A Beautiful Disaster — Rivian Is Not Ready for Prime Time

[tpberding]

Rating: 0/5

I regret ever trusting Rivian. My experience has been nothing short of infuriating—and if anyone at corporate is paying attention, this should deeply concern you. Your vehicles may be innovative, but your service—especially at the Miami Service Center—is a complete embarrassment.

My Rivian has been plagued with constant issues. It’s unreliable, buggy, and far from the premium product it’s marketed to be. But what’s even worse is the way your service team handles these problems: with politeness masking total incompetence. They are inept at best. No accountability. No follow-through. No communication.

Most recently, my vehicle was in for service—again—and I waited over six days without a single update. Nothing. I only found out the car was ready because the app changed status. That’s how I found out. Not a call. Not a message. Nothing from your staff. That level of disregard is unacceptable.

I’ve been treated with condescension and brushed off like my time, money, and trust mean nothing. I feel mocked. It’s exhausting, it’s insulting, and it’s clear no one at the Miami center is actually empowered—or trained—to deliver the kind of service Rivian promises.

To anyone considering a Rivian: don’t be fooled by the glossy marketing. This company isn’t ready. Not for your money, not for your trust, and certainly not for scale.

Rivian corporate: you should be alarmed by how many customers are quietly losing faith. If you want to survive, fix your service centers—especially Miami. I didn’t buy a $100,000+ vehicle to feel disrespected, unheard, and stranded.

Do better. Fast.

[/QUOTe

Rating: 0/5

I regret ever trusting Rivian. My experience has been nothing short of infuriating—and if anyone at corporate is paying attention, this should deeply concern you. Your vehicles may be innovative, but your service—especially at the Miami Service Center—is a complete embarrassment.

My Rivian has been plagued with constant issues. It’s unreliable, buggy, and far from the premium product it’s marketed to be. But what’s even worse is the way your service team handles these problems: with politeness masking total incompetence. They are inept at best. No accountability. No follow-through. No communication.

Most recently, my vehicle was in for service—again—and I waited over six days without a single update. Nothing. I only found out the car was ready because the app changed status. That’s how I found out. Not a call. Not a message. Nothing from your staff. That level of disregard is unacceptable.

I’ve been treated with condescension and brushed off like my time, money, and trust mean nothing. I feel mocked. It’s exhausting, it’s insulting, and it’s clear no one at the Miami center is actually empowered—or trained—to deliver the kind of service Rivian promises.

To anyone considering a Rivian: don’t be fooled by the glossy marketing. This company isn’t ready. Not for your money, not for your trust, and certainly not for scale.

Rivian corporate: you should be alarmed by how many customers are quietly losing faith. If you want to survive, fix your service centers—especially Miami. I didn’t buy a $100,000+ vehicle to feel disrespected, unheard, and stranded.

Do better. Fast.

Here's another positive anecdote. I've owned my R1S for two years. It is a candidate for the best vehicle I've ever owned, and I've had over 50 cars in my lifetime, including from most major manufacturers. There have been zero issues. A minor warranty issue was fixed in my driveway. My 7500 mile service was done at the Rivian service center in San Francisco while we had lunch nearby. The staff was friendly, courteous, and kind, re the Boy Scout's motto.

I accept that every system has anomalies, and I'm sure Rivian has had its share. But my personal experience has only been positive since the date they delivered my car. I'm sorry for anyone who has had the experience you describe, and no one deserves that. But I do think it is not systemic and that the company strives to deliver the best vehicles and service available anywhere.

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[jdsR1S2025]

Rating: 0/5

I regret ever trusting Rivian. My experience has been nothing short of infuriating—and if anyone at corporate is paying attention, this should deeply concern you. Your vehicles may be innovative, but your service—especially at the Miami Service Center—is a complete embarrassment.

My Rivian has been plagued with constant issues. It’s unreliable, buggy, and far from the premium product it’s marketed to be. But what’s even worse is the way your service team handles these problems: with politeness masking total incompetence. They are inept at best. No accountability. No follow-through. No communication.

Most recently, my vehicle was in for service—again—and I waited over six days without a single update. Nothing. I only found out the car was ready because the app changed status. That’s how I found out. Not a call. Not a message. Nothing from your staff. That level of disregard is unacceptable.

I’ve been treated with condescension and brushed off like my time, money, and trust mean nothing. I feel mocked. It’s exhausting, it’s insulting, and it’s clear no one at the Miami center is actually empowered—or trained—to deliver the kind of service Rivian promises.

To anyone considering a Rivian: don’t be fooled by the glossy marketing. This company isn’t ready. Not for your money, not for your trust, and certainly not for scale.

Rivian corporate: you should be alarmed by how many customers are quietly losing faith. If you want to survive, fix your service centers—especially Miami. I didn’t buy a $100,000+ vehicle to feel disrespected, unheard, and stranded.

Do better. Fast.

Ummm....talking about marketing, what about this article that said it was 'sponsored' in the weekly email I get. Yeah, I figured it was planted. I've THOROUGHLY enjoyed my R1S gen 2. Definitely worth the money. Don't let this marketing fool you. They've improved enough by now to be ready for prime time--and getting better all the time.

 

[slillie]

Rating: 0/5

I regret ever trusting Rivian. My experience has been nothing short of infuriating—and if anyone at corporate is paying attention, this should deeply concern you. Your vehicles may be innovative, but your service—especially at the Miami Service Center—is a complete embarrassment.

My Rivian has been plagued with constant issues. It’s unreliable, buggy, and far from the premium product it’s marketed to be. But what’s even worse is the way your service team handles these problems: with politeness masking total incompetence. They are inept at best. No accountability. No follow-through. No communication.

Most recently, my vehicle was in for service—again—and I waited over six days without a single update. Nothing. I only found out the car was ready because the app changed status. That’s how I found out. Not a call. Not a message. Nothing from your staff. That level of disregard is unacceptable.

I’ve been treated with condescension and brushed off like my time, money, and trust mean nothing. I feel mocked. It’s exhausting, it’s insulting, and it’s clear no one at the Miami center is actually empowered—or trained—to deliver the kind of service Rivian promises.

To anyone considering a Rivian: don’t be fooled by the glossy marketing. This company isn’t ready. Not for your money, not for your trust, and certainly not for scale.

Rivian corporate: you should be alarmed by how many customers are quietly losing faith. If you want to survive, fix your service centers—especially Miami. I didn’t buy a $100,000+ vehicle to feel disrespected, unheard, and stranded.

Do better. Fast.

“Systemic problems.” ?? Please explain.

 

[Irish76]

Rating: 0/5

I regret ever trusting Rivian. My experience has been nothing short of infuriating—and if anyone at corporate is paying attention, this should deeply concern you. Your vehicles may be innovative, but your service—especially at the Miami Service Center—is a complete embarrassment.

My Rivian has been plagued with constant issues. It’s unreliable, buggy, and far from the premium product it’s marketed to be. But what’s even worse is the way your service team handles these problems: with politeness masking total incompetence. They are inept at best. No accountability. No follow-through. No communication.

Most recently, my vehicle was in for service—again—and I waited over six days without a single update. Nothing. I only found out the car was ready because the app changed status. That’s how I found out. Not a call. Not a message. Nothing from your staff. That level of disregard is unacceptable.

I’ve been treated with condescension and brushed off like my time, money, and trust mean nothing. I feel mocked. It’s exhausting, it’s insulting, and it’s clear no one at the Miami center is actually empowered—or trained—to deliver the kind of service Rivian promises.

To anyone considering a Rivian: don’t be fooled by the glossy marketing. This company isn’t ready. Not for your money, not for your trust, and certainly not for scale.

Rivian corporate: you should be alarmed by how many customers are quietly losing faith. If you want to survive, fix your service centers—especially Miami. I didn’t buy a $100,000+ vehicle to feel disrespected, unheard, and stranded.

Do better. Fast.

Man, I’m really sorry to hear this. They know their service centers are their biggest week link and have been addressing it, likely at an underwhelming pace for some people. I hope they hear your concern and rectify it. I would be very concerned about the regenerative braking/brakes issue that you are having as well. They clearly need to communicate better in Miami. That said, I have had zero problems with mine and I’m very very happy. I hope your luck changes.

 

[Ecupip]

For what it's worth, Club Rivian recently posted changes are coming to the network…..

Rivian Steps Up: Big Changes Coming to the Service Experience

The Rivian ownership journey has been filled with excitement — but not without a few growing pains. One area that's long needed serious attention? Service.

As thousands of new R1T and R1S vehicles hit the roads, Rivian’s service network quickly became overwhelmed. Long wait times, limited appointment availability, and a shortage of service centers left many early owners frustrated. What should have been a seamless experience instead faced major hurdles.

The root cause was clear: rapid vehicle deliveries outpaced the expansion of Rivian’s service infrastructure. With too few service hubs, a limited mobile service fleet, and overbooked schedules, owners often faced weeks — even months — of waiting for basic maintenance and repairs.

But change is on the horizon. Rivian is fully aware of the challenge — and they're taking bold steps to fix it. Behind the scenes, the company is ramping up efforts to transform the service experience. New service centers are opening across North America, mobile service fleets are expanding, and appointment availability is expected to improve significantly over the coming months.

And the timing couldn’t be more critical. The highly anticipated R2, Rivian’s more affordable and mass-market model, is set to launch in 2026. With it comes a flood of new customers and increased service demands. Rivian’s window to scale its support network and fine-tune the experience is right now.
If successful, Rivian won’t just be prepared for the R2 —they’ll set a new standard for what EV owners can expect when it comes to service and support.

Momentum is building. Now the challenge will be to keep the improvements coming — and to deliver the ownership experience Rivian drivers deserve.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I can't believe that the thread got to four pages before you chimed in with your infinite wisdom!

Now go get 'em, tiger! You beat down those nasty 3 trolls with your zucchini stick!

Yet another useful post from the guy who has no reason to be on this forum.

 

[Ngkgb]

For what it's worth, Club Rivian recently posted changes are coming to the network…..

Rivian Steps Up: Big Changes Coming to the Service Experience

The Rivian ownership journey has been filled with excitement — but not without a few growing pains. One area that's long needed serious attention? Service.

As thousands of new R1T and R1S vehicles hit the roads, Rivian’s service network quickly became overwhelmed. Long wait times, limited appointment availability, and a shortage of service centers left many early owners frustrated. What should have been a seamless experience instead faced major hurdles.

The root cause was clear: rapid vehicle deliveries outpaced the expansion of Rivian’s service infrastructure. With too few service hubs, a limited mobile service fleet, and overbooked schedules, owners often faced weeks — even months — of waiting for basic maintenance and repairs.

But change is on the horizon. Rivian is fully aware of the challenge — and they're taking bold steps to fix it. Behind the scenes, the company is ramping up efforts to transform the service experience. New service centers are opening across North America, mobile service fleets are expanding, and appointment availability is expected to improve significantly over the coming months.

And the timing couldn’t be more critical. The highly anticipated R2, Rivian’s more affordable and mass-market model, is set to launch in 2026. With it comes a flood of new customers and increased service demands. Rivian’s window to scale its support network and fine-tune the experience is right now.
If successful, Rivian won’t just be prepared for the R2 —they’ll set a new standard for what EV owners can expect when it comes to service and support.

Momentum is building. Now the challenge will be to keep the improvements coming — and to deliver the ownership experience Rivian drivers deserve.

This is promising, though what they fail to mention as a culprit is poor QC from the factory. I think this is a huge part of the issue.

 

[KW_88_SS]

What’s clear, though, is that the review did get someone’s attention, which was my hope. And they seem to be taking feedback more seriously, which is good—after all, it’s us owners who will ultimately decide if Rivian succeeds.

I know someone that works in product at Rivian. They actively monitor forums, Reddit, X, etc.

 

[Noplacelikeloam]

Great news about the new service centers. Im lucky in Portland, OR to have some amazing choices here, but friends from other locations (NY and SF for instance) wont touch Rivian from horror stories they have heard locally.

Sounds like the OP needs to buy a Ford or something with a massive stealer network. And thats OK, but dont make it sound like the end of the world. Is my Riv perfect? NO. Is it the best car I have ever had, frack YES!

 

[White Shadow]

Yet another useful post from the guy who has no reason to be on this forum.

You just don't understand the reasons. But that's par for the course, huh?

 

[White Shadow]

You need to read up on behavioral economics if you don't think people who spend $100K on a product don't expect that product to reflect the kind of value and ownership experience reflective of that investment.

That's true of any price point. You see the same kind of sentiment on economy car forums. Kinda like this: "I didn't spend $35,000 on this new car to be treated so poorly by the dealership."

It's really across the board at every price point.

 

[derekmw]

I've had the complete opposite experience with the Service Centers. i was one of the earlier deliveries and of course at that time, service was outstanding. Now that we're on our second one, the SC was backed up for 5 months on pickup day to address the various issues we found. That was crazy but once it finally made it into service, it was amazing.

The truck had various issues which the major ones I think were caused by the delivery company which required body work to fix. But throughout the 4 weeks that they had it, they messaged me everyday to check in an provide an update along with ETA. I remembered a few other things while they had it, and they added it onto my ticket and made sure it was addressed.

On top of that, because it took so long, they even had a detailer do a full exterior and interior detail before returning it to me. I was thoroughly impressed and happy with their level of service.

Now if they could just create more service centers to accommodate the load, they'll be golden.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

You just don't understand the reasons. But that's par for the course, huh?

Yeah, I'm not fluent in troll.

 

[White Shadow]

Yeah, I'm not fluent in troll.

You're one of the biggest trolls on the forum.

The day you joined this forum, I already knew who you really were. I'm good like that.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

You're one of the biggest trolls on the forum.

The day you joined this forum, I already knew who you really were. I'm good like that.

Says the guy who has no legitimate reason to be here.

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