2025 Gen2 R1S Defects, Issues and Questions

[Jakeman]

Greetings!

With 30 days and 587mi on my 8/24 build date R1S Dual Max, I want to share some of the problems to date and see if others have had similar experiences.

Many issues were present at delivery, which I found either later that day or soon after. All items have been brought to the attention of the service center and are in various states of repair; the next service visit is is in a week (that was the earliest they could do).

Some of the issues are likely related to the car sitting in Salt Lake and being transferred to SoCal.

Note that the service center provided a comp set of crossbars to offset the inconvenience.

• Passenger side interior A pillar is sueded material and should be woven (service center notified)
• Door handles squeak (lubricated once, but squeak returned)
• Right rear tailgate light bars are scratched, right rear tailgate panel paint scratched (partially fixed, parts on order)
• Right rear tailgate not aligned (partially fixed)
• Frunk squeak (repaired)

Questions:

• Steering related: I have 22in Range wheels. Does anyone find that the steering feedback is not too good? At freeway speeds it has a hard time staying centered. I noticed this less on an R1T launch loaner truck, and wonder if it's just the nature of the rims/tires.
• Audio related: I have the upgraded audio and find it very muffled even with playing with the equalizer, etc. and trying it with Atmos tracks and Tidal. I find it very lacking compared to other cars I've owned and want to know if others have the same reaction. It's bad enough that I wonder if it's defective, but I have a feeling it's just not very good.

Sponsored

 

[shamoo]

Welcome to the forum.

Glad you're getting those things taken care of. They don't seem to terribly bad. Some comments:

- I don't know about Gen2, but on Gen1, the A pillars are all the suede/alcantara-like material.

- For your steering, is it feedback or the centering that's an issue? For the latter if you let go of the wheel on most flat US roads, you generally get moved to the right (roads slope for water drainage usually). For your feedback comment, I'd like more detail. Seems fine to me (again, I'm on a Gen1). I also have sports cars and other vehicles so they're obviously not the same, but I don't seem to experience anything anomalous.

- Audio, yes. Have you played with the 3d/enhanced sound? I find with it on, Spotify is very muffled. Almost like a karaoke effect where they sort of mute the voice so you can sing along with the loud background. It was weird. I just keep that feature off.

 

[carsly]

muffled audio is a problem in many Gen 2 Rivians. Not sure there is a fix, it's just bad.

I've noticed on-center steering feel is wildly overboosted making it difficult to precisely place the front end in low speeds/town conditions. I think it's just a Rivian tuning issue. At freeway speeds, there is more weight so easier to select and hold a line. Either way, Gen 2 steering tuning needs some love. Also riding on 22's in my R1S, Feb 2025 delivery.

 

[Jakeman]

Welcome to the forum.

Glad you're getting those things taken care of. They don't seem to terribly bad. Some comments:

- I don't know about Gen2, but on Gen1, the A pillars are all the suede/alcantara-like material.

- For your steering, is it feedback or the centering that's an issue? For the latter if you let go of the wheel on most flat US roads, you generally get moved to the right (roads slope for water drainage usually). For your feedback comment, I'd like more detail. Seems fine to me (again, I'm on a Gen1). I also have sports cars and other vehicles so they're obviously not the same, but I don't seem to experience anything anomalous.

- Audio, yes. Have you played with the 3d/enhanced sound? I find with it on, Spotify is very muffled. Almost like a karaoke effect where they sort of mute the voice so you can sing along with the loud background. It was weird. I just keep that feature off.

Thanks for the reply!

Except for this particular pillar, the rest of the material is woven.

It's definitely not due to the grading of the surface. I'm going to pay more attention to see if it has anything to do with drainage grooves, but I don't think it does. It just has a hard time staying in place. I also have an ND2 Miata which has very sensitive steering, but it can stay in the lane a lot more consistently, without me providing corrections.

Regarding Audio, I've tried it with 3D off and on and usually 3D on sounds worse.

 

[savethemanual]

Congrats on your new Rivian. I know many have experienced better sound quality when using Apple Music with the sound check setting turned off.

 

[one44]

I'm curious as to how often Gen 2 handles have that squeak issue. I was up in Boston last year and their demo R1S had that issue. Really didn't like the new doors after that. Picking up my wife's R1S this weekend and hoping it doesn't have any major issues and that the door feels slightly better...

 

[carsly]

I picked up a Gen 2 R1S last month, no door squeaks.

 

[kyledmb]

Hang in there a bit on the audio. I had a Gen1 with the in-house elevation system, and now have a Gen2 with the upgraded audio. I can say that they made improvements over my 19 months of ownership through OTA updates. By the end with my Gen1, the sound was more clear and balanced...overall better dynamic range and more immersive. I think Gen2 will catch up. I don't think its a hardware or component design problem...I think Rivian struggles with the software part of the engineering.

That said, my T has I believe a 6x9 sub driver. Not ever going to get pounding bass from that.

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

Welcome to the Rivian family, “where repairs are not just a hobby, they are a full time job.” It’s likely there will be more repairs down the line.

 

[andrewgrhogg]

What tires do those wheels come with and what’s the width? I note on my Model S that with the smaller wheels and tires on it sticks to its lane, But with the original larger wheel and those tires it tends to wander. In other words it’s not a toe-in issue or anything but a wheel size and shape issue.
For you of course it may also be a toe issue. You could take it for an alignment and ask them to a)check the toe and then b) increase the toe.

 

[Jakeman]

What tires do those wheels come with and what’s the width? I note on my Model S that with the smaller wheels and tires on it sticks to its lane, But with the original larger wheel and those tires it tends to wander. In other words it’s not a toe-in issue or anything but a wheel size and shape issue.
For you of course it may also be a toe issue. You could take it for an alignment and ask them to a)check the toe and then b) increase the toe.

275/50/R22s

 

[andrewgrhogg]

Yes, those are some very wide tires. And the wider tires are the more they follow little grooves and impressions in the road and will feel like they’re wandering, but will ultimately track straight. Of course, the issue that you are having which is the same as on my model S is that you have the bigger wheels which means that your tires have a much smaller sidewall. There is less flex to take up the minor imperfections of the road, so the wheel and tire combo Tends to follow those imperfections more than a wider side wall Tire wood. If you want to get rid of the tram lining and the wandering you would need to probably move down to a smaller set of wheels or a more compliant Tire

Sponsored