Ownership Update after 12 weeks

[drew12dogger]

Hi All, I'm new to the forum, but after 12 weeks of ownership, thought it would be helpful to share an update for the good of the group.

Of the 12 weeks I've actually had my R1T (delivery was on August 18), it's been in the San Diego Service Center for 5 of those week and is scheduled to go back again in a couple weeks. So almost 1/2 of my total ownership time has been in the service center. Why you might ask? Here goes:

First trip to the service center was to fix the rear driver side door which was not correct from the factory. The door had multiple loud cracking noises each time it was opened or closed. The service center determined that the door could not be fixed but needed to be replaced entirely. They ordered the new door, installed it, and then sent it over to a body shop to get painted. While at the body shop, somehow the rear window got chipped and therefore also needed to be replaced. After some miscommunication between the body shop and the Rivian service center, the real window was finally replaced. Additionally, upon delivery, one of the floor mat clamps was broken, so also needed to be replaced during this visit. All in all, this visit to the service center took a total of 3 weeks exactly. Drop off at San Diego Service Center on Friday September 16th and pick up on Friday October 7th. (Absolutely brutal, by the way, going to back driving a gas vehicle after having the R1T for only a month).

Second trip to the service center was to fix a bunch of things. First, the two smaller items - one of the rear reading lamps didn't respond to touch and would not activate so needed to be replaced. Second, one of the lights in the truck bed wouldn't turn out so also needed to be replaced. Both fairly minor items but after spending this much on a truck, I feel like everything should be in working order. Now, here's the BIG item...the high voltage battery pack pooped out and died, after less than 2,000 miles on it. As a result, the truck was completely inoperable and needed to be towed from my garage to the Rivian Service Center. This was heartbreaking to see my truck getting towed away, not knowing if it was be functional again or what would happen. So again, back to driving a gas vehicle...ugh. All in all, this visit to the service center took a total of 2 weeks exactly. Tow away from my garage on Friday November 4th and pick up on Friday November 18th. Fortunately, they were able to replace the entire high voltage (HV) battery pack and the truck is working great again.

Now for the upcoming third trip to the service center. Upon pick up a couple days ago, I noticed that the service center had taken a large gouge out of the steering wheel during the previous repair. Not acceptable to make this gouge, which is super evident, ignore it, and tell me the truck is ready to pick up. I live 35-40 minutes away from the service center, so all these trips back and forth are getting pretty ridiculous. So now the steering wheel needs to be re-upholstered or replaced completely. Additionally, this morning, my son touched the reading lamp (which was supposedly fixed during the last trip to the service center) to turn it on, but apparently it was not secured in place and by touching it, the entire lamp fell back into the truck housing, so now there is a hole with no light.

I probably sound like I'm just whining and complaining, which I am a little bit, but more wanted to share my experiences so far. I had my eyes wide open going into this purchase, knowing full well that there would be lots of hiccups and struggles up front (much like Tesla had during their launch). My frustration is that it seems like Rivian is pooring all their resources into production and has allocated very little to the service of the vehicles. I can't say that I disagree with that decision, as the company will never make money without selling vehicles, but if the quality of the vehicles doesn't improve pretty quickly, the service centers are going to be even more innundated than they are, which means people are going to be without their Rivians for even longer than I have. Not a good message to send to the vehicle owners who took a risk on a new company.

Overall though, I still love the truck and really have a blast driving it (when I have it). I'm patient and know the road ahead will be bumpy. I just hope yours is a little more smooth.

Sponsored

 

[kewlasu]

looks like this SC does not have the needed QA folks for the work being done there. These are unacceptable even if they are minor issues.

 

[SASSquatch]

@drew12dogger

Thank you for sharing your experiences; I'm sorry to hear the ownership experience hasn't gone as smoothly as you would have hoped.

Having experienced many issues in my history of owning first production model year vehicles, I intentionally delayed putting down a reservation on an R1T even though I had been tracking the company since the LA Auto Show specifically for the reason that I wanted Rivian to work through some of the first production year gremlins.

Anyone starting a new auto manufacturing process is going to go through these growing pains and Rivian is no different. The early adopters like yourself take on the most risk as you are dealing with issues and a service apparatus that isn't at its peak capacity or efficiency.

I hope that Rivian treats owners like you especially well given everything you are dealing with. If it were me, I would be giving first year owners with issues a perk - like free Adventure Charging for a year, or even Rivian Membership. Something to reward you for your loyalty and leap of faith.

I hope your ownership experience gets better and you are able to enjoy your truck more in the near future.

Hang in there and keep us updated.

 

[NY_Rob]

Kinda wonder what the heck they were doing that lead to ripping the steering wheel cover.. unless they had Edward Scissorhands working there?

I had a Tesla Mobile Ranger leave his greasy fingerprints on the white interior of my MY when performing a recall bolt torque check. Fortunately caught it before he left and asked him to clean it up.. which he did. But, as someone who does this stuff all day long... you would think they would take a bit more interest in doing no harm.

 

[OverZealous]

None of your issues sound minor to me. These are all really awful, and unacceptable.

I don't think things like non-working lights are minor. These are actually broken. Minor to me is squeaks or rattles, panel alignment, etc. Stuff that isn't preventing you from using the vehicle, but are annoying.

Hopefully they can get that steering wheel replaced quickly, that's awful. There's no way anyone missed that.

 

[Superdad]

Think the steering wheel was damaged by the tow truck driver? I’ve seen them wrap things through the wheel to keep it straight. I can’t think of why else this would be gouged so badly.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Yeah I don't consider these things to be minor. Unfortunately you got a whole heaping pile of issues directed at you. Hopefully your ownership experience gets much more like mine which has been really pleasant.

 

[mini2nut]

Curious at to what your VIN # is.

That steering defect looks like it was caused by abrasion and not a cut. Tow truck driver neglect?

A defective HV battery pack is a huge one. What if it failed 75 miles from civilization during an over-landing excursion?

 

[COdogman]

That is A LOT of things to go wrong in that short amount of time. I’m really sorry you had to deal with that. It really sounds to me like your SC is not functioning the way some others are. I read stories almost every day here about service centers catching issues and getting them fixed before the truck is ever delivered to the customer. Yours seems to have missed some very obvious problems, then proceeded to add to it by doing more damage and failing to even fix some of the things they said were fixed. This is just incompetence.

Have other people who use the San Diego SC had similar experiences?

 

[drew12dogger]

Think the steering wheel was damaged by the tow truck driver? I’ve seen them wrap things through the wheel to keep it straight. I can’t think of why else this would be gouged so badly.

That's a really good thought actually. The tow truck driver was a hack for sure and couldn't have cared less for the truck when he took it. I'll suggest that Rivian contact the tow provider since this provider is apparently one of only a couple in the county who are "certified" to tow Rivians.

Sponsored