Beware, Beware the 12V Battery Warranty (Also positive Eastvale CA service center visit)

[mabowden]

Hi All!

I received the dreaded "REPLACE 12V SOON" warning on Tuesday afternoon of this week. About a half hour later, I called service.

They were able to get me an appointment at the eastvale service center this morning at 9AM. They were going to do the battery and two recall/ service bulletin related items that I didn't know about.

The 12V batteries only have a 3 year/ 36k mile warranty. My truck has 38k miles, and about 25 months old at this point.

Total cost was $717.18 for the 12V batteries (2 of them). Parts 479.98, labor 200, plus tax. I'm not in love with this. They don't let you replace them on your own. That means I paid ~$29 per month of ownership for my 12V batteries. For reference, a Lamborghini Aventador battery is ~$180-250 for parts only and can be replaced by yourself. Model X is from $120-200 and easily done DIY.

Prior to the Rivian, I've done almost all of the maintenance on all of my vehicles. This is the most expensive service I've had in ten years, for a battery...

Onto Eastvale. They had my truck in and out in less than 2 hours while I waited, which was pretty awesome. Service staff was excellent. Wildly better experience than I have had at Costa Mesa or El Segundo. A++

One last point: I asked the service advisor a theoretical question: "The last two times I have had service, my truck had to sit for 9 and 11 days, respectively, before service began. Both times, I had a rental car as the Rivian is my only vehicle. When the truck is out of warranty, who pays for the rental?"

The answer is the owner, not Rivian. Makes me worry a hair about owning this truck out of warranty! However, I must say it has been quite reliable minus this 12V issue.

TL;DR: I really wish Rivian would allow for self service on the battery, and that there were more options for the consumer like Tesla.

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[Oldsmobile_Mike]

TL;DR: I really wish Rivian would allow for self service on the battery

Prepare to be barraged by comments saying the same thing, but yeah - you can do it yourself - there's videos on YouTube that show how. It is more difficult than a legacy ICE car, in particular if you have a vehicle with the dual 12V batteries. But it's do-able.

Imo Rivian really needs to start publishing their own service & repair documentation, but that's a whole other conversation.

 

[mabowden]

Prepare to be barraged by comments saying the same thing, but yeah - you can do it yourself - there's videos on YouTube that show how. It is more difficult than a legacy ICE car, in particular if you have a vehicle with the dual 12V batteries. But it's do-able.

Imo Rivian really needs to start publishing their own service & repair documentation, but that's a whole other conversation.

They would not sell me the battery? Other batteries can void the warranty? And you need software to reset the low battery light?

 

[Zoidz]

Rivian needs to get with the program and release basic information for doing consumable replacements - battery and brakes at a bare minimum.

I don't understand why any company wants to piss off customers with the "Right To Repair" movement gaining traction. Sooner or later they will have to do it or get sued by the FTC like John Deere.. and Harley Davidson and Weber Grille.

 

[NeedSumCoffee]

FYI - you can go into the RiDE menu and just check the health of your 12v batteries.

 

[mabowden]

FYI - you can go into the RiDE menu and just check the health of your 12v batteries.

Wish I would have done that at the 30k mark and might have been able to get them replaced under warranty.

 

[s4wrxttcs]

Wish I would have done that at the 30k mark and might have been able to get them replaced under warranty.

I'm at 35,652 and I have a service appointment for 2/3

I'm going to check the health in the RiDE menu and see what it says.

In any case I'll ask them if my 12VDC batteries need replacing.

It will really suck if they say no, and then at 36,001 miles they tell me I need to replace them.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Holy cow. That's an enormous SC.

My 12V was replaced last week, at Lake Forest SC, under warranty. Did not have any warnings or problems with the original. It's something they added to my service ticket as a active measure/campaign, along with checking and retightening the front knuckle-to-hub bolts. Chronicled here: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/first-ever-service-appt-lake-forest-ca.38979/

 

[Eric9610]

So why is the 12 volt not covered by the 5year 60k miles comprehensive warranty? Tesla covers the 12v on this and so does every other car company. I don't think the Rivian one has an exclusion for the battery.

 

[strykerwsu]

Wish I would have done that at the 30k mark and might have been able to get them replaced under warranty.

Since you were so close out of warranty they should have worked with you on some coverage. I recommend others in same situation push harder for some coverage. I assume there has to be some similar batteries available in the market if they weren’t willing to support but have only seen the lithium alternative posted on this forum before.

 

[iansriv]

Let me make sure I understand this correctly. Our cars have a 5yr/60k warranty. The 12v battery has a separate 3/36 warranty. Are there other components that are like this? How would someone know this?

 

[godfodder0901]

Let me make sure I understand this correctly. Our cars have a 5yr/60k warranty. The 12v battery has a separate 3/36 warranty. Are there other components that are like this? How would someone know this?

By reading the warranty statement when you bought the vehicle. It's clearly published at rivian.com.

 

[Ordeus]

It is always best to refer back to the Rivian documentation. https://rivian.com/support/article/new-vehicle-limited-warranty-guide


See the 'Exceptions' for info on the 12-volt battery.

"
Exceptions

The items below are covered for periods different from the comprehensive warranty coverage. These limited warranties cover the repair or replacement necessary to correct defects in materials or workmanship of any parts manufactured or supplied by Rivian that occur under normal operation and use during the applicable coverage period.

* The original equipment 12-volt batteries that come with your Rivian are covered by a 3-year or 36,000-mile(whichever occurs first) limited warranty. Defective batteries will be replaced at no cost during this warranty period. 12-volt batteries may be damaged or drained if the vehicle is left unplugged for an extended time.
12-volt batteries damaged or drained due to such improper maintenance are not covered under warranty.

* Exterior body panel surface rust is covered by a 3-year or 36,000-mile (whichever occurs first) limited warranty.

* The Camp Speaker, if equipped, is covered by a 2-year limited warranty.
"

 

[iansriv]

So, it's very much like an ICE battery except for the difficulty replacing it. Interesting.

 

[freshpow]

Pretty ridiculous that it costs $700-$800 to replace these dogsh** batteries that are known to be highly issue prone.

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