R1T Break Down Report & Rivian Customer Service Review -- Milwaukee to Detroit Trip

[JeremyMKE]

On October Second I departed Milwaukee, WI with a full charge headed to Novi MI outside Detroit.

TLDR - the drive disconnect on the left rear wheel failed causing catastrophic chain of events. Rivian Emergency and Vehicle service are World Class and I am scheduled to have the truck back in less than 7 days from breakdown.

TRIP SETUP

New Planning software worked great and I had a single scheduled stop at the Rivian Charger in Benton Harbor MI. My first ever RAN charging session. I planned making the drive almost entirely in Conserve as this would theoretically give me buffer for issues and make only the one stop. Side note, I could take the Milwaukee to Muskegon, MI ferry and I can make it in a single charge to detroit.

About 30 min after my charge stop the water I put down at the charging stop were starting to make themselves known and I pulled off near Paw Paw Michigan for a bio break. All still in conserve mode. As I was cruising to the gas station at about 25 mph I heard what sounded like the bang of hitting a pothole but the car didn't shake at all. The road was pretty new actually and I looked in the rearview and saw nothing.

INCIDENT

I made my stop and was cruising back to the highway (in conserve), still didn't see the pothole or crease in the road. I thought I heard what sounded like gravel hitting the underside of my car. The parking lot I parked in was gravel but I had growing concern.

As I was headed to the onramp it occurred to me that I might like full power to merge onto the highway so at about 40 MPH prior to onramp I hit all purpose and was met with an unpleasant rattle noise. As I got on the onramp I heard a HUGE bang and what sounded like nuts and bolts in a metal cement mixer.

Turtle Mode, ERROR!

I pulled over on the interstate and the Truck still drove. Better in Conserve.


Customer and Emergency Service

I will go quickly here but key pieces of info. Paw Paw MI is 30 minutes from Kalamazoo and feels like 7 hours from civilization if you get my meaning. Its a TOUGH place to break down.

Called Rivian Customer service
They got me a tow truck in about 2-2.5 hours. The nearest Tow service that was willing to pick it up and drive it to Chicago was in Grand Rapids, 45 minutes away. The MI service center was technically closer but then I would have to fly to MI to pick it up.

In the mean time Rivian sent me a LARGE Lyft credit. I discussed with my emergency rep that it was VERY unlikely for me to get a lyft or Uber in Paw Paw.

When the Tow driver picked me up he dropped me at the next exit Speedway Gas Station. He did offer to take me to Chicago with him which is above and beyond. I declined but probably should have gone with him.

At the speedway 2 things happened

1. The pimply faced kid offered me all the “Roller food” and Fountain drinks I could eat. I told him I can pay its not an issue and he insisted. People can be great given a chance.
2. My suspicions were correct. NO lyft or Uber service. I was stranded.

I walked to a local hotel and got a room and called Rivian Service, starting to regret the free roller dogs I had consumed.

They got to work, said the would call me back in 30 minutes, after an hour I was asleep because I had to get up as early as possible I needed to be in Novi for Work by 8.
The called three times and in the morning I had Text messages with 6 cab company phone numbers telling me to save the receipt.

You see, in the night they had booked me a car at Enterprise Rent a Car at Kalamazoo airport, the other locations were booked.

As I was calling the Cab companies and striking out I got another text from Rivian asking if it was going OK and I said no.

In 6 minutes I had another text saying call this number this Cab will pick you up. And he did.

At Enterprise I picked up my car and I was off. This is important, do I have to go to Chicago to get my truck? YES. Can I just drop my comped rental car at Rivian and get my Truck? YES. Thats pretty damn good.

Damage Report

What happened with the Truck? I don't have all the details but as of Oct 5 the parts had already arrived at the Chicago Service Center and it was being repaired.

According to the rep in Chicago the drive disconnect for the left rear wheel gave way. This destroyed the half shaft and sent metal shavings into the rear drive unit. It will all be replaced and I am scheduled to have it back Monday Oct 9 less than 7 days from the incident and a massive tow.

I will report more details when I get it.

Summary:
This sucked I broke down in the middle of nowhere under typical driving circumstances. That being said, mechanical failures happen.

What Rivian did to help me was world class service. They pay for the Rental, Cab, and repairs. They followed up and did their best to ease my situation. Seriously. Would Ford? BMW?

I am a fan of Rivian, but I was in a bad situation, Paw Paw is NOWHERE. I leave this experience with renewed confidence in being a customer. If it KEEPS happening my attitude might change.

Second note, Enterprise gave me a RAM pickup truck. If you ever doubt buying a Rivian rent one of those, it is sloppy, the ride is terrible, mileage is awful and the interior while very functional is garbage. BUT it has CARPLAY and I loved having that back.

Hoping this happens to none of you but if it does I hope you have confidence that Rivian will take care of you.

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[SolartoEV]

Good job Rivian. Let's try this with other auto manufacturers

 

[R1Tom]

This is great to know! Rivian definitely does seem to understand the importance and handle the catastrophic stuff pretty well. Glad things all worked out for you with such a high level of care from Rivian!

 

[Ingo B]

You know you have a good vehicle when the only real complaint is lack of CarPlay (for me, USB-playback). Thanks for the adventure.

 

[Ingo B]

Also, out of curiosity, I looked up Paw Paw, MI. This house seems pretty sweet, location notwithstanding.

 

[Mister Person]

My R1S is currently at the Chicago Service Center as well, although not for any catastrophic failure like yours. Just a few fit and finish issues from delivery. But my car's been locked for over 2 days...almost as if it's just sitting there not being worked on.

Anyway good luck with the repair.

 

[SASSquatch]

I am very sorry to hear about your experience and I am very glad to hear that you got excellent service from Rivian both from their emergency roadside and in terms of servicing of your vehicle.

I will say this much however, you asked if BMW would offer that kind of service and having driven a BMW electric vehicle now going on 8 years, I can unequivocally say yes.

I have thankfully only been in one situation where I needed BMW roadside assistance, but it was the best experience I have ever had (and Ford was a nightmare - I will agree with you on Ford).

A truck veered into my lane not seeing me and I swerved to avoid it and ended up slamming into a marble curb (the curbs in DC suburbs are made of marble!) and blowing out both tires on the left side of my car along with severely damaging my rims. The truck never stopped even though they had to have seen and heard me slam into the curb (it was loud and violent).

I hobbled to a small parking lot that was just a few yards away and pressed the emergency SOS button found in most newer BMWs. A voice came on the line almost instantly and asked me if I was OK and whether the vehicle was drivable.

I was OK, the vehicle was not drivable. The roadside assistance sent me a tow truck with a link to my phone to track the exact position and updated ETA (they were to me in less than 40 minutes even though it was rush hour).

Once the tow truck arrived, they ordered an Uber to come pick me up and again I got the link to precise tracking of the Uber which arrived just as the tow truck was pulling away.

The next day, I had Uber credits to use to get back to the dealership, or I could have taken a cab and they would have reimbursed me. At the dealership, I was offered a loaner (X3) which I had for nearly 3 weeks as parts had to be ordered from Germany.

I want to point something out here. This was not a warranty claim. This was a swerve and run accident and BMW did not have liability to offer me a loaner car. It saved me from having to take whatever junk my insurance was going to offer me under my comprehensive for the $45 daily rate.

BMW went way above and beyond. So, I agree with you on Ford - but they are not a luxury brand so that isn't a fair comparison.

 

[pntbllarea51]

My R1S had the same issue happen last weekend too. My R1S is also at the Chicago service center. But my expected pick up date is middle to end of next week.
Both the tow truck driver and the rivian service guy made it seem like this issue was becoming common.

edit: what Vin are you? Maybe bad batch of disconnects? I’m 14,000s

 

[zefram47]

My R1S had the same issue happen last weekend too. My R1S is also at the Chicago service center. But my expected pick up date is middle to end of next week.
Both the tow truck driver and the rivian service guy made it seem like this issue was becoming common.

edit: what Vin are you? Maybe bad batch of disconnects? I’m 14,000s

Jeez, I wonder how prevalent this is with the axle disconnects. I almost never use Conserve mode as it is, but if this is a growing issue I may just not use it at all.

 

[txtravwill]

Glad they handle these more emergency situations pretty well. More rare but when you really need some help.

Agree that with regular service or smaller things, definitely way slower and unorganized compared to regular dealers. My delivery dent took months, truck sat with nothing being done most of of the time until last 5 or 30+ days.

 

[JamesPolk24]

There have been so many drive failures we have read about which result from engaging from conserve (FWD) to quad motor drive mode, especially while under acceleration. Rivian should really put software limitations on when this can be performed instead of letting people shred their motors and end up stranded. It seems the locker for the rear wheels does not like being engaged while at speed and under acceleration.

 

[Buckets0fun]

Awesome they handled it.
Quite curious how they would have approached this outside of warranty

 

[Mathme]

I'm glad you're OK and Rivian did it's part to fix it right.

I rarely use conserve but the few times I have, it's always on the freeway once up to speed and then as exiting. With all the instant power and torque I sort of cringe every time I disconnect the rear wheels. Now I'm going to 'extra cringe'

 

[pntbllarea51]

There have been so many drive failures we have read about which result from engaging from conserve (FWD) to quad motor drive mode, especially while under acceleration. Rivian should really put software limitations on when this can be performed instead of letting people shred their motors and end up stranded. It seems the locker for the rear wheels does not like being engaged while at speed and under acceleration.

My rear disconnect failure occurred without any acceleration. I was at a constant speed. I also typically switch to converse at the light before the ramp. So I am stationary. Or I switch modes once I merge, but before I accelerate to normal speeds. (Usually switch from 55-70 mph)

 

[R1Tom]

I wonder if we are better to cycle the disconnects periodically at low loads or better to simply never disconnect and leave it all engaged.

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