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New R1S delivered today but may return it after 46 miles due to steering wheel shimmy/wobble

WImini

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Four days short of 3 years and I got my R1S today, less than 2 hours after delivery, and my first Highway test and I have a significant steering wheel shimmy/wobble at Highway speeds. Less than 12 miles driven and a call to Rivian service and they want me to drive 2.5 hours to the service center to address the problem. Worse yet this is my 7-day return period and the service appointment is 2 weeks from now.

I can't believe I'm thinking about returning with 48 miles on the truck. This is not the experience I expected. Rivian wants me to drive a new truck with 46 miles on it 250 miles round trip and a full day of my time for my best guess an alignment or wheel balance. Im not sure I can take the chance with this car company.

Does anyone have thoughts about the shimmy in the wheel and whether or not Rivian Service can keep owners happy that don't live near the service center?

Did anyone return a car to Rivian and How did it go?
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electrictaco

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Keep the service appointment, get your wheels aligned locally. Bring the receipt for that to Rivian when you go for the service in 2 weeks. If the alignment doesn't help, escalate and see if you can bring it in earlier.
 

strykerwsu

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Overall if the 2.5 hour drive is a concern I would return. unfortunately it will need service time to time. not sure if keeping the Flex but I wouldn’t go with only 1 EV and no ICE. Amazing vehicles but we are Beta testers w/o local support for most. Make the decision based upon your gut, not sure if price protected or tax credit. Should make a decent amount on R1S if decide to sell.
 

Guy

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Get the wheel balance/alignment. Forget about it in a week. Enjoy the car afterwards.

Sucks to drive that far, but not worth making this into more than it is
It is reasonable for him to be upset. Rivian can do wrong you know!
 

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VSG

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Rivian wants me to drive a new truck with 46 miles on it 250 miles round trip and a full day of my time for my best guess an alignment or wheel balance. Im not sure I can take the chance with this car company.
You want they should bring the lift and alignment equipment to you?
 

Fast911

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Four days short of 3 years and I got my R1S today, less than 2 hours after delivery, and my first Highway test and I have a significant steering wheel shimmy/wobble at Highway speeds. Less than 12 miles driven and a call to Rivian service and they want me to drive 2.5 hours to the service center to address the problem. Worse yet this is my 7-day return period and the service appointment is 2 weeks from now.

I can't believe I'm thinking about returning with 48 miles on the truck. This is not the experience I expected. Rivian wants me to drive a new truck with 46 miles on it 250 miles round trip and a full day of my time for my best guess an alignment or wheel balance. Im not sure I can take the chance with this car company.

Does anyone have thoughts about the shimmy in the wheel and whether or not Rivian Service can keep owners happy that don't live near the service center?

Did anyone return a car to Rivian and How did it go?

Besides the shimmy/wobble at highway speeds, are you experiencing any other issues besides that? If not, it seems that wobble and shimmy are very fixable issues. It’s unfortunate that the alignment issues were not discovered prior to your pick up, but s___ happens.

Why did you buy a rivian knowing that the closes service center was a 250 miles round trip?
 

Rivian on a Rampage

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??Alignment or wheel balance is an extremely easy fix. Sure you don't want to deal with that on a brand new car, but is that really a reason to return it?? If you are at all thinking about it, I suggest you return it and being an early adopter is not for you. Service has been great for my limestone/oc R1T and I cannot wait for my El Cap/oc R1S to arrive any day. For mobile service to be possible, I assume the need to know the exact issue. Go with your gut and I hope everthing works out for you! If you keep it, hopefully they can get it resolved and you end up loving your Rivian.

Edit: and I just had the 12v issue. Service was great and could not wait to get rid of that pos Lexus rental
 
OP
OP

WImini

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I'm sure you all can understand the frustration of driving a new car for less than 20 mins and having to and having to call the service. You are all right maybe I should not be an early adopter so far from service. I just did not think that service would be needed at the center so quickly. I asked if a local place could check the alignment and was told no it had to be done at the service center. I know that can't be true. I appreciate the advice to go with my gut and it is telling me to send it back. It is an amazing-looking car.
 

SANZC02

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It depends on how inclined you are to try something. If it were me I would rotate the front wheels to the back and bring the rear to the front. If it is a wheel balance issue that would get rid of the shimmy. If that solves it you can just get the now rear wheels balanced locally.

This is the issue Rivian has while they are building out the service areas. People want the vehicles but when like you, it requires service and you are so far from an any service center or mobile service, everyone loses. You left feeling neglected and Rivian possibly losing a customer.

Good luck
 

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jwardell

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How bad is the wobble? When I shelled out 7 grand for new 20" wheels from rivian, sure enough once I hit 65mph the next day I felt a very strong shake in the steering wheel. It did come and go with speed, but as I've had poorly balanced tires many times before I knew what it was. My guess is they just threw them on and didn't balance them well. I had it back in a week with a stern note saying for that price the balancing should be perfect, and they did re do it. I guess my point is it might be common the wheels aren't balanced perfectly from the factory, and I doubt the pre-delivery inspection includes testing it up to full highway speeds.
But if it's really bad all the time, it could be something else
 

TexasBob

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I'm sure you all can understand the frustration of driving a new car for less than 20 mins and having to and having to call the service. You are all right maybe I should not be an early adopter so far from service. I just did not think that service would be needed at the center so quickly. I asked if a local place could check the alignment and was told no it had to be done at the service center. I know that can't be true. I appreciate the advice to go with my gut and it is telling me to send it back. It is an amazing-looking car.
I think your gut is telling you to sell it to me… for 100% of your out of pocket plus a bit for your trouble. 😁 (srsly)
 

Guy

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??Alignment or wheel balance is an extremely easy fix. Sure you don't want to deal with that on a brand new car, but is that really a reason to return it?? If you are at all thinking about it, I suggest you return it and being an early adopter is not for you. Service has been great for my limestone/oc R1T and I cannot wait for my El Cap/oc R1S to arrive any day. For mobile service to be possible, I assume the need to know the exact issue. Go with your gut and I hope everthing works out for you! If you keep it, hopefully they can get it resolved and you end up loving your Rivian.

Edit: and I just had the 12v issue. Service was great and could not wait to get rid of that pos Lexus rental
We are into the snew cond full year of production. They should be able to align wheels by now. The early adopter excuse should wear out eventually.
 

Rivianation

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I'm sure you all can understand the frustration of driving a new car for less than 20 mins and having to and having to call the service. You are all right maybe I should not be an early adopter so far from service. I just did not think that service would be needed at the center so quickly. I asked if a local place could check the alignment and was told no it had to be done at the service center. I know that can't be true. I appreciate the advice to go with my gut and it is telling me to send it back. It is an amazing-looking car.
Frustration fully understood. A shimmy in wheel has nothing to do with alignment. Its wheel balancing probably, or maybe a defective tire. I would get both fronts re-balanced locally ASAP (how much could that cost?). I would make my decision after that.

Driving 2.5 hours with a wiggly wheel just to find out it didn't need an alignment would make you sad.
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