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Rivian Servicing & Repairs?

time

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Service & charging are still unknowns, and Rivian is going to have to address these before they start delivering. Otherwise, people will just cancel their reservations.
Don't count on it. That's not how tech companies work. They'll ship first and debug later. Us reservation holders are going to be the guinea pigs and beta testers. And absolutely no one will cancel their pre-orders because of it. That's just not how products are sold nowadays. It's sad but don't count on Rivian having secondary services figured and running smoothly out at launch.
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time

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I've been waiting on an axle replacement for my Model X for weeks now and they still can't give me an ETA on when they expect it to arrive. :headbang:
This even effects BMW's i3. You'd think if anyone had it figured out it would be BMW. Nope. Minor repairs at service take a week when otherwise it should take a day on a traditional car. It's due to limited EV tech training and parts availability. Had my i3 waiting 6 weeks for back ordered rear-end components after a relatively minor rear-end collision. The body shop couldn't do the work and found only one dealer in all of SoCal that had even done the repair before. So it took forever. 3 months in total. i3 Service is getting way better for sure, but cost and delays is just something we have to live with when owning cutting edge tech.
 
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CappyJax

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Don't count on it. That's not how tech companies work. They'll ship first and debug later. Us reservation holders are going to be the guinea pigs and beta testers. And absolutely no one will cancel their pre-orders because of it. That's just not how products are sold nowadays. It's sad but don't count on Rivian having secondary services figured and running smoothly out at launch.
I will cancel my reservation withou a solid plan in place for service and charging.
 

EyeOnRivian

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I will cancel my reservation withou a solid plan in place for service and charging.
Ditto.
I get it, they're a start-up and more than likely problems will arise in this area. However, to minimize problems they need to have a "transparent" plan in place *and* adjust as need be as problems arise as I'm sure they will. How's that quote go - "Planning without action is futile, action without planning is fatal."

I hear ya @time as I was in software development for over 30 yrs at one of the largest software companies. However, we didn't flourish like the other large tech companies by "debugging later." Realistically a company can't catch everything in their 1.0 but a company won't be in business very long if they employ a "ship first and debug later" model. And not just "tech" companies as just about every company has software. The user community these days have become much more tech savvy and can more easily sense a companies ineptness (and B.S.) to stick around, and that's in addition to the company being flogged in public repeatedly via social media. A company just can't afford that in this day and age.

Considering Rivian has been at this for nearly a decade, I get the impression they're not in the habit of rushing thru things and cutting corners. They could prove me wrong, but I don't think or hope they will. If they do, I'll be one of the first to move on. In the mean time, I look forward to them detailing how their service and charging programs will be structured.
 
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XBS

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Tesla service is horrendous right now. My model S has never been right since I picked it up on 12/21/19 and for anyone that might not think I know what I am talking about, its my 3rd one. I never had a systems powering up message and now I get one all the time. While they kept trying to tell me it was a computer issue, after bringing the car 2.5 hours away for service, they reached out and said there was only a 30% chance the computer replacement would fix my issue. Sure enough, it didn't fix it at all and what is really awful and an even bigger concern for me now is that they returned the car and decided without me asking or my approval to have someone wax it with a buffer wheel!! Now I have swirl marks all over my Model S with less than 2500 miles on it.

The worst part of Tesla service is you cant even talk to anyone anymore!! While trying to find out where my car was yesterday as it was with a transporter, since I couldn't get ahold of anyone in NYC, I had to call CA sales dept and have them try in get in touch with someone from Tesla in Mt Kisco and when I was on the phone with CA, the lady even said I have been having trouble getting ahold of the Mt. Kisco location today. Tesla service is the worst I have seen in 5 years.

Looking forward to hearing how Rivian will handle service and even more importantly, where the service centers will be located....
I agree, I took delivery of my model 3 in August and still have unresolved issues from delivery, 2 months for an appointment, never have a Tesla loaner, and every one is grossly incompetent, I think they have too high of employee turn over and poor training.

I love my tesla but won’t by another, hence why I have a deposit on a R1S. Dealing with tesla as a company is horrible. Great product though,
 

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EyeOnRivian

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Hmm, but if Tesla has that great of a product than one could question why you have unresolved (vehicle) issues to begin with. ;) (Sorry, that was too tempting to resist.) I suspect the "issues" are probably not major enough to warrant you slamming the product, it's just the service B.S. you have to deal with.
 

Hmp10

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I've been on the same Tesla service roller coaster that others describe here. I had two very minor issues with my 2015 Model S in the first couple of months, and both times the service center answered the call immediately and had a service truck at my house within 12 hours to do the repairs right in my garage. (The nearest service center is 100 miles away. Tesla rents a local storage unit to stock frequently-needed parts, so the local service fleet, at least at that time, was able to fix most problems with less hassle than most people have with conventional car dealerships.)

For the next three and a half years I did not have a single problem -- no maintenance, no oil changes, only tire changes. Then two months ago a battery pack weld cracked and took out the rear drive unit as well. This time the service experience was horrible. I got nothing but voicemails with promises of call backs that did not come for an entire week while I waited. Finally, I remembered I had the cell phone number of one of the mobile guys who repaired my car years earlier. He had transferred to the home power unit but called his contacts and finally got someone to call me back. I then had to wait another week for the mobile guy to come out and assess the issue. He determined the car had to be towed to the service center on the other side of the state. Two weeks had passed before anyone at Tesla put eyes on the car.

At the service center, they had to replace a good part of the bottom end of the car: the battery pack, the rear inverter, and the rear motor. At least the repair and towing was covered by warranty, but the whole process had the car out of service for a month. (In the process my P85D was converted to a P90D -- they even changed the badge on the car -- and I have a new, larger battery pack on a 4-year-old car and a later-generation rear motor. My guess is this would have been a $12-15,000 repair without warranty coverage.)

I love the Tesla (except for the back seat), but I would never own one beyond the warranty period. I have to admit, though, that applies to the German cars I have owned, too. The most trouble-ridden car I ever owned (other than a 1997 Corvette piece of junk) was a 2004 Mercedes SL55. I've also had three Audi R-8s. They were problem free, but the second one got sideswiped by someone who changed lanes on me. The car was in the shop for almost two months waiting for parts which even the factory did not have in stock, so I traded the car in that condition to the dealer for another R8 he had on the lot.

By the standards of those cars, the Tesla is relatively problem-free and has spent no more time waiting for parts than any other low-volume car.
 

Rivian1

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Tesla service is horrendous right now. My model S has never been right since I picked it up on 12/21/19 and for anyone that might not think I know what I am talking about, its my 3rd one. I never had a systems powering up message and now I get one all the time. While they kept trying to tell me it was a computer issue, after bringing the car 2.5 hours away for service, they reached out and said there was only a 30% chance the computer replacement would fix my issue. Sure enough, it didn't fix it at all and what is really awful and an even bigger concern for me now is that they returned the car and decided without me asking or my approval to have someone wax it with a buffer wheel!! Now I have swirl marks all over my Model S with less than 2500 miles on it.

The worst part of Tesla service is you cant even talk to anyone anymore!! While trying to find out where my car was yesterday as it was with a transporter, since I couldn't get ahold of anyone in NYC, I had to call CA sales dept and have them try in get in touch with someone from Tesla in Mt Kisco and when I was on the phone with CA, the lady even said I have been having trouble getting ahold of the Mt. Kisco location today. Tesla service is the worst I have seen in 5 years.

Looking forward to hearing how Rivian will handle service and even more importantly, where the service centers will be located....
Oh man. What a terrible experience. Let's hope Rivian is taking notes on this and will provide a world class service experience for its customers.
 

PoorPilot

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Not everyone has had a bad experience with the Tesla service. My experience has been top notch since the day I placed an order online, through delivery, and now a year into ownership.
 

Alan Burns

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I sent Rivian an email a couple of months ago to try to work with NAPA auto parts chain of stores to stock common parts which might wear out and could be replaced by owners and small town mechanics. The NAPA chain stores are common across the west and are found in smaller communities than other parts chains. One reason for this is their inventory of farm machinery parts. That way ranchers can drive into town for parts, do their own repairs and be back into production. Otherwise they might need to round trip across 2 counties and lose one or two days production to get to the machinery dealer for the part. If the local NAPA store doesn't have the part they might be able to overnight it if there is bus service.
 

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DocTwinkie

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Don't count on it. That's not how tech companies work. They'll ship first and debug later. Us reservation holders are going to be the guinea pigs and beta testers. And absolutely no one will cancel their pre-orders because of it. That's just not how products are sold nowadays. It's sad but don't count on Rivian having secondary services figured and running smoothly out at launch.
Rivian so far has done everything right. But there’s a lot left to do. I preordered but am 50/50 I will cancel. I’m going to the New York event in April.

To me it comes down to competition and the market. Rivian was conceived when the only competition was Tesla (S, X), the leaf, and the volt. You had an insanely priced Tesla or cheap subcompact to choose from.

That door is blowing wide open. You have offerings of over 200mi at 30k or under in the Kona and Niro. You have luxury coming with the Audi and Jag. All these have well established service. On top of that you now have the model Y announced which tops out where the R1T price tag STARTS. In the SUV segment there are a ton of options and I haven’t even mentioned plug ins. Most folks can get back and forth to work purely on electric with a plug in hybrid like an XC90 or the upcoming Lincoln Avitor while having gas backup for long hauls. All cheaper than the Rivian and with established service. Even the Wrangler has its plug in hybrid going into production in just a few months.

The Rivian is a truck yes but I think most luxury seekers will ultimately want an SUV. Trucks are for work and a blue collar worker can get a well equipped truck for 40k. The most expensive trucks fully equipped are 60-70k, where the Rivian starts.

So service will be a huge deal as will final pricing. The model X came out with a fully loaded price twice it’s base. If the 69k R1T ends up being the equivalent of the 35k Model 3 that doesn’t see the light of day for years and the R1T shown at the auto shows is in reality a 120k truck they are in serious jeopardy. The model S/X don’t drive 200k units a year. The 50k model 3 does.

I’m looking at:
Rivian R1T. Everything I want, but at what price, reliability, service, and resale.

Wrangler Plug in. More off reading, price tops at 60k and available lifetime warranty. Excellent resale. Won’t have self driving. To me this is probably the most “responsible” choice due to driving electric for a reasonable price fully loaded while having excellent resale.

Aviator plug in. On par luxury. Less off roading. Poor resale. Tops around 70s I think for Black Label. Driving off the lot kiss over half the value goodbye. Terrible depreciation.

Model Y. Tops at 70k for loaded performance. Less off road. Less range but access to super chargers. Service is sketchy but brand is established. Gotta pray you don’t need service and if you do you’re one of the lucky ones.

Running my Volvo into the ground. Lol.

I’d add that Rivian seems to be following the Model S marketing plan. Come out with the Uber luxury model for early adopters of the tech first. That worked for the Model S because there was no cheaper alternative without going so cheap you bought a leaf (which I believe outsells the S). But now you have options... I think that model Y announcement cost them a few R1S preorders.
 
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binny

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I guess we're the first generation in 100 years to experience buying a new-fangled "automobile" without having a clue how it's supposed to be repaired! Back then I bet owners pretty much assumed the responsibility of doing it themselves.
I suppose a lot of us are wavering between Tesla's upcoming pick-up and Rivian's. Will it then be a choice between "some" service stations in place vs. "no" service?
We are pioneers in every sense of the word. I pre-ordered because (1) I've never owned a pick-up and so why not? (2) I want a vehicle I actually have to "step up" into (3) I'm into the outdoors but I'm also 66 with a bad back, unlikely to be 4-wheeling a $90K investment across raging streams but it would be cool to know I have that option.
What would convince me beyond a doubt about Rivian would be a built-in (modular) solar panel array. Think of it....a stack of about 4 hinged panels riding on the roof. When you stop, one flips forward over the windshield (dual purpose), one remains on the roof, and the other two flip down over the bed.
Could that be enough panels to actually achieve significant (not the paltry 10% other solar car panels struggle to offer) recharging? Anyone here able to do the math?
 
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binny

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Rivian so far has done everything right. But there’s a lot left to do. I preordered but am 50/50 I will cancel. I’m going to the New York event in April.

To me it comes down to competition and the market. Rivian was conceived when the only competition was Tesla (S, X), the leaf, and the volt. You had an insanely priced Tesla or cheap subcompact to choose from.

That door is blowing wide open. You have offerings of over 200mi at 30k or under in the Kona and Niro. You have luxury coming with the Audi and Jag. All these have well established service. On top of that you now have the model Y announced which tops out where the R1T price tag STARTS. In the SUV segment there are a ton of options and I haven’t even mentioned plug ins. Most folks can get back and forth to work purely on electric with a plug in hybrid like an XC90 or the upcoming Lincoln Avitor while having gas backup for long hauls. All cheaper than the Rivian and with established service. Even the Wrangler has its plug in hybrid going into production in just a few months.

The Rivian is a truck yes but I think most luxury seekers will ultimately want an SUV. Trucks are for work and a blue collar worker can get a well equipped truck for 40k. The most expensive trucks fully equipped are 60-70k, where the Rivian starts.

So service will be a huge deal as will final pricing. The model X came out with a fully loaded price twice it’s base. If the 69k R1T ends up being the equivalent of the 35k Model 3 that doesn’t see the light of day for years and the R1T shown at the auto shows is in reality a 120k truck they are in serious jeopardy. The model S/X don’t drive 200k units a year. The 50k model 3 does.

I’m looking at:
Rivian R1T. Everything I want, but at what price, reliability, service, and resale.

Wrangler Plug in. More off reading, price tops at 60k and available lifetime warranty. Excellent resale. Won’t have self driving. To me this is probably the most “responsible” choice due to driving electric for a reasonable price fully loaded while having excellent resale.

Aviator plug in. On par luxury. Less off roading. Poor resale. Tops around 70s I think for Black Label. Driving off the lot kiss over half the value goodbye. Terrible depreciation.

Model Y. Tops at 70k for loaded performance. Less off road. Less range but access to super chargers. Service is sketchy but brand is established. Gotta pray you don’t need service and if you do you’re one of the lucky ones.

Running my Volvo into the ground. Lol.

I’d add that Rivian seems to be following the Model S marketing plan. Come out with the Uber luxury model for early adopters of the tech first. That worked for the Model S because there was no cheaper alternative without going so cheap you bought a leaf (which I believe outsells the S). But now you have options... I think that model Y announcement cost them a few R1S preorders.
I'm sure you read about Tesla's stock going down after the announcement. It was an underwhelming presentation. Almost embarrassing how unimpressed the crowd was when they unveiled the Y. Even Elon seems disengaged about the Y.
Everyone in this forum is waiting for Tesla's pick-up. But if we're reserved about the Rivian's unconventional headlight system, we can forget about the "blade runner" look winning us over!
 

EyeOnRivian

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What would convince me beyond a doubt about Rivian would be a built-in (modular) solar panel array. Think of it....a stack of about 4 hinged panels riding on the roof. When you stop, one flips forward over the windshield (dual purpose), one remains on the roof, and the other two flip down over the bed.
Could that be enough panels to actually achieve significant (not the paltry 10% other solar car panels struggle to offer) recharging? Anyone here able to do the math?
Considering the cost, weight, energy output, and aerodynamics, the technology just isn't there yet let alone for mainstream EV production. There are plenty of sources on the internet that have done some math or least provided some numbers you could extrapolate from. Here's one random example pondering the number of solar panels needed to power a home EV charging port:

"A typical, 250 watt solar panel will produce around 30-42.5 kWh of AC per month. To be safe, let's take the minimum to give us a conservative estimate.
If one, low-end solar panel can produce approximately 1 kWh a day of AC electricity, that means you would need an astounding 75 solar panels to produce enough electricity to fuel your Tesla Model S to 100% capacity from 0% each day.
Luckily, the average driver travels 37 miles per day, which translates to about 12 kWh of electricity. So, a more realistic number would be 12 solar panels. Remember, this is also a conservative estimate, so if your solar panels are high efficiency, the number of panels may drop even lower. Also, if you drive less than 30 miles per day, the number of required panels will decrease drastically.
"
Source: https://blog.pickmysolar.com/how-many-solar-panels-does-it-take-to-fuel-an-electric-car

I believe I even watched an interview where RJ Scaringe where he was asked about solar panels on a vehicle. His response was something like you would need to pull a trailer full of solar panels ... implying even if you covered the entire vehicle in solar panels it would not be enough to get a reasonable charge over a reasonable amount of time.
 

binny

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Very interesting. The blogger also wrote about the Model 3 here: https://blog.pickmysolar.com/cost-to-charge-a-tesla-model-3-with-solar-vs.-socal-edison
Something on the order of 10 panels. Assuming that efficiency keeps increasing each year, along with decreasing weight...it seems doable.
A stack of 10 one-inch thick panels on Rivian's roof in a break-out aerodynamic container. (Or they could all be carried in the bed without any air resistance at all.) All articulated to fold out with, say, the first one ending on the front hood, second on the windshield, third panel on the roof, fourth over the rear window, fifth and sixth on the bed, seventh over the tail gate, then (it gets dicey here depending on where you've parked), numbers eight, nine and ten on the ground behind the vehicle.
At home or when camping, this would be possible.
Surely someone at Rivian is thinking about this.
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