictured: My Truck's damage, and the damage on the 2018 Ram Bighorn that hit me.

Some interesting observations: The compressor still appears to work, though I haven't hooked up the air hose to it yet. I don't think there's damage to the tailgate, but the light, panel and bumper will need to be replaced. I think the battery pack is fine too - no warnings or messages are showing up. Most interesting - I never noticed until now that the rear quarter panel extends all the way to the roof and top of the windshield, though many have pointed that out on here. The best part is I can't see any damage in any mirrors from my drivers seat or on any of the cameras so I get to pretend everything's fine while I'm driving.

sorry this happened, something similar happened to me and they had to cut, re-weld, then paint. It was roughly 24k

 

[RivianXpress]

Let me tell you the story about my $13K Sprinter repair bill... Cracked windshield from a dirt level rock in Utah and some paint chips needing to be fixed turned into $13K.

 

[RivJob]

I wouldn't take the respective damage to speak to any quality differences. That corner where the ram hit you is the strongest part back there and the side of your fender is the most prone to denting like that.

I wasn't. Just a picture of mine and theirs. People always ask about the other's on here.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I wasn't. Just a picture of mine and theirs. People always ask about the other's on here.

That comment is for everyone looking at it, not just you. It looks like the Ram totally wrecked the Rivian but it's just because of where each one was hit.

 

[Blackhatch]

Bed sides are going to show worst than a bumper corner, but the tins on the Rivian are really thin. Just tapping on them you can hear the material differences.

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