Rivian deserves some kudos

[888tom888]

I am a R1S launch edition customer. As many of us on this forum know, Rivian had a huge customer service snafu when RJ raised prices. To his credit, he reacted to the feedback and reverted back to honoring launch customer and other pre (can't remember the date) pricing. Many of us felt entitled to that pricing but my recent experience made me appreciate Rivian's pricing process. As a backup, I have deposits on a Fisker Ocean launch edition. And yesterday I placed a deposit on a Cadillac Lyriq dual motor. No big deal, $100 to reserve a vehicle. Later that day, the local Caddy dealer that I selected called me and "told me" that my deposit insured I could have the right to purchase a Lyriq and Oh by the way, that will come with a $10K dealer markup. I told him to go pound sand and then reached out to two somewhat close dealers and hard to believe (said tongue and cheek) each one had $10K markups add to MSRP. Even. read about a Ford dealer in my area adding a $53K mark up to a F150 Lighting. (there will always be a moron that will pay those prices)
I know what MSRP stands for but that's total BS. So far, Fisker has not done the same. The point is, RJ and Rivian are honoring their commitment to their early supporters and as much as people wank about not getting their vehicles, I believe they are doing the best they can. Dealer gouging in the past was a joke, b/c I could call three dealers and have them compete on pricing as the cars/suvs were mostly the same. Covid and this mysterious chip shortage has reversed this and now unscrupulous dealers are using it as an excuse to f- over their customers.
But as in all cases, we have the right to shop with our dollars and go where we feel the best(fair) deal lies.
Just one rant. In the end, I hope those dealers get hosed in the long run.

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[lostpacket]

I personally only have a single spare kudo, but I will award it to them.

 

[jjswan33]

Send a message to Cadillac/GM corporate or a phone call even better if it's possible. Be nice but explain you want to order a Lyric but you called dealers XYZ and all are trying to mark it up $10k. I am guessing they won't be of that much help but make it clear to them that GM will lose business with the antiquated dealership model and greedy markups.

 

[thrill]

Send a message to Cadillac/GM corporate or a phone call even better if it's possible. Be nice but explain you want to order a Lyric but you called dealers XYZ and all are trying to mark it up $10k. I am guessing they won't be of that much help but make it clear to them that GM will lose business with the antiquated dealership model and greedy markups.

Nah - short the stock and don't vote for people who would "bail them out for the good of America".

 

[Dark-Fx]

No big deal, $100 to reserve a vehicle. Later that day, the local Caddy dealer that I selected called me and "told me" that my deposit insured I could have the right to purchase a Lyriq and Oh by the way, that will come with a $10K dealer markup.

This is one of the biggest reasons I didn't bother ordering a Lyriq.

Send a message to Cadillac/GM corporate or a phone call even better if it's possible. Be nice but explain you want to order a Lyric but you called dealers XYZ and all are trying to mark it up $10k. I am guessing they won't be of that much help but make it clear to them that GM will lose business with the antiquated dealership model and greedy markups.

GM is still going to sell every one of them they can make in 22/23 because it's going to be impossible to walk into a dealership and walk out with an EV in the next 2/3 years.

 

[888tom888]

Send a message to Cadillac/GM corporate or a phone call even better if it's possible. Be nice but explain you want to order a Lyric but you called dealers XYZ and all are trying to mark it up $10k. I am guessing they won't be of that much help but make it clear to them that GM will lose business with the antiquated dealership model and greedy markups.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my post, the tide has turned and dealers have no inventory so they are charging whatever they want. I tried to buy a Jeep Wrangler for my daughter in Jan and anything they had on the lot was marked up a minimum of 5K. the only way around it was to order one and be prepared to wait for months. Which I ultimately did.

 

[jjswan33]

Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my post, the tide has turned and dealers have no inventory so they are charging whatever they want. I tried to buy a Jeep Wrangler for my daughter in Jan and anything they had on the lot was marked up a minimum of 5K. the only way around it was to order one and be prepared to wait for months. Which I ultimately did.

Yes they are but the big manufacturers are seeing that customers are getting pissed, they want to compete with the Tesla's and the Rivian's of the world. If we don't tell them we won't stand for this then it will never change. But that is my opinion so do what you please.

 

[sevengroove]

the only way around it was to order one and be prepared to wait for months. Which I ultimately did.

I hope you got something in writing saying that they will honor MSRP, because from what I've been reading online there are dealers that are charging a markup even on customer new-build orders. Putting in a build order does not oblige the dealer to sell that vehicle to you at MSRP.

 

[jjswan33]

GM is still going to sell every one of them they can make in 22/23 because it's going to be impossible to walk into a dealership and walk out with an EV in the next 2/3 years.

Not sure if that is true. I am willing to bet the cost of a new EV I could go buy one today for at/near MSRP

 

[Taycanfrank]

You think they reversed the price increase out of the kindness of their hearts? The price increase crashed their stock and caused a huge problem for their investors. They had no choice and the initial increase was a masterclass in how to spit on your customers.

If as many people refused to pay dealer markups, GM would ban them. But people pay, supply & demand.

 

[888tom888]

Supply and demand drives the world's economies. And I get that. And I have the power to say yes or no to whatever the product is that I am interested in. The reason I took the time to post this that in 35 years of owning cars (52 of them over that period of time) I have NEVER paid over sticker. So in my experience, its a foreign concept and one that I will not ever do. My Tesla is paid for and if I have to drive it longer than I wanted to, no big deal as I love that car. I just wanted a battery SUV that has over 300 miles of range. The R1S fits those criteria. And I'm willing to wait, at least until another option pops up that makes sense to me.

 

[Scoiatael]

I am a R1S launch edition customer. As many of us on this forum know, Rivian had a huge customer service snafu when RJ raised prices. To his credit, he reacted to the feedback and reverted back to honoring launch customer and other pre (can't remember the date) pricing. Many of us felt entitled to that pricing but my recent experience made me appreciate Rivian's pricing process. As a backup, I have deposits on a Fisker Ocean launch edition. And yesterday I placed a deposit on a Cadillac Lyriq dual motor. No big deal, $100 to reserve a vehicle. Later that day, the local Caddy dealer that I selected called me and "told me" that my deposit insured I could have the right to purchase a Lyriq and Oh by the way, that will come with a $10K dealer markup. I told him to go pound sand and then reached out to two somewhat close dealers and hard to believe (said tongue and cheek) each one had $10K markups add to MSRP. Even. read about a Ford dealer in my area adding a $53K mark up to a F150 Lighting. (there will always be a moron that will pay those prices)
I know what MSRP stands for but that's total BS. So far, Fisker has not done the same. The point is, RJ and Rivian are honoring their commitment to their early supporters and as much as people wank about not getting their vehicles, I believe they are doing the best they can. Dealer gouging in the past was a joke, b/c I could call three dealers and have them compete on pricing as the cars/suvs were mostly the same. Covid and this mysterious chip shortage has reversed this and now unscrupulous dealers are using it as an excuse to f- over their customers.
But as in all cases, we have the right to shop with our dollars and go where we feel the best(fair) deal lies.
Just one rant. In the end, I hope those dealers get hosed in the long run.

Ford is at least trying to punish dealers that do markups on the Lightning. They recently released a new policy that punishes dealers with reduced allocations if they don't sell the vehicle to the person that reserved it. I think that will help with some dealers. I expect my Lightning to arrive at the dealer sometime in July, so we'll see if they try to add anything on or not.

 

[No.92]

You think they reversed the price increase out of the kindness of their hearts? The price increase crashed their stock and caused a huge problem for their investors. They had no choice and the initial increase was a masterclass in how to spit on your customers.

If as many people refused to pay dealer markups, GM would ban them. But people pay, supply & demand.

Ok so from your post.

1. Rivian still bad because stupid stock prices and no heart?
2. Dealerships are great. People will pay markups anyways. Long live dealerships!

Does that sum your comment up correctly?

 

[MD Waits]

I am a R1S launch edition customer. As many of us on this forum know, Rivian had a huge customer service snafu when RJ raised prices. To his credit, he reacted to the feedback and reverted back to honoring launch customer and other pre (can't remember the date) pricing. Many of us felt entitled to that pricing but my recent experience made me appreciate Rivian's pricing process. As a backup, I have deposits on a Fisker Ocean launch edition. And yesterday I placed a deposit on a Cadillac Lyriq dual motor. No big deal, $100 to reserve a vehicle. Later that day, the local Caddy dealer that I selected called me and "told me" that my deposit insured I could have the right to purchase a Lyriq and Oh by the way, that will come with a $10K dealer markup. I told him to go pound sand and then reached out to two somewhat close dealers and hard to believe (said tongue and cheek) each one had $10K markups add to MSRP. Even. read about a Ford dealer in my area adding a $53K mark up to a F150 Lighting. (there will always be a moron that will pay those prices)
I know what MSRP stands for but that's total BS. So far, Fisker has not done the same. The point is, RJ and Rivian are honoring their commitment to their early supporters and as much as people wank about not getting their vehicles, I believe they are doing the best they can. Dealer gouging in the past was a joke, b/c I could call three dealers and have them compete on pricing as the cars/suvs were mostly the same. Covid and this mysterious chip shortage has reversed this and now unscrupulous dealers are using it as an excuse to f- over their customers.
But as in all cases, we have the right to shop with our dollars and go where we feel the best(fair) deal lies.
Just one rant. In the end, I hope those dealers get hosed in the long run.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. No matter the entirety of the reasons, they are honoring pre-order pricing and don’t have to under the preorder contract. I have a paid for 2017 Escalade Esv. I was planning to trade it in for the new model and ran into the same problems as discussed here…insane dealer markups! I’ll gladly and patiently wait for my RS1. I know several people who work for Rivian and they vouch for the culture and consciousness of the company. That’s where I will place my dollars.

 

[DJG]

You think they reversed the price increase out of the kindness of their hearts? The price increase crashed their stock and caused a huge problem for their investors. They had no choice and the initial increase was a masterclass in how to spit on your customers.

If as many people refused to pay dealer markups, GM would ban them. But people pay, supply & demand.

I actually believe the stock crashed because of the decision to reverse the price hike, but more importantly, what the hike said about their costs and margins. Up until that point, investors believed that the product would eventually be profitable at a more attainable price point, then learned that prices needed to be 15%-20% higher to achieve the same/similar profit margins.

You can do the math, even if Rivian held the price increase and lost every single one of the 70,000 preorders that point, it doesn't equate to the magnitude of the market cap decline as a result of the news. And that's assuming that those lost orders actually resulted in lost revenue, which I'm not sure it actually would have.

The re-pricing was due to the fact of the reality that the stabilized annual sales of R1 products had to be adjusted downward to reflect the new price point (smaller demand pool at those prices).

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