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Concerned with reliability of this new startup?

Ladiver

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I personally will not keep the truck long enough to know about long term reliability. I may hold it for 5 years. I am buying the R1 with the same understanding as investing in the IPO. I hope it is reliable and has great resale value otherwise it will be scrapped.
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crashmtb

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Ladiver

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seems harsh, I’d sell it on but that’s just me ?
I'd sell it too, but if they are not reliable and Rivian is out of business in 5 years, then you would probably get more from scrap.
 
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HikerTom

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Thanks for all your comments. As someone stated, if I reserved one today, it will be a couple years before I’d take possession. In a couple years, we’ll know more about its short term reliability. I discovered that rivian is building a service center about 15 miles from my home so that gives me some more assurance I wouldn’t be completely stranded unless it broke down while off road. A show room is being built in Seattle about 10 miles from home so I’d be able to sit in one and test drive before my order went through. I’m anxious to actually touch the vehicle.

How many of you, that have placed orders, have actually touched the truck?
 

Jferreira65

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Thanks for all your comments. As someone stated, if I reserved one today, it will be a couple years before I’d take possession. In a couple years, we’ll know more about its short term reliability. I discovered that rivian is building a service center about 15 miles from my home so that gives me some more assurance I wouldn’t be completely stranded unless it broke down while off road. A show room is being built in Seattle about 10 miles from home so I’d be able to sit in one and test drive before my order went through. I’m anxious to actually touch the vehicle.

How many of you, that have placed orders, have actually touched the truck?
The other positive is they have a fantastic warranty on the batteries. I think they’ve been testing these for long enough; I’m expecting very few problems but time will tell. I would think in the beginning, with them wanting to maintain their reputation, any problems will be addressed quickly and without much question.
 

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ironpig

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Reliable yes, without problems - hell no. It's highly unlikely that a first generation vehicle from a new car company will be without problems.

I have a 2014 Tesla Model S . I knew I would pay an early Adopter tax with that car and I have. But mostly I haven't had problems that left me stranded. I replaced 3 front controls arms, 5 door handles, 2 Main Computer Units, the electric motor and various trim bits over the course of the 8 year extended warranty - which is up in November of 2022. (tomorrow I have a ranger coming out to fix my rear hatch which will not open and the car says it's open).

As long as the Rivian doesn't leave me stranded, I'm ok dealing with the early adopter issues of recalls and frequent minor repairs. That's part of teh deal.
 

R1Tr8000

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The Rivian's setup also shares the concept of using ride-height-adjustable air springs. Can anyone comment on the reliability of this technology?
I don’t have any long term experience with OEM ride height air springs…. The setup on my Mercedes’ GLE43 (now 4.5 yrs old) has so far worked as designed, although it’s a much simpler system I believe than the Rivian. I know that previously over many years..a couple decades..that the MB adjustable air system was vey problematic, lots of complaints.
I have made sure to routinely ‘exercise’ it (raising it) just in case that helps longevity (valves, pumps, seals, circuits, sensors, etc) - but honestly don’t know. Again it’s fairly simple..either raised or not, plus at highway speeds the car does lower itself depending on drive mode, etc. and I have used it some while towing and backing the trailer into / up inclines in rough ground situations; it has really helped actually. Of course..when / if it does break..it will be out of warranty. ?
I really have to believe that the Rivian system is very robust: a very heavy mid-size truck, a pretty high towing tongue weight rating, all those off-road testing miles and a pretty good warranty. ?
 

DB-EV

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Thanks for all your comments. As someone stated, if I reserved one today, it will be a couple years before I’d take possession. In a couple years, we’ll know more about its short term reliability. I discovered that rivian is building a service center about 15 miles from my home so that gives me some more assurance I wouldn’t be completely stranded unless it broke down while off road. A show room is being built in Seattle about 10 miles from home so I’d be able to sit in one and test drive before my order went through. I’m anxious to actually touch the vehicle.

How many of you, that have placed orders, have actually touched the truck?
I have. And touching the truck made me the most excited I have been about anything other than my wife and kids and physical activity.

I believe you are taking risk, but relatively speaking I view it as lower than most legacy automakers in the medium term. I do believe there will be short term (1-12 mo) bugs.

Why? Rivian is new tech and new mfg, so risk. That risk is mitigated by, dun dun dun, Amazon. While many don't like the priority they get, they need to bet on Rivian (they don't need Rivian) to hit their net carbon neutral pledge. They have placed such a large order that if Rivian can't sail the ship, they will have the ability to take it over. They already own enough shares that they have a strong toehold. Not a conspiracy theory - just my opinion.

I believe Rivian will succeed, and I will be sad if Amazon has a friendly or hostile acquisition (and probably would get rid of the Rivian).

I ordered in May 2019. I have a post about the test drive. It was surreal. Also, I have a detailed post about it on a ski blog, nyskiblog.com under the name DomB (very creative name, I know).

Happy hunting.
 
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HikerTom

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I have. And touching the truck made me the most excited I have been about anything other than my wife and kids and physical activity.

I believe you are taking risk, but relatively speaking I view it as lower than most legacy automakers in the medium term. I do believe there will be short term (1-12 mo) bugs.

Why? Rivian is new tech and new mfg, so risk. That risk is mitigated by, dun dun dun, Amazon. While many don't like the priority they get, they need to bet on Rivian (they don't need Rivian) to hit their net carbon neutral pledge. They have placed such a large order that if Rivian can't sail the ship, they will have the ability to take it over. They already own enough shares that they have a strong toehold. Not a conspiracy theory - just my opinion.

I believe Rivian will succeed, and I will be sad if Amazon has a friendly or hostile acquisition (and probably would get rid of the Rivian).

I ordered in May 2019. I have a post about the test drive. It was surreal. Also, I have a detailed post about it on a ski blog, nyskiblog.com under the name DomB (very creative name, I know).

Happy hunting.
DB-EV, I enjoyed your post on your test drive, including the pics. I smiled when I saw your daughter in the frunk. I had just watched Doug DeMuro’s latest review. He made a big deal of all the escape buttons in the frunk, gear tunnel, and bed in case you were stuck in them.
 

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MIG

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I don’t have any long term experience with OEM ride height air springs…. The setup on my Mercedes’ GLE43 (now 4.5 yrs old) has so far worked as designed, although it’s a much simpler system I believe than the Rivian. I know that previously over many years..a couple decades..that the MB adjustable air system was vey problematic, lots of complaints.
I have made sure to routinely ‘exercise’ it (raising it) just in case that helps longevity (valves, pumps, seals, circuits, sensors, etc) - but honestly don’t know. Again it’s fairly simple..either raised or not, plus at highway speeds the car does lower itself depending on drive mode, etc. and I have used it some while towing and backing the trailer into / up inclines in rough ground situations; it has really helped actually. Of course..when / if it does break..it will be out of warranty. ?
I really have to believe that the Rivian system is very robust: a very heavy mid-size truck, a pretty high towing tongue weight rating, all those off-road testing miles and a pretty good warranty. ?
I wrote elsewhere about my frustration with the air suspension in my 1986 Subaru. Very prone to failure, expensive to replace. But that was 1986. The technology has gone through numerous iterations since then and has proven reliability. Rivian didn't even create it, they're sourcing it from Dunlop, so it's not untested technology.

https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/wes...secures-funding-to-support-major-contract-win
 

Sdvictor

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How many of you, that have placed orders, have actually touched the truck?
I don't think people should be too worried about this. Plenty of people have driven, reviewed, and provided details about the vehicle ad nauseam. The only thing missing is the charge curve details. With that stated, once that's detailed (which i guarantee it will soon, as they have to deliver cars to actual paying customers, it should be fine. Longer term reliability will be a bigger question, but that'll take years to flesh out.

Personally, the last 4 cars I've purchased were all sight unseen and un-driven.
 

kylealden

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There will absolutely be growing pains, but it's a risk I'm willing to take, as I did with Tesla.

Notably, a lot of the pioneering aspects of a vehicle like this (the suspension, the quad-motor drive, the connected platform, the design) would be new to any manufacturer; look no further than the Bolt to see the fallacy of assuming "lots of manufacturing experience" is fully transferable to EVs.

I think we'll see shortcomings a bit like Teslas - service delays, limited parts availability, and initial quality issues ranging from panel gaps to glitchy components (e.g. the tonneau cover). So far the test vehicles set a very high standard for interior quality so I'm optimistic that customer vehicles won't be as abysmal as most Teslas have been in that regard, but these are the places the "inexperience" of Rivian is likely to show up first.

The drivetrain, suspension, battery platform, and other novel aspects are certainly not risk-free, but have been the focus of Rivian for almost a decade now and are subject to much less of an advantage to traditional automakers. (Tesla is out ahead in these areas, but I'd argue that what Rivian is doing with the motors and suspension is more interesting than anything Tesla has in the works.)

At the end of the day, being an early adopter is always a risk. I'm quite confident Rivian won't evaporate overnight - if anything, more confident than I was when I bought my Model 3 in 2018, when Tesla was weeks from failure. They have enough institutional backing and commercial order pipeline to keep them afloat. But the first few years are likely to have growing pains that rhyme with the delays and communication issues we're already seeing.
 

Dark-Fx

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P.S. Sorry about your puts
 

1civilengr

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The long term reliability of the electronic systems is my biggest concern. This is not specific to Rivian, but pretty much all current vehicles.
Of my two vehicles, I currently have a 2015 Honda that has a flaky display that prevents me from seeing my fuel level and odometer, and a 2016 VW with adaptive cruise control that randomly shuts itself off for days at a time. Troubleshooting these systems can be difficult, and repairs typically expensive.
I guess that a glitchy electronics module in a ICE vehicle can leave me stranded, but this seems like a bigger concern in an EV.
Still, I'm hoping to get into an EV pickup truck at the first opportunity (both Rivian max pack & F150 Lightning are reserved).
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