Rivian R1T Build & Paint Quality Video: Initial Impressions

[Temerarius]

The female voice of wisdom as he considered crawling into the gear tunnel.

Overall, a great, third party review from my standpoint. Guy had no vested interest in what he said for quality, fitment, etc... and overall, seems well done.

His point on the tonneau is solid, keeping that from getting scratched will be a challenge.

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[LoneStar]

looks like lots of fit and finish issues - just like a Tesla had or still has.

i hope Rivian watches this video, then takes a step back to consider how to improve the quality.

What video did you watch to base your comments on? Can't be this one.

The nit-picky gap findings were related to perimeter lower plastic bits. Teslas, a decade later into production, are still notorious for body panels measured in tenth's of inches misalignment.

What about quality of Rivian vs. Tesla factory paint? Night & day difference. you can decide which is which.

 

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

Regarding sound, there seem to be mixed reviews with more Tesla owners not being impressed. I wonder how much fiddling with sound settings could have an impact. I am waiting for an Explore and have no idea what is that like. It may be a year before someone can compare sound of an Explore next to an Adventure. It would be interesting if Explore sound better.

I am not an audiophile and my hearing is probably not as good as when I was a teenager but to me it sounds like getting a gazillion speaker sounds bouncing off complicated surface shapes arriving at your ear which would be at different heights for different people without interference may be doable on paper but very difficult to pull off in real world. I know unless the sound is recorded very well specifically for multichannel playback, I often prefer Stereo or maximum of three speakers and a subwoofer at home rather than surround. To my ear, in my environment, it is less of a jumble with more definition.

Sound is one of those things where you defer to what you’re accustomed to.

When I was a young punk I enjoyed trashing much more expensive sound systems than mine for sounding much worse.

Now I realize my reference sound was trash.

For those who are interested, a recently posted video of the UI shows lots of available tweaks that you can make to the sound, including a 12 channel EQ, advanced “3D audio” algorithms that you can turn on or off, and the ability to tweak the sound stage.

 

[DuckTruck]

This is pretty interesting, actually. Happy to see how highly he praised their paint finish. Makes me feel more confident about upgrading my paint selection. His nitpicking over the wheels is making me think. I really like the black finish. I hadn't known/realized that they were actually 2-tone black like that. Which is the challenge, because I'm SO torn over wheel selection, and almost daily change my wheel/rim choice. This makes me worry about how the black finish will hold up over time.

Not really concerned about the tonneau, as I'm getting the S.

Sounds like the interior quality is even better than the exterior. Although to be honest, by the time he got inside, he was mostly just in "ooohhh, I want one" mode. Like a kid in a candy store.

I literally LOL'd when they had to silence the music due to copyright. ? I know there's a lot of talk/hype about the Meridian system, and here he really seems to blah on it. But then he said that his criteria for what he's looking for was mostly loudness... I don't need a system to just be loud. Ideally, it's quiet enough in there that I don't *need* it to be loud. I need it to be clear, well balanced, and tuned to the surroundings. Which by all metrics I think this system still should be.

Finally, if he called it a "center council" ONE more time.....

I'd be really curious to see the end result. Overall, even the biggest gripes he had were really quite minor.

Nice to have a nose-to-tail review of the paint, gaps, function, and fitment by someone who has the experience to weigh in on the subject. I hope the gap/fitment issues improve as production moves forward.

I'm curious as to whether he ever listened to the stereo with all of the doors and windows closed. I know my car stereo systems lose a lot of punch as soon as you kick open a door, roll down a window, or drop the top. Not only do open windows and dropped tops impact the sound, but having the door (with its speaker) hanging wide open doesn't help with the sound reproduction one bit, especially sitting inside a garage full of sound-reflective surfaces. You're really taking a major speaker out of play and adding a distracting echo from the outside.

I'm guesing Tesla must have an incredible sound system. I've never been in a Tesla, but the Rivian L.E. Meridian 360's system sounds amazing!

Overall, nice to hear a professional detailer's take on the R1T. It's even better knowing he's a Tesla owner, and that he didn't seem to pull any punches when examining his own Tesla.

I do wonder how the owner felt about their license plate being shown... ?

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Summary: minor fit problems with some plastic trim on the exterior. 1 alignment issue with the door that I thought was actually bad. No interior problems at all. Impressed with paint quality.
All in all better than I would have expected

Yea, alignment didn't look good, but I bet a door striker adjustment would tighten that right up.

 

[koersontap]

I do wonder how the owner felt about their license plate being shown... ?

You know, I had that very same thought.... ?

 

[FLARIVIAN]

This is pretty interesting, actually. Happy to see how highly he praised their paint finish. Makes me feel more confident about upgrading my paint selection. His nitpicking over the wheels is making me think. I really like the black finish. I hadn't known/realized that they were actually 2-tone black like that. Which is the challenge, because I'm SO torn over wheel selection, and almost daily change my wheel/rim choice. This makes me worry about how the black finish will hold up over time.

Not really concerned about the tonneau, as I'm getting the S.

Sounds like the interior quality is even better than the exterior. Although to be honest, by the time he got inside, he was mostly just in "ooohhh, I want one" mode. Like a kid in a candy store.

I literally LOL'd when they had to silence the music due to copyright. ? I know there's a lot of talk/hype about the Meridian system, and here he really seems to blah on it. But then he said that his criteria for what he's looking for was mostly loudness... I don't need a system to just be loud. Ideally, it's quiet enough in there that I don't *need* it to be loud. I need it to be clear, well balanced, and tuned to the surroundings. Which by all metrics I think this system still should be.

Finally, if he called it a "center council" ONE more time.....

I'd be really curious to see the end result. Overall, even the biggest gripes he had were really quite minor.

I can't take his off the cuff review of the sound system seriously. Very short, doors open as mentioned elsewhere, listening to 10-15 seconds of music someone else chose, and he's clearly not an audiophile. He should stick to c critiquing build quality and assembly flaws, which he is obviously well qualified to do..

 

[Guy]

I can't take his off the cuff review of the sound system seriously. Very short, doors open as mentioned elsewhere, listening to 10-15 seconds of music someone else chose, and he's clearly not an audiophile. He should stick to c critiquing build quality and assembly flaws, which he is obviously well qualified to do..

The sound system was a minor part of the review and his off the cuff assessment, nothing more nothing less.

 

[Attesan997]

So. Ice to see the truck up close.

looks like lots of fit and finish issues - just like a Tesla had or still has.

i hope Rivian watches this video, then takes a step back to consider how to improve the quality.

I'd disagree, if this is the baseline for R1Ts it's way better than Tesla. The driver side door is probably the worst thing in the video. I do hope something like that is flagged before it ever makes it out into the wild once production ramps. The plastic trim pieces could be improved but are ok with the understanding this specific truck likely went to an employee.

I'm ok with the "normal" fit and finish issues of old which are on any vehicle. Prior to Telsa outsourcing QA to the end customer, it wasn't strange to find an odd fitting piece here or there. But it appears on this truck its more small issues than hoods not put on straight.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

I'm ok with the "normal" fit and finish issues of old which are on any vehicle. Prior to Telsa outsourcing QA to the end customer, it wasn't strange to find an odd fitting piece here or there. But it appears on this truck its more small issues than hoods not put on straight.

... or glass roofs flying off!!! I'm really hoping that Rivian has learned all of Tesla's mistakes (and successes) and is avoiding and improving.

 

[Tyleem111]

At 14:47 in the video it shows 1.65 mi/kWh over the last 15 miles. If I just got my truck and had to drop it off for PPF, I would probably get my last fix of acceleration too

 

[SoCalTravels]

Nice to see some paint protection film already on the truck. (I don't know of any other manufacturer that installs PPF straight from the factory).

Never really thought about it, but all of the Toyota’s and Lexus’s (all SUV’s) we’ve owned have come with PPF along the rear doors on the bottom back corner near the rear wheel wells. ~4 inches x 5 inches and triangular in shape. Something not listed on any of the window stickers. Maybe some legacy manufacturers do the same in areas they think will get chipped easily?

 

[Fred6v]

Here's what I have to say about the little tiny details... go to any dealer lot and look at new cars and you'll find issues. Overall he didn't find anything in this video that concerned me.

I just sold my 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. (Original MSRP $55k) It had a ton of manufacturer defects. Interior panels in the cargo area didn't line up, one was loose almost from day 1. Front end, plastic trim around the tow hooks loose on day 1. Multiple dealers just shrugged when I pointed it out. Paint imperfections around the front wheels. The plastic "chrome" on the gear shifter started peeling off after a few months of ownership. My Jeep hadn't been sitting on the dealer lot long, and in fact I made the salesman unwrap a new one for me. (I actually helped) Jeep makes these vehicles by the hundreds of thousands and the quality isn't perfect.

Probably the best car I've ever owned in terms of quality is my Porsche Macan. The fit and finish of everything is fantastic.

Oh, and watch Doug DeMuro's video on the Tesla Plaid and see the terrible paint job on a car someone paid $120k for! ;-)

Then for a scorching comparison watch Will Prowse's take on his new Plaid. Will is the dean of battery tech and a long time Tesla owner but what a slam on the Plaid.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Never really thought about it, but all of the Toyota’s and Lexus’s (all SUV’s) we’ve owned have come with PPF along the rear doors on the bottom back corner near the rear wheel wells. ~4 inches x 5 inches and triangular in shape. Something not listed on any of the window stickers. Maybe some legacy manufacturers do the same in areas they think will get chipped easily?

Yes, it's common, afaik. I've owned vehicles from several manufacturers that have some film in those areas.

 

[ironpig]

As others have said, all cars have some fit and finish issues. I've had great luck with Toyotas but my 2015 4Runner has some minor issues like he points out on the Rivian.

You should anticipate that on early models. Not because it's right, but because it's common.

Car stereo reviews no matter how extensive should be taken with a grain of salt. Sound is subjective and you never know what they are using for a source. So much music is compressed for streaming these days, you can't really judge unless you know the file they are using for testing.

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