Any Insight on Repair-ability?

[Trekkie]

My only reference is Tesla, which the body work on seems to be borderline 'insane' on cost to repair, resulting in what looks like minor damage being a near write off for an insurance company.

I was curious has anything been said about the body repair on the R1T/R1S? They're meant for offroading and i'm sure things are going to happen both on and off, but crunching a quarter panel shouldn't be 'replace the car' level of damage right?

Just curious if this topic has been covered.

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[crashmtb]

Hard to say without trucks out in the world and no repair documentation available yet.

however, given the importance of sustainability in how Rivian operates, it’s likely repairability was an important consideration. It’s also good design.

one of the worst things about doing bodywork on a Tesla is just getting parts, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out with Rivian.

 

[hkb26]

My biggest concern with the both models is that they used a single piece for the entire side. Meaning if you mess up the rear quarter panel you may have to replace the entire side of the car.

 

[hkb26]

My biggest concern with the both models is that they used a single piece for the entire side. Meaning if you mess up the rear quarter panel you may have to replace the entire side of the car.

This is in contrast to say a normal truck that keeps that a separate panel

 

[crashmtb]

My biggest concern with the both models is that they used a single piece for the entire side. Meaning if you mess up the rear quarter panel you may have to replace the entire side of the car.

No, you would not replace the entire side of the car. They will presumably have repair sections available, as with any other vehicle. I look at an R1T the same as a large body on frame SUV, like a Tahoe or an expedition…but the back is open. That’s the main difference compared to a traditional pickup.

in the case of a rear 1/4 panel one would cut out the damaged section to fit the repair part, and weld/otherwise bond in the repair panels.

aluminum makes things trickier, but it is much more common than even a few years ago, especially silence Ford has moved to aluminum bodies for their trucks.

 

[FranMCG]

Hard to say without trucks out in the world and no repair documentation available yet.

however, given the importance of sustainability in how Rivian operates, it’s likely repairability was an important consideration. It’s also good design.

one of the worst things about doing bodywork on a Tesla is just getting parts, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out with Rivian.

Are you satisfied with Tesla solutions in similar situations? God, I predict huge prices anyways... Probably, it's time to unpack welder(got this model atm), compressed-air painting stuff, and DIY methods

 

[Zoidz]

No, you would not replace the entire side of the car. They will presumably have repair sections available, as with any other vehicle. I look at an R1T the same as a large body on frame SUV, like a Tahoe or an expedition…but the back is open. That’s the main difference compared to a traditional pickup.

in the case of a rear 1/4 panel one would cut out the damaged section to fit the repair part, and weld/otherwise bond in the repair panels.

aluminum makes things trickier, but it is much more common than even a few years ago, especially silence Ford has moved to aluminum bodies for their trucks.

Not disagreeing, but I think it's possible they would replace the entire side panel as shown in the factory picture. On a Tahoe/Avalanche, the rear panel is a separate piece from the door frame panel, unlike the Rivian where it is one piece front to back. I was curious about this, so I just went out and looked at my Avalanche. The rear quarter panel is spot welded to the door frame panel. It's possible that it would take less labor to replace the entire side panel, as opposed to the cutting, welding and seam finish work that would be required. I think a lot of it would depend how "easy" removing the full panel is, as well as overall fit and finish appearance after repair.

 

[crashmtb]

Are you satisfied with Tesla solutions in similar situations? God, I predict huge prices anyways... Probably, it's time to unpack welder, compressed-air painting stuff and DIY methods

when the Tesla in my family needed repairs, the body shop could only buy parts from one place, in a city two provinces away, which refused to ship parts or deal with any courier service… The parts ended up coming by taxi, some 1300km.

Not disagreeing, but I think it's possible they would replace the entire side panel as shown in the factory picture. On a Tahoe/Avalanche, the rear panel is a separate piece from the door frame panel, unlike the Rivian where it is one piece front to back. I was curious about this, so I just went out and looked at my Avalanche. The rear quarter panel is spot welded to the door frame panel. It's possible that it would take less labor to replace the entire side panel, as opposed to the cutting, welding and seam finish work that would be required. I think a lot of it would depend how "easy" removing the full panel is, as well as overall fit and finish appearance after repair.

interestingly, thanks to online catalogues, I found that GM sells Tahoe rear quarter panels as a whole, either including the top of the rear window frame or just most of the C/D pillars. Then the bottom rear of the panel is available separately.

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