R1S Body Gaps - Your Input

[DynoSaur]

From my experience, many/most cars have this where the roof is lower than the edge trim piece. That's why the chrome lines still match perfectly. I can say that every Rivian I've seen is this way, so it's not a misalignment with your specific vehicle.

If it helps any, my R1S has the same roof side trim line. Both sides are a touch higher than the roof center, but they are the same offset. I feel like that's the design. It's a bit awkward from the back, as it sits a touch higher than the top of the liftgate, but from the front almost seems like it's meant to affect airflow and create a channel through.

My passenger side A pillar flow into silver trim and roofline looks the same as yours. Kind of closer on the inside edge. Off, but I didn't create a ticket on that on.

I have some silver trim that looks like it sticks out a bit more on one side than the other - did create a ticket for that.

Your hood and front corner alignments are definitely wonky.

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[sevengroove]

If it helps any, my R1S has the same roof side trim line. Both sides are a touch higher than the roof center, but they are the same offset. I feel like that's the design. It's a bit awkward from the back, as it sits a touch higher than the top of the liftgate, but from the front almost seems like it's meant to affect airflow and create a channel through.

My passenger side A pillar flow into silver trim and roofline looks the same as yours.

Confirming that mine is also similar. That gap at the front between the roof and the side trim definitely seems intentional.

 

[Dirty_B]

Remember that their protocol is to just deliver vehicles asap.... SC will fix what fell through the cracks

If you now pay for transport to/fro SC......

 

[Comstockery]

Confirming that mine is also similar. That gap at the front between the roof and the side trim definitely seems intentional.

Yeah, both the raised profit above the roofline in the front and the gap between the roof could be intentional, although the gap on the driver's side seems excessive. The protrusion at the rear gate in clearly a misalignment.

 

[Comstockery]

Yeah, both the raised profit above the roofline in the front and the gap between the roof could be intentional, although the gap on the driver's side seems excessive. The protrusion at the rear gate in clearly a misalignment.

Meant raised profile, not profit. I've looked at a number of pictures of R1S deliveries that have been posted. I agree that the front roofline seems to have a raised profile with respect to the trim in the front. The rear, however, is flush in all the pictures.

 

[R1Tom]

I don't understand what thry are thinking, sending them out of the plant, and then the PDI, like this....just to know all the money they will spend getting them back to fix them. I just don't get it. Sure...make numbers...but it is a very short term win...

 

[mini2nut]

It seems like Rivian is now following the Tesla playbook. Spit 'em out on the assembly line and let the SC deal with panel fit and finish complaints.

Porsche and Audi consistently have near perfect panel alignments on their new vehicles. They are currently the benchmark for mainstream auto manufacturers.

 

[Vik]

I don't think even Tesla would have the nerve to deliver something with those issues. Yes, the factory would likely ship it to the SC, but the SC would probably hold it back as they have been known to do with particularly egregious examples.

My 2017 Model X looked slightly worse than this does. Even my 2022 Model S has a few bad gaps and panels that don't line up.

 

[Cactus]

See how misaligned panels affect drag at 3:50. Probably trivial, but cool non-the-less.

 

[R1Sky Business]

When Volvo redesigned the XC90 in 2016, I bought one of the early vehicles that rolled off the production line. There were no misalignment issues, but when it rained hard outside, it also rained inside my Volvo. That was suboptimal. I'd rather deal with the misalignment issues. It took Volvo months to determine that they had a design defect, engineer a fix and install it in my vehicle (and many others). I'm hoping the R1S fixes won't take that long.

Agreed

 

[Christopher]

When Volvo redesigned the XC90 in 2016, I bought one of the early vehicles that rolled off the production line. There were no misalignment issues, but when it rained hard outside, it also rained inside my Volvo. That was suboptimal. I'd rather deal with the misalignment issues. It took Volvo months to determine that they had a design defect, engineer a fix and install it in my vehicle (and many others). I'm hoping the R1S fixes won't take that long.

My neighbor had to lemon law his XC90 for that same issue. Loved the car but went with a Tahoe after the buyback. What a nightmare you must have went through.

 

[Rivianation]

Agreed. If I get any sense from the response to my ticket that Rivian doesn't want to fix problems, I'm going to cancel. I'm within the seven-day window. I really like the R1S, but I won't tolerate significant defects.

Wait, 7-day window?? You won't just return it, I hope. You will surly flip in the open market and make $15-20K, right?

 

[Chgroth]

I submitted the ticket.

Keep us posted. This type of workmanship suggests poor QA. I wonder if they are so rushed to reach their production numbers, they are skimping on quality control.

 

[Comstockery]

Rivian is picking up my R1S on November 28th and taking it to Richmond, VA (from the DC area) to repair the defects. They're also going to fix the steering issue that is the subject of the recall. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[crashmtb]

Keep us posted. This type of workmanship suggests poor QA. I wonder if they are so rushed to reach their production numbers, they are skimping on quality control.

To quote a long ago colleague after a successful ISO 9001 audit; “we don’t make garbage, we make well documented garbage”.

Rivian’s QA systems are probably very robust. What counts as acceptable…clearly less so.

ship it!

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