2024 R1S totaled after hitting divider

[FinFarmer]

We need some thoughts if this is normal or quality issue of the car. We have a 2024 R1S Quad motor almost one year old, the car front passage side tire cut by a road side metal when driving 20-30 mph, car stopped after ~100 ft. The wheel arm broke right away, original estimate is around ~$15,000 by the Rivian service center. Later the Rivian certified body shop opened up all the panels and told us there are also cracks on the body frame and roof glass so are major issue that need to replace the body frame, the repair cost will be over ~$55K, likely the insurance will determine it as totaled. I understand EVs are heavy and flat tire can cause more damage than traditional engine cars, but we would never imagine the car can be totaled just because of a flat tire. Are we just super stupid bad luck or there are potential quality issues of the car that have too few cases to be aware of?

To add more after seeing all the replies. I also uploaded the cam video of the impact, the tire hit the road metal fence, but there are no scratches on the body of the car

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[Seano]

Seems a little crazy - but tearing susp pieces off can do a lot of damage, depending.

'24 should be worth $75k? Not sure how they decide to total or not?

 

[DaveA]

Wow. That's scary. By wheel arm, do you mean control arm? Sounds like you had a loose bolt that couldn't handle the jolt and cracked. No clunking noises recently?

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Damn. I wonder if the tire was flopping and slapping into the frame, which caused the cracks. Seems like a freak accident sort of thing on its face.

 

[av8or]

So you clipped some kind of metal so hard that you broke the reflector, broke a wheel, blew a tire, and partially ripped the front tire off. Thats sounds more like you had an accident than a simple flat tire. Something is fishy.

 

[cbrcanuck]

Yikes. That's nasty. Definitely a lot more than a flat tire, and yes - sadly that's some awful luck. Good luck.

 

[DRJ564]

Need a pic of what you hit to make the story complete.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

GG video would also be good. But at first blush, it looks like you had an accident.

 

[Deleted member 18486]

What “road side metal” did your car collide with? It seems like this metal bent and tore up your front suspension, which caused a whole host of other issues.

A flat tire can certainly damage a wheel, but it wouldn’t cause $50k in damage and total a car!

 

[s4wrxttcs]

So you clipped some kind of metal so hard that you broke the reflector, broke a wheel, blew a tire, and partially ripped the front tire off. Thats sounds more like you had an accident than a simple flat tire. Something is fishy.

My interpretation was the blown tire broke a wheel and then caused the vehicle to brush the barrier as it slid from 30 to zero.

 

[lefkonj]

Yeah that isn't a flat tire accident but a normal 'Accident'. Years ago my mom hit a storm drain cover on the LIE that wasn't put back right. The amount of damage was insane.

 

[IGR]

Wow, sorry that happened to you. Few inches over and it would be a lot worse.
hope insurance takes care of you.

 

[Polar]

Watched the video - you hit a barricade. That’s in no way from a tire slice.

Appreciate the video as it makes WAY more sense now.

 

[CharonPDX]

So you clipped some kind of metal so hard that you broke the reflector, broke a wheel, blew a tire, and partially ripped the front tire off. Thats sounds more like you had an accident than a simple flat tire. Something is fishy.

Yeah, this wasn't "sudden puncture, all other damage caused by flat" - this is "road debris caused major damage to tires and suspension." I've had sudden blowouts in heavy vehicles (Ford F-250 with 12' camper in the bed) and the blowout alone did not cause suspension damage at all, much less the kind of damage your vehicle has when it came to a halt.

I have had a vehicle skid on black ice, and slam the front passenger's side wheel into the (tall) curb at an angle that that *impact* caused suspension damage similar to what you have. But even if you had similar due to tire blowout instead of black ice - it wasn't the tire blowout directly causing the damage, it was the impact with the curb.

I'd guess the blowout caused you to ride up that barrier, and the collision with the barrier is what caused the suspension damage. If you'd had the tire blowout on an empty flat area with plenty of room to your right, you likely wouldn't have had any suspension/frame damage.

 

[Polar]

Yeah, this wasn't "sudden puncture, all other damage caused by flat" - this is "road debris caused major damage to tires and suspension." I've had sudden blowouts in heavy vehicles (Ford F-250 with 12' camper in the bed) and the blowout alone did not cause suspension damage at all, much less the kind of damage your vehicle has when it came to a halt.

I have had a vehicle skid on black ice, and slam the front passenger's side wheel into the (tall) curb at an angle that that *impact* caused suspension damage similar to what you have. But even if you had similar due to tire blowout instead of black ice - it wasn't the tire blowout directly causing the damage, it was the impact with the curb.

I'd guess the blowout caused you to ride up that barrier, and the collision with the barrier is what caused the suspension damage. If you'd had the tire blowout on an empty flat area with plenty of room to your right, you likely wouldn't have had any suspension/frame damage.

Did you watch the video? There is no blowout - it’s an impact an impact with the damn barrier.

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