Introductions & Welcome Thread 👋

[Administrator]

In the spirit of keeping this community friendly and welcoming, please introduce yourself and/or welcome others here!

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[TollKeeper]

Greetings and Salutations all!

My name is Brian, born and raised in Colorado, did a stint in Misery... I mean Missouri! But am finally home. Only one good thing came from Missouri.. My wife!

Been a mountain man since I can remember. My family owns a Cabin up in forestry land. A family man at heart, and someone that has always had a exaggerated faith in humanity, although with the country the way it is, I am loosing that at a high rate. Have some famous blood in my veins, ranging from famous wild west people, movie star, an Olympian, to a president of the USA ??.

I am a car guy.. Have a small collection of my rarities (69 Camaro, 29 Plymouth Opera Sedan), and have owned quite a few in my lifetime (McLaren, Allante, and a few you likely have never heard of). An audiophile of sorts. And a bit of a technology guy. Love working on cars, although with my back, I can barely do it anymore. Love building computers, and have recently ventured into a custom waterloop PC.

But enough about me! What brought me here?

I recently put my order on my R1T Adventure, in LA Silver, Black interior, no options other than a spare tire. Wanted the White interior, but with kids.............
Almost put a order in on the LE long time ago, but I didnt think Rivian would make it out of development (if I am being honest). Hind-Sight being 20/20..

Will order a 240 charger from the gear thing when, if, I finally get it.

What brought me to a Rivian? Been doing a lot of research on trucks/SUV's in general. Audi SQ7, Porsche Cayenne, Benz AMG SUV's, BMW X6M, Ford F150 Lightning, GMC Hummer, Chevy/GMC EV Truck, Cadillac Escalade Hennessey, Land Rover EL, and a LOT more. Tesla Cybertruck never even made the list. I drove one (pre-production model), and I hated almost everything about it. It pulled well, it was ugly as hell, but the fit and finish of Tesla has always been sub-par in my opinion.

A lot of them fit the bill, and I really wanted the GMC Hummer.. But at a nearly 120k price tag (plus a likely dealer markup), it was an easy choice to pick a Rivian really. Did the Hummer come with a base model GMC Terrain? No? Well..

I had a couple requirements for a SUV/Truck.

Room to comfortably fit me, my wife, and my 2 littles, plus doggies. And room for them to grow into​

Something that when I mash the GO peddle, I get that little tingle in the pit of my belly, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end​

Something that will get me in and out of my Cabin, while pulling a trailer (ATV's, Snowmobiles, etc)​

Something that is comfortable for my back (5 blown discs)​

​

I will say this, I am not buying the Rivian to be green!

I am trying to buy one because of:

its second best powertrain warranty in the market, beaten only by Genesis\Hyundai (Time over miles)​

Price point when compared to its competitors, comparing (as best you can) apples to apples​

835 HP\900+ TQ​

Towing capabilities​

Off Road capabilities​

0-60 that will make my wife scream!​

Hopefully a really nice sound system​

Cooled seats for me, heated seats for the wife​

What I dont like about the Rivian

I am tactile person. I need to feel it, breath it, and know it. It all looks good in the oven. But how does it taste? Hopefully I can get invited to one of the tour events here in Denver.​

I hate the idea of Pleather/Vegan Leather. It may be good, it may not. Time will tell. History telling the stories of tried and true measures show it wont hold up.​

No CP or AA? Really? Even from looking at it simply from a safety stand point, it makes sense. I am betting they didnt want to pay for the Apple/Andoid licenses. But it could be a feature they add down the road. But my conversations with CS, and engineer at Rivian says it will not happen. I have used AA a couple times, and it was a neat feature. But nothing I own has it.​

The Frunk opening.. Ford got it right here on the F150 Lightning.​

Spare tire location​

​

There are definetly things to like/love about the Rivian. They tried there best to not waste any space, The gear tunnel, gear tunnel door storage, where the tonneau cover stores, the gooseneck tailgate hinges, under seat storage, the frunk (although it could have been better). Plus all the things above about why I am trying to buy one. And if they bring back the tank turn.. that will be interesting!

For now, me and My wife will still have a ICE. My aging 2004 GMC Envoy XUV V8 with 379k miles, and her 2001 Pontiac Aztek GT with 131k miles. And when we get a new truck, we will still have one ICE. Need a road trip vehicle since most of my living family, and hers, live in other states. For years, I would usually drive straight thru to our destination, 500 miles, or 1200 miles (that was my limit). But getting there was the goal. Hate staying in hotels! Not doing a straight drive like that in a Rivian..

So thats my story, and I am sticking to it!

 

[SeaGeo]

Welcome! For some reason I think you and @DuckTruck are going to get along well. ?

 

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us. Thank you for your in-depth self assessment. Many of your observations and requirements coincide with ours.

SuEllyn and Brian

 

[TollKeeper]

Welcome! For some reason I think you and @DuckTruck are going to get along well. ?

Uh-oh... @DuckTruck how are you doing today?

 

[KiloV]

Welcome, man. Hope you have fun hanging out on the forum and geeking out on Rivian stuff (and other associated craziness).

Sounds like the Rivian will meet a lot of your requirements. Not all, but a pretty good amount.

You know, you mentioned the Lightning frunk. I've heard a number of other people say that they think Ford got the design right. Am I the only one who's concerned about loads shifting forward in that frunk during driving. What happens when items shift forward (due to braking) and then you pop that frunk lid open at your destination? Seems like stuff would fall out on your feet. A more serious potential consequence of the Lightning frunk design: What happens when a Lightning collides with the rear of another vehicle? Does the frunk lid pop open? Do the articles in the frunk suddenly become high-speed projectiles? I love the low lift-over height of the Lightning frunk. I'm not so sure about the stability of that design as a cargo space on a high-speed vehicle.

 

[TollKeeper]

Welcome, man. Hope you have fun hanging out on the forum and geeking out on Rivian stuff (and other associated craziness).

Sounds like the Rivian will meet a lot of your requirements. Not all, but a pretty good amount.

You know, you mentioned the Lightning frunk. I've heard a number of other people say that they think Ford got the design right. Am I the only one who's concerned about loads shifting forward in that frunk during driving. What happens when items shift forward (due to braking) and then you pop that frunk lid open at your destination? Seems like stuff would fall out on your feet. A more serious potential consequence of the Lightning frunk design: What happens when a Lightning collides with the rear of another vehicle? Does the frunk lid pop open? Do the articles in the frunk suddenly become high-speed projectiles? I love the low lift-over height of the Lightning frunk. I'm not so sure about the stability of that design as a cargo space on a high-speed vehicle.

I can see what you are talking about.. Loads shifting is a concern. But think about it in a literal sense. How often do you open your trunk of your SUV, and stuff is falling out. For me its more often. Now how often do you open your trunk of your SUV, and have to go digging stuff out from under the back seats. I can actually count how many times on one hand (at least that I can remember). So I dont think thats going to be as big of an issue. Ford also put a 4 inch lip (if I am remembering correctly) on the front of the Frunk, so its going to even be less.

But for me, it was a different angle. My wife is all of 4'10" tall. Getting stuff in and out of the Rivian Frunk is going to be hard for her. But easy if she had the Lightning. Luckily, she wont have a Rivian, as it would be my DD.

 

[DuckTruck]

Uh-oh... @DuckTruck how are you doing today?

TollKeeper,

Life is good here, but still hackin' and wheezin' a bit. The public doesn't appreciate others making those kind of noises out and about, so I'm still a shut-in for now. Even before testing positive, the public didn't show much humor when I used to tell them "Don't worry, it's just The Plague". Now, I'm just being safe and working from home. The fridge is still well-stocked and I have plenty of sweat pants and Duck's jerseys to lounge around in.

I love your story and look forward to hearing more as we (im)patiently wait for deliveries. I know I'd love to learn more about your various rides in the past. The McLaren and '69 Camaro particularly pique my interest. Photos here would be great! Car porn, popcorn, and nice IPA's always helps with these long, cold Winter nights. Yeah, I know, they're good every day of the year, but things are slow right now, and every little bit helps.

Looking forward to hearing more soon. Again, welcome into the forums!

 

[moosehead]

Welcome neighbor.

My only polite suggestion, is you gotta get your wife a new car. Otherwise, your credibility as a car guy is a bit diluted.

 

[TollKeeper]

Welcome neighbor.

My only polite suggestion, is you gotta get your wife a new car. Otherwise, your credibility as a car guy is a bit diluted.

She picked her car.. The only connection I have with it.. I gotta work on that ugly thing.. I might be a car guy, but I cant force her to sell her car!

But... Its even worse than you are thinking..
NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR EYES BURNING, OR ANY SPEW THAT YOU GET ANYWHERE! CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK!! LOL

http://gtcarlot.com/data/Pontiac/Aztek/2001/8053264/Exterior-40503434.html

(not her car, but same color)

But it is the rarest Aztek made, with a option set of 1 of 2 made. Confirmed thru GM Heritage Museum. That color had to be ordered, none were ordered as dealer stock. Rear bucket seats. HUD. Pioneer sound. Hikers Package. And many other options.

 

[moosehead]

But it is the rarest Aztek made…

 

[TollKeeper]

I still havent seen that series.. Looking at that Aztek might be to much!

 

[E.S.]

Welcome to the boards! Leave your donations of bloo ... er, electrons at the door

 

[Ovfit]

Hello to everyone. I currently own a 2016 Honda Accord V6.
Great car but I want to add an EV to the family.
I’ve had a Tesla MS on order,
but I’ve really enjoyed trucks.
I bought a new 1999 F150 stick shift and drive it for about 13 years.

i’m not too thrilled with the Tesla yoke wheel, and as of now there may not be an option for a round wheel which would probably be a deal breaker.

The Rivian R1T gets rave reviews.
My only concern is that they don’t have any service centers in Tucson,Arizona. Looks like the closest ones are in Phoenix which are about two hours away,
Unless Rivian plans to have mobile service in Tucson.
The other issue is the length of the truck. I think I could probably squeeze it in with an inch or two to spare. Lol.
I definitely wouldn’t want to park it in the driveway,especially with our summer heat.
Anyway glad to be on the forum.

 

[Ovfit]

Correction: Drove it. ?.
Was also referring to trying to fit it in the garage. It might just fit with an inch or two to spare… hopefully.

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