[New issues unfortunately] Why am I doing this to myself - long time Rivian customer close to giving up.

[breeves002]

Reading this is crazy to me. I have had nothing but good things to say about the Hazelwood service center. The only bad thing that happened was after my first apt ever they damaged my a pillar speaker grilles but they fixed that with a mobile service appointment.

Good luck to you man!

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[portdirect]

Reading this is crazy to me. I have had nothing but good things to say about the Hazelwood service center. The only bad thing that happened was after my first apt ever they damaged my a pillar speaker grilles but they fixed that with a mobile service appointment.

Good luck to you man!

Thanks! Really appreciate it - the folks at Hazelwood have been really friendly - but this one just seems to have them stumped. That said I got an update - I'm taking Monday off work next week and driving up to Normal: where they will have a few engineers from the plant take a look at this new noise issue. I'll be getting a loaner from there and driving back down, as they expect to have the truck a week up there - hopefully the end to this saga is one service center trip (and 12 hours of driving - 3 hours each way...) away now.

 

[Mellowyellow]

Finally a different SC. They finally relented?

 

[Plazman]

• “Bluey,” our Gen1 R1S, runs flawlessly. That’s what stings the most: Rivian can build a great product; I’ve seen it first-hand.

Funny you named her Bluey. I've had several problems with my blue R1S (not nearly as much as you've been having, thank God!). But enough problems that I named mine "Kar Bluey".

 

[woodcan]

I’ve been a Rivian fan from the start. We jumped in early 2023 with a Gen1 quad R1T (in the best color, Compass Yellow), and that truck was initially rock-solid for us. Because of that fantastic experience, we bought a Gen1 R1S, which has been nearly problem-free aside from a spate of random openings of the frunk that mobile service quickly fixed. Now I’m on my second R1T, and I’m honestly questioning my sanity sticking with this brand. My experience with Rivian’s quality control—especially on the service side—has been one headache after another.

Bingo: The First R1T, the Falling Lift, and the Never-Ending Repair Ordeal
My first R1T, nicknamed “Bingo,” was delivered back in 2023. It was almost perfect except for one glaring issue: a paint defect spotted the moment I picked it up from the factory in Normal, IL. I nearly rejected delivery, but given the train ride out there (and Rivian’s assurance it would be a simple fix I could handle later), I went ahead and drove it home. That “simple fix” turned into a months-long nightmare.

The “Fell Off the Lift” Saga

• June 2024: I dropped Bingo off for a rear paint repair, after having waited for the SC in St Louis to open and them to have collision centers in the area. The service center and local Rivian-certified body shops said the entire panel needed repainting.
• July 12, 2024: I’m expecting a routine update. Instead, I get a call: “Your truck fell off the lift during final inspection, but don’t worry, we’ll fix it.” Alarms went off in my head.
• Conflicting Updates: The collision center called daily for almost a week with odd reports—a minor scratch during reassembly, waiting on parts, repainting and “baking” for 48 hours. The whole thing felt unsettling and far from the simple fix Rivian had promised.

Trim Troubles, Deleted Gear Guard, and More

• Immediate Damage: When I finally picked up Bingo from the Rivian SC; the truck was dirty (it looked like it has been used to move car parts based of the mud and grease in the bed), the tailgate trim was torn, the spoiler was off-kilter, and the “full panel repaint” was actually a spot blend.
• Vanished Footage: Gear Guard footage over the bed disappeared. The service center guessed it was due to spoiler removal while it sat outside.
• Multiple Return Visits: After each fix, new issues popped up—misaligned trim, more snapped clips, mismatched paint. They replaced everything from A-pillar and B-pillar trim to the spoiler and bed trim.

Second Collision Center & Multiple Repaints

• Paint Fails Again: By August, the new paint started wrinkling and cracking. The seam sealer didn’t bond right.
• Switching Shops: Rivian arranged a different collision center, but that turned into weeks of repeated re-sprays, poor inspections, and fresh problems like cracked headliners, exposed conductors and incomplete repairs.

The Buyback Decision
Rivian did a full buyback and threw in a $10k goodwill credit for a new truck. By then, I was exhausted—for 6 months Bingo spent more time in shops than in my driveway, and each pickup felt like rolling the dice on what might still be broken - as I was doing Rivian's QC for them - they had actually paid the 2nd service center $10K in labor alone for work that was not performed, and missed this until we pointed it out to them. Before anyone calls BS on this, it was a large part of the reason Rivian offered buyback including all incurred costs and the discount on a gen2 without needing to even call a lawyer.

Muffin: The “Press-Level” Gen2 Tri-Motor R1T That Couldn’t Drive Past 4 MPH
Enter R1T #2, nicknamed “Muffin,” which I picked up on December 13, 2024. Based on our saga to date Rivian promised a “press-level” inspection—essentially the same scrutiny they’d give a vehicle destined for a big-name automotive review - which actually pushed our delivery back by over a week to 'give them time to get it perfect'. I was hopeful, but that optimism vanished almost immediately.

Day One (and Then Some) Disappointments

1. Gear Tunnel Door Misalignment
   • Right at delivery, the driver-side gear-tunnel door felt off. The sales guy brushed my wife off, calling it “normal for Gen2.” and tried to explain to her how the gear tunnel doors worked as though she had never used one before. We were unconvinced, but just wanted to get back on the road so accepted delivery.
   • As soon as we actually tried to drive, the truck threw an error about the gear tunnel door needing service, and capped speed at 4 mph.
   • The service center realigned the door and adjusted the sensor, which took 30 mins —only then could I actually go faster than walking speed.
2. Window Calibration Issues
   • Both passenger-side windows wouldn’t fully close, after opening - bouncing up and down several times before stopping with an inch or two too go.
   • Standard recalibration from the owner’s manual did nothing; the tech finally had to hook up a laptop via the OBD2 port.
   • Again, day-one stuff that should’ve been caught pre-delivery and another additional 30 mins at the SC whist they fixed it before we could go home.
3. Steering Wheel Defect
   • The original steering wheel had leather peeling away. Rivian replaced it via a mobile service visit a few days later
   • Yet again, day-one stuff that should’ve been caught pre-delivery.

All of these issues were reported before we had even driven off the lot - with hindsight we should have rejected delivery on the spot, but naively thought "this cant get any worse can it?" Well it could:

1. Rattle From Passenger-Side Doors
   • At lower speeds, when driving home, we heard an annoying rattle on the passenger side. Initially thought it was the front door.
   • Mobile Service discovered it was actually the rear door trim contacting an internal component. They adjusted it, and the rattle stopped—at least for a while.
2. Door Contact and Paint Damage
   • We missed this at pick up but *both* yes *both* front doors were actually hitting the rear doors whenever we closed them, chipping the paint on both.
   • A later service appointment realigned the doors on both sides and touched up the chipped paint. It’s better now, but it’s another example of baffling day-one misalignment.
3. Intermittent Front Camera Disconnect
   • The first time it happened, I was in the middle of an automatic lane change at 70 mph on Highway Assist. Suddenly, the camera cut out and the truck dumped me out of assist, mid-lane-change.
   • It’s happened multiple times since, including once when a Rivian service staffer was riding along. They claimed they’d “never seen this on a Gen2 before.” Great to be the first, I guess.
4. Morning Startup Failures
   • On several occasions, I’ve gone to drive the truck after it’s been sitting overnight, only to find it won’t shift into Drive. The screen basically demands a full reset before letting me go anywhere.
   • It’s incredibly frustrating and has happened enough times to be a real concern.
5. Inconsistent Braking
   • Sometimes tapping the brake pedal triggers a near full-stop—like the brake booster is going haywire. It’s almost digital: on or off.
6. Creaks and Rattles (Again)
   • The passenger-side door is back to creaking, and now the dashboard rattles when driving on the highway. Though of course it went silent (after driving me crazy the whole way to the SC) when doing a test drive with the SC staff - though at least they were able to witness the other issues, and I was able to get video recordings of it occurring for them.

Hardly Driven, Constant Resets
The worst part? Muffin barely has any miles on it. For Two weeks after delivery, I was out of the country, and then another three weeks went by for PPF and ceramic coating. In the short windows I’ve actually driven it, I haven’t made it more than 100 miles without needing some kind of reset—sometimes a quick reboot, sometimes a full hard reset. On multiple occasions when trying to put the truck into drive the infotainment screen literally says 'Reset Software Shift to Park. Then Press both buttons for 15 seconds' - something the service center says they were "unaware a gen2 could even do that" - it does not let me drive until that procedure has been done. I'm not even going to go into the L2 charging issues with these Max Packs and the Midwest weather here. Right now its' back in service again, and the SC has warned me that it may be several weeks this time - as worse case they will need to replace the wiring harness.

Why I’m (Still) Here (For now)

• R1 is a Rock Star: “Bluey,” our Gen1 R1S, runs flawlessly. That’s what stings the most: Rivian can build a great product; I’ve seen it first-hand.
• Brand Loyalty—Or Naivety?: I’ve always loved Rivian’s adventure-vehicle vision. I want them to succeed.
• They Tried: The buyback for Bingo and $10k credit showed good faith. But it doesn’t erase the fact that I’m on a second truck with a laundry list of issues.

Where to go from here?
I’m tired of feeling like a perpetual beta tester for build consistency and service quality. One R1T fiasco might be “bad luck,” but two? It’s fair to question if Rivian’s R1T program has deeper quality-control issues. I’m telling this story because I still believe in Rivian’s potential. If you’ve run into similar problems—or found a magic fix—I’d love to hear about it - I'm considering engaging investor relations and senior leadership at this point. I see what they did right with the R1, and I want to hope they can replicate that across the board. But after Bingo’s endless repairs and Muffin’s immediate meltdown, my patience is on thin ice. If you have success stories, I need to hear them—because right now, I’m close to giving up on the R1T altogether, no matter how cool it looks and awesome it is to drive (when it runs). Let me know if you’ve got advice, or if I’m just hurting myself by trying to stay loyal.

@Donald Stanfield this post is for you would love some of your fan-boi snark or words of encouragement - I really want to love this truck again.

Edit: S(p)elling

I think you convinced me to reject delivery if there are any paint issues or really any meaningful issues not potentially addressable by a mobile tech on my R1S when it arrives in 3 weeks.

That is, unless all of these horror stories don't change my mind completely.

Is there a pickup checklist I can use that folks have compiled with common issues to look for?
We had one for my wife's Ascent and found a big one (hood bent from factory) that 5 years later still hasn't been resolved so I'm more keen on rejecting delivery this go around after that headache.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I think you convinced me to reject delivery if there are any paint issues or really any meaningful issues not potentially addressable by a mobile tech on my R1S when it arrives in 3 weeks.

That is, unless all of these horror stories don't change my mind completely.

Is there a pickup checklist I can use that folks have compiled with common issues to look for?
We had one for my wife's Ascent and found a big one (hood bent from factory) that 5 years later still hasn't been resolved so I'm more keen on rejecting delivery this go around after that headache.

Search the forum for a delivery checklist. They are older posts, but a few members have made good checklists.

 

[portdirect]

Dropped the truck of at normal this morning - super friendly set of folk, and really cared about getting things right:

• Of course - for the whole drive up there, and on the test drive we did with them the noise from the front was not present at all - though I wonder if this may be to do with the temp being lower today (40f) than its been for the last couple of weeks.
• They found the noise in the passenger side door whist on the test drive.
• Added a ticket for the infotainment system resetting, which happened three times on the drive up there (8:12am, 8:52am and then at 10:44am just as pulling into the factory).

Took a loaner quad back down - and man, it felt awesome to be in a good R1T again - just felt so planted and solid (after ~18k miles), hopefully they get get muffin feeling just as good when I go back up to get her. Lots of wind and tyre noise, but totally free of creaks and rattles.

One thing I noticed, and will ask about (considering the front motor suspicion) is the efficiency:

1. The TriMax needed to take a charging break on the way from STL to Nomal and on the two legs of the journey averaged 1.39m/kWh (@67mph average) and 1.72m/kWh (@48mph average) respectively - mixing AP mode with conserve (other than <10 min in sport). Matching the lower efficiency I've been seeing to date. Without charging I'd have only just made the trip leaving at 85% SOC - as it consumed ~99kWh.
2. On the way back, the loaner Quad Motor R1T with 20" AT tires did 1.85m/kWh (@74mph) over the 125 miles I got trip data for - in AP the whole way. ~67kWh. No need for a break and arrived home with ~30% left.

The wind was mostly east-west, and there's very little elevation gain (a couple hundred feet total) - so I'd have expected to see very similar consumption, ideally showing greater efficiency for the trimax with street tires/wheels. Will mention it to them, incase it helps work out whats going on.


Muffin Data:

Loaner Photos:

 

[RivianRiverRat]

I think you convinced me to reject delivery if there are any paint issues or really any meaningful issues not potentially addressable by a mobile tech on my R1S when it arrives in 3 weeks.

That is, unless all of these horror stories don't change my mind completely.

Is there a pickup checklist I can use that folks have compiled with common issues to look for?
We had one for my wife's Ascent and found a big one (hood bent from factory) that 5 years later still hasn't been resolved so I'm more keen on rejecting delivery this go around after that headache.

 

[portdirect]

Got an update, actually many - the Normal crew have been fantastic in terms of updates!:

1. They found some of the panels on the underside of the truck were incorrectly installed, and so rectified them.
2. They also found an issue with the charge port door, which was causing it to not retract correctly - and so have resolved that.

They have not been able to replicate the noise in the videos since these adjustments, but did note that it sounded a bit like the noise they could hear in the cabin whist tapping the charge port door - so hopefully one problem down! They think possibly air was getting behind it and causing the noise.

They have tried to get rid of the creaking in the passenger side door - and after having pulled every trick out of the book they know are going to replace the door card and redo the wiring in it.

They are also replacing the XM2 (I may have misheard/misremembered the module name) but it is the primary ECU - as this is what was causing the resets - they suspected a firmware flash may have been able to resolve it, but at this point want to play it safe (I wonder if this may have been caused by the faulty camera module?)

Its likely to be the middle of next week before they can get the replacement parts (as they have to order them like any other SC), and so it’ll be end of next week or the week after that I drive back up to hopefully do ‘delivery day’ afresh.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Got an update, actually many - the Normal crew have been fantastic in terms of updates!:

1. They found some of the panels on the underside of the truck were incorrectly installed, and so rectified them.
2. They also found an issue with the charge port door, which was causing it to not retract correctly - and so have resolved that.

They have not been able to replicate the noise in the videos since these adjustments, but did note that it sounded a bit like the noise they could hear in the cabin whist tapping the charge port door - so hopefully one problem down! They think possibly air was getting behind it and causing the noise.

They have tried to get rid of the creaking in the passenger side door - and after having pulled every trick out of the book they know are going to replace the door card and redo the wiring in it.

They are also replacing the XM2 (I may have misheard/misremembered the module name) but it is the primary ECU - as this is what was causing the resets - they suspected a firmware flash may have been able to resolve it, but at this point want to play it safe (I wonder if this may have been caused by the faulty camera module?)

Its likely to be the middle of next week before they can get the replacement parts (as they have to order them like any other SC), and so it’ll be end of next week or the week after that I drive back up to hopefully do ‘delivery day’ afresh.

Fingers crossed they make your Rivian perfect.

 

[portdirect]

Fingers crossed they make your Rivian perfect.

I’ll take great, perfect is too much The one remaining thing after all this will be getting them to check that after the ECU replacement that the drivetrain power draw is what they would expect. It’s been both good, and a bit concerning, being back in a gen1 quad R1T (with 20” ATs!) - and finding massively better efficiency than the TrixMax on 22”s.

 

[portdirect]

During final check they found the center console phone charger was not working correctly and so are replacing that as well: not charging phones and continually drawing power. They think that it have (along with the AXM module fault) been partially to blame for the 1.34mi/kWh average seen to date over the 1168 miles on the odometer. Rivian have asked to monitor the truck for 30 days following collection to ensure that power draw and phantom drain are within tolerance, and will pull it back in if not. Pending the new phone charger installation, planning on driving up to Normal tomorrow morning to do ‘delivery day’ redux: here’s hoping I can make it back to STL (165 miles) without needing to charge along the way.

 

[portdirect]

Just got to Normal and did a test drive of the truck - it’s a whole new beast So much quieter than it was, and now quieter than our Gen1’s - none of the creaks and rattles on the passenger side were present during our test drive. They did want to take it back in for realignment following the drive, as it was pulling to the left, so going to grab some food and then pick her up in an hour for the drive back to STL.

 

[portdirect]

Erm. They can’t align it, as the guy who does has not turned up today and the duty SC manager can’t get hold of them - they would like to keep it in until they can. Currently you need to hold the steering wheel at around 1 o clock to drive straight, if the wheel were an hour hand. So I’m driving back to stl in a loaner, need to wait in the reception here until they have got enough charge in it to make it back Another 7 hours of driving wasted and a Saturday written off - oh well.

Edit: removed photo of factory floor at Rivian’s request (don’t know if they are reading here, but certainly are Reddit where I had posted the same picture).

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It sucks they couldn't do the alignment. I'm glad the rest of it is ironed out.

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