Anyone else have a disappointing delivery experience?

[Zeusy Zeus]

Keep doubling down; you'll convince everyone with your next post for sure.

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[Zeusy Zeus]

lol. You should move on from rivian. Someone who will appreciate the vehicle much more than you will be able to take delivery of this one. You seem more fit for the BMW crowd.

Ironically enough I have a BMW now so you’re probably right. Maybe I just got spoiled coming from an established well built German car.

 

[Golfer04]

Thank you for that info very helpful. I’m rooting for Rivian I truly am. Sorry to hear you had to go through all that but hey atleast you’re loving the vehicle. That’s a lot of miles so it’s good to see it’s holding up well for you. When you say the vin is in the 7000 range is that the last few digits? The last part of mine is 023335 does that mean it’s 23,000 or? Just curious.

Yes on the VIN. Working with Alex at the Normal SC has been great really. I'm close to Normal so it isn't a big deal for me. I drop the vehicle; exchange key fobs with Alex and drive off until they call and say it is done.

 

[Zeusy Zeus]

Your money, your choice. Personally I don't see anything wrong with those pictures and would happily drive the vehicle until the SC could fit me in. Worst problem I had "like that" was some pollen trapped under the PPF on a gear tunnel door. Got it replaced with no questions when I stopped by for other items a few months later.

Water spots? Oh noez. $10 on Amazon:

Editing my comment to add: does dude seriously have a profile picture of the same truck that he called "nasty" and refused? And is using that for his profile pic? Think my eyes rolled all the way to the back of my head.

Haha no not same vehicle same color and build… I mean I’ve been excited to get the vehicle probably why I’m so disappointed.

as for the water spots maybe I need to clarify because it seems many here think it’s not a big deal. Where I live it rains a lot and the sun “burns” these water spots into the paint. Water spots like these are near impossible to take off unless buffering them off. Problem is once you buff them your clear coat isn’t the same and that’s a fact. I detail my cars and don’t let anyone else do them so trust me when I tell you these were serious water spots. So much so that they used an acid and it still wasn’t coming off.

 

[Zeusy Zeus]

We picked up our R1S on Friday, November 17. The vehicle was in very good condition. The only complaint we have is the too brief “operating” introduction. We had a total of 45 minutes which about half was trade in, state registration, payment. It would be nice to have time for an explanation of functions. For instance the next morning the windshield was dew covered. In the dark I struggled to figure out how to operate the wipers. It would have take ten seconds for the rep to show their operation. Even though I’m old I’m fairly adept with technology. Driving the Rivian is essential operating a motor vehicle with a computer. So Rivian needs to spend time with newbies at the time of delivery.

Really good points! I’m happy to hear you had a pleasant experience with the delivery process so thank you for sharing. Did you try YouTubing the wipers thing? Or googling it? I’ve found that often times I can find what I’m looking for on there pretty easily. Of course it would be nice for the rep to explain it all but I also think they’re so use to the vehicles they probably forget what it’s like for us newbies.

 

[Zeus]

@Zeusy Zeus Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I too had a similar misalignment of the black trim piece on top of my S at delivery (in addition to very slight, unnoticeable misalignment between the liftgate and tailgate). I pointed it out to my delivery guy and he assured me that everything would be taken care of (I opened a ticket, canceled it after a few weeks since they were not major issues. I'll have them take care of it in the future if something more serious happens). It has been fine since and I don't even remember or see any of those defects (as a recovering OCD patient). I'm just enjoying the heck out of Zeus.
I think what rubbed folks the wrong way was that the title seemed to suggest your delivery was worse than it turned out to be (I know, I know, it's subjective) and your frustration came out as entitled. I can understand.
However, I know you are surprised, but come on, this is a Rivian forum. We are mostly going to be fanboys and fantasy, drunk on Rivian kool-aid. The issue is to not be too drunk on the kool-aid as to lose objectivity, and not too critical as to also lose objectivity. It's a fine line, I tell ya.

 

[Christopher]

I took delivery of three vehicles from the same service center and my detail quality was the worst of any vehicle I've owned. One Rivian having a black color exterior which easily showed multiple spots where the detailer burned the clear coat with a buffer in an attempt to buff out scratches. I had to have a real detailer do correction because I didn't want them to make it worse. I also had a couple dents that needed PDR. The service folks that work there all came from other brands and expressed to me how they didn't think their detailer was good enough and asked me to specifically mention that in the survey. I got the impression that they wanted him gone. They also said they expressed some of the continuous cosmetic issues to corporate, but corporate didn't understand that the consumers in the Miami area are more critical about the appearance than other areas of the country.

Last month I went with a friend to pick up his vehicle and it wasn't even cleaned so he had to ask them to detail it. They just seem overwhelmed with vehicles, and there's hundreds sitting in an off-site lot. They need more help.

 

[voxel]

My last two cars were a BMW and a Mercedes both at similar price points and were light years beyond the delivery quality. Yes it’s not the fair to compare two established manufactures against Rivian but at the price point Rivian is asking for these vehicles they better expect many others like myself to be heavily disappointed. Especially if they think it’s ok to deliver piss poor quality.

I think you have to ignore the price part of it.

I bought a 23 Sequoia TRD Pro for $82K earlier this year and that has some serious QC and design issues. It rattled worse than my R1S (which has mostly been resolved). I think American-built Toyotas are... poopy to put it nicely. Never had a single issue with my Japanese built RAV4 Primes in 21.

My 22 Bronco wasn't what you call well built either but Ford quality is what it is and Broncos are $60K+ for what amounts to a $35K vehicle.

 

[Nsblifer]

Agree with OP. Those panel gaps are horrendous. The blemish on the front bumper is probably easily buffed out. Water spots are non-concerning. This is the kind of stuff I’d be okay with if said discrepancies were caused by me driving it around for months, taking on lumber trails, etc. It’s a white vehicle and bound to happen, albeit I’ve never experienced panel gaps on any vehicle I’ve owned no matter what I’ve put it through. I’d be willing to wager most people here wouldn’t be okay with a simple unfinished haircut, having to fine tune in your own mirror when you get home-yet we’re telling this guy to deal with it at the service center. Some of us are one vehicle families, don’t have time to deal with these small issues. Rivian needs to clean up their QC vs clogging up their SC, ongoing issue.

 

[COdogman]

I will do me. Everyone’s entitled to their opinions. I’m not comfortable with the experience I had and wanted to share it to hopefully help others but also gather opinions and suggestions.

Unfortunately the reality I received was sarcasm and keyboard warriors calling me a diva. That is what’s actually a “bit ridiculous”.

I mean it was the worst in my experience ever buying a car that’s just the truth of the matter. The guide thing I feel ultimately displays their level of commitment to their customers. Right now it seems they’re more wrapped up at delivering the vehicles and just getting them off their lots than making customers feel appreciated. To me no matter how small it is I want to feel that Rivian values me as a customer. Didn’t feel that initially.

Actually I’m not surprised you were called a Diva. What did you expect when you are adding “water spots” into your list of complaints? It makes others take your entire point less seriously when you do that. And what other car brand is assigning you a guide at all?

These are all first world problems, including that you feel a bad vehicle delivery rises to this level of outrage for you. The guides and the folks at the service centers are doing their best, but are spread very thin right now. It doesn’t mean they should have delivered your S to you like that but it is an explanation nevertheless. It is not a new development and Rivian is working hard to get better. And if you gave that some thought instead of making this all about you (diva behavior), you probably would have titled your thread something different and communicated your issues in a different way.

Their job isn’t to make you “feel appreciated”. Their job is to deliver you a great vehicle. Maybe that is where the disconnect started with you. And they didn’t accomplish either in this case, but since one of those (feeling appreciated) is nonsense, they need to get better at the other one.

 

[md2023]

I had a great delivery experience, and the T has been great ever since, as well.

 

[240vPlug]

Rivian is similar to Tesla in this regard. Based on your post I think you did the right thing by rejecting the vehicle. Everyone has different expectations and the bottom line is that Rivian was not able to meet your expectations. Further, service is a real challenge. While the folks that work in service are great and do great work the wait times are unacceptable.

As much as I hate to say it, if you have a bunch of issues your better off rejecting it at this point. If your patient service does take care of things and get the truck sorted. They are just overwhelmed right now.

 

[Zeusy Zeus]

@Zeusy Zeus Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I too had a similar misalignment of the black trim piece on top of my S at delivery (in addition to very slight, unnoticeable misalignment between the liftgate and tailgate). I pointed it out to my delivery guy and he assured me that everything would be taken care of (I opened a ticket, canceled it after a few weeks since they were not major issues. I'll have them take care of it in the future if something more serious happens). It has been fine since and I don't even remember or see any of those defects (as a recovering OCD patient). I'm just enjoying the heck out of Zeus.
I think what rubbed folks the wrong way was that the title seemed to suggest your delivery was worse than it turned out to be (I know, I know, it's subjective) and your frustration came out as entitled. I can understand.
However, I know you are surprised, but come on, this is a Rivian forum. We are mostly going to be fanboys and fantasy, drunk on Rivian kool-aid. The issue is to not be too drunk on the kool-aid as to lose objectivity, and not too critical as to also lose objectivity. It's a fine line, I tell ya.

Hey Zeus I appreciate your thoughts and words and I can see how I may have rubbed some people the wrong way. I wasn’t trying to be hyper critical of the brand and I did go ahead and soften the title as to not come off dramatic but my original intent was to best describe my level of disappointment for a vehicle I waited over 2 years for. I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying the heck out of your vehicle and I truly hope to be doing the same with Rivian in the near future. The general consensus seems to be that what are deal breakers for some aren’t for others and that’s alright. Like you said everything is subjective. We all have had experiences in the past that have reinforced or changed our thoughts for better or worse. From one Zeus to another thank you for your response it means a lot.

 

[R1TCentralMa]

Thank you for sharing your experience. How long did you have to wait after changing vins? Because right now they have my money and I have no vehicle and I probably won’t get any of that money back. Efic

thanks for sharing your experience. How long did you have to wait? I take it they already had your money? I feel hostage at this point because they have my money and each day that goes by I’m paying for a vehicle I don’t currently have. Another thing that is also pushing me away from the brand. I don’t like knowing that they withdrew my money before I even received the vehicle. Very odd in my opinion.

I rejected the first delivery on June 11th. On July 31st, I drove away with the 2nd one. So, about 7 weeks.

I had only given them the deposit. The financing was canceled immediately.

I did not like the whole, pay before delivery either, but part of the process. I hope you are in your truck soon!

 

[lslick23]

Guess I got lucky. Picked my R1T up on 9/30 from the Miami SC and it was almost perfect. Only issue I had was a cracked piece of trim around the subwoofer which was repaired in a week.

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