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

[Throwdown]

My 22s shake at exactly 60mph not before or after, I don't care enough to do anything about it until I get to 5k miles and do a tire rotation and balance them then.
Unless OPs car sat and got flat spots a wheel weight likely fell off or it was balanced incorrect off the bat.

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[SANZC02]

I totally agree that at this price point a vehicle should be delivered ready for a cross-country road trip. ….

Mine was, 17 day, 23 State, 5k mile trouble free long way home from my factory pickup.

 

[cohall]

Mine had the shakes at anything over 60. Took it to my SC (lucky for me, 10 minutes away), and they tried a quick rebalance. It helped slightly, but not much. My service advisor told me that it happens on most of the trucks they've delivered, and the only way to correct it is to do nothing, as it goes away with time (especially on the 20's). I didn't like that answer, but he was absolutely correct. It seemed to fix itself after 500-1K miles. I don't remember exactly. 7K miles in, and it's not come back.

I only noticed the shakes if I had my hands off of the wheel, I never felt/saw it during normal driving.

 

[SFsoundguy]

Mine is currently in service for the same issue. They tried to say they cant road test the car because the alignment issue I report happened above the speed limit ( over 65mph) . I asked them to check the alignment and balance the wheels...

 

[Rivian on a Rampage]

Big diameter wheels tend to have these issues as do big off-road tires. There's a lot of weight at the extremes so it requires more effort to get them balanced properly.

You are 100% correct. They might need to tighten their tolerances on the machines. Some mechanics will just get your car in the acceptable green zone. Others will spend more time trying to get it perfect.

 

[Throwdown]

Mine had the shakes at anything over 60. Took it to my SC (lucky for me, 10 minutes away), and they tried a quick rebalance. It helped slightly, but not much. My service advisor told me that it happens on most of the trucks they've delivered, and the only way to correct it is to do nothing, as it goes away with time (especially on the 20's). I didn't like that answer, but he was absolutely correct. It seemed to fix itself after 500-1K miles. I don't remember exactly. 7K miles in, and it's not come back.

I only noticed the shakes if I had my hands off of the wheel, I never felt/saw it during normal driving.

If it's happening on most trucks and they are eventually going away then it's flat spots for sure. The way to solve that for Rivian is to increase the tire pressure during shipping.

 

[LL75]

Took delivery about 4 days ago. No shimmy , but there is a slight drift to the right when driving on the highway. Scheduled a service in two weeks for alignment.

My friend who got his R1s in Dec 2022 experienced the same thing as you. Steering wheel shaking at around 70 mph and Rivian took care of it at the service center by aligment and balancing.

 

[240vPlug]

Hey I understand how disappointing it is. You waited 3 years for the car, paid a good amount for it, and you should expect it to be perfect.

The reality of the situation is that Rivian is in the very early days here. Now your situation could have changed over the last three years I'm sure and if the distance from service is not going to work and your concerned they will not be able to fix them I say return it. Most likely though, if your getting a shake above 60 MPH it's wheel/tire related. Hopefully as simple as a good road force balance.

 

[WImini]

I need to be fair and bring closer to my comments in this thread. Many people's comments, Ideas, and experiences were very helpful. I will say that what I have learned in this forum is that I may not be the best early adopter. This Rivian is a very nice and capable truck, and I have faith that Rivian could easily solve the problem be it alignment, flat spot, balance, or any other issue. No doubt just driving might help solve the problem. To be honest, I had a poor pre-buying experience which I thought would be washed away by physically experiencing the R1s, it is an amazing truck. I knew some service would be in Chicago I just never expected it to be on my first ride. I know this truck will be perfect for someone else. I have just lost confidence in the early and growing ecosystem of the Rivian Service network. I hoped to go months with a new Ev as many people do, without the need for support or within the capacity of mobile tech and the service center network would grow with my ownership, I just got a bad experience in the first few minutes of ownership and it shot my confidence. Someone earlier suggested that I go with my gut and that is great advice. I am returning the truck. I want to share that I did not like my first Rivian service recommendation to bring into the service center on my first day, their follow-up service support has been very good realizing that this needed to be solved in the 7day return window and they offered a reasonable plan to try to solve the problem.

My guide was on vacation so on the sales side a new guide has been helping me and Rivian is very interested in learning from my whole experience to improve the customer experience. As I said I am returning the truck and Rivan is being very helpful in making that happen. After 3 years of waiting, I will continue to watch Rivian, and maybe when the service and charging networks are more mature, I would consider Rivian again. I guess right now I'm not adventurous enough to be a Rivian driver.

One final thing that I learned might be helpful to others. I'm very lucky did not trade in a vehicle. If you are trading in, be absolutely sure that you want the Rivian, they do not keep the trade-in for seven days and if you return the Rivian, I don't think they can get your car back because it goes straight to wholesale.

 

[911.1 Guy]

You make a good point. If people keep buying flawed or improperly inspected vehicles, the company will keep selling them that way. The most effective way to get the quality to improve is to reject imperfect vehicles.

 

[MIG]

Not trying to hijack this thread but I was stuck in traffic this morning and a Macan pulled up alongside me with temporary plates, looked like it just came off the lot. I had a little time to kill as traffic wasn't moving and I was really surprised to see obvious gaps/uneveness where the hood wasn't installed properly and the rear door had an irregular gap where it met the body panel. It's always something.

 

[Greg Chick]

I got 2 new wheels both rims and tires, perfect balance and tracking. I now have a spare tire on a rim, as well I have 2 extra wheels so to rotate them to avoid the fast wear on the front wheels caused by driving in "Conserve" mode. Jesus, the Rivian Tech is a top level pro. My advice is get on good terms with a good tech as well try to solve issues like tire balance locally.

 

[CBD10]

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.

We had a brand new F150 that was in the shop 3 times within the first month for a battery drain issue. Should I return that truck as well, or just get the service center to fix it correctly...... We have humans involved in the manufacturing process which means things happen that will need to be fixed.

 

[CBD10]

Balancing the wheels is probably the easiest thing a manufacturer could do to make the driving experience good. Pitiful.

THere are many ways to balance tires, and weights do get knocked off from time to time. Heck they could have had a scuffed rim, replaced it with one in the service center, and didnt realize it was out of balance.

 

[rapPayne]

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 might have come to a different conclusion but I admire your integrity. Let us know how the process went, please. Others may benefit from your experience.

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