Rivians have poor quality?

[Christopher1000]

Mine is in service every 45 days on average. The service experience has been largely great overall. I've never had another vehicle have as many problems, or been as easy to deal with getting them resolved. As best I can tell from anecdotal responses I read online, service center quality and customer experience is driven largely by region and how busy the service center is. I'm in western New York, and there are very few Rivians running around. Service visits are easy to et scheduled (often with a day or two), and they act quickly. I hear southern California and much of the west coast isn't this way.

@Christopher1000 This is why so many people buy them, and most like them.

When the truck isn't broken, rattling, or denying me entry, it's really a fantastic vehicle. When it is broken, rattling, or denying me entry I get a quad motor R1S to drive around while Rivian "fixes" the issue. No cost out of pocket, nice people to talk to about it, and very little impact to my daily life.

I **might** buy another one. It won't be because it doesn't have problems, and it won't be because it's the best built. All vehicles have problems, This one has more than I've ever experienced in a single unit, but at least this company stands firmly behind it's product and seems to genuinely care about customer satisfaction. I'll take that over a GM dealership that only has 1-2 EV techs in the region, or a Ford dealership where they've discontinued the make/model that fits my needs AND doesn't have trained techs. If I'm going to have a shitty vehicle that I overpay for, at least I can minimize the impact to daily life, right?

Maybe I should buy an old GM pickup and save a ton of money?

Buy an old pickup haha. Funny you say that because I owned a Ram 1500 for 7 years and I loved it. Only needed oil changes, never had any other single issue with it. Never bricked or broke down, ever.

I'm driving a Volvo ex90 now which has less issues than my old Rivian but still has them. I'm planning to get the Ram Rev when it comes out later this year ... Over 700 miles of total range through electric and gas generator.

I'm still a fan of Rivian and own a crap load of their stock. I hope Rivian does well because they take their technologies and innovation quite seriously.

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[SwampNut]

Rivian…great service…

I have a Rivian and will keep it long term because all the other EV trucks are a joke. I need a truck, and I refuse to drive ICE again. Even my Jeeps (3) had fewer repairs and service was astronomically better. I think that buying the SUV Rivians is insane.

 

[CharonPDX]

Why does everyone on here want one then? I had mine for 3.5 years and it would brick once per year and I only put on 15k miles total. So many non stop issues. But I would mention that on this forum and everyone would get mad st me. Meanies on here or something

So…..

You're still on the forum just to shit on Rivian after getting rid of yours?

Meanines on here because you're just trolling. Inflammatory title, just a link as primary post.

Yes, Rivian is a startup. Yes, they have teething pains. To be blunt - you should have known that going in. If you had yours for 3.5 years, and are referring to having it in the past tense, that means you had one of the very earliest delivered vehicles. If you wanted something known reliable, you should have bought from an established company a model that has been on sale for a few years.

Newer Rivians are far more reliable than older ones.

You only put 15,000 miles on in 3.5 years? Heck, that implies it was just sitting around doing nothing a majority of the time. And just sitting can be bad for EVs of any brand. If you let the 12V drain, that would explain the "bricking". Of course, you also don't define what "brick" means to you.

 

[BCondrey]

Rivian…great service…

I have a Rivian and will keep it long term because all the other EV trucks are a joke. I need a truck, and I refuse to drive ICE again. Even my Jeeps (3) had fewer repairs and service was astronomically better. I think that buying the SUV Rivians is insane.

Thats some really clean bong water.

 

[TTedP]

Why does everyone on here want one then?

same reason people bought Alfas, Jeeps or any other car that's fun to drive. The emotional attachment is stronger than the practical one.

Everyone has different tolerance thresholds. You seem to have met yours and sold it. I still love mine.

 

[Christopher1000]

same reason people bought Alfas, Jeeps or any other car that's fun to drive. The emotional attachment is stronger than the practical one.

Everyone has different tolerance thresholds. You seem to have met yours and sold it. I still love mine.

I enjoyed owning it. I usually sell when there is warranty left. The service situation became unbearable as well.

 

[2kwik4u]

Rivian…great service…

I'll add AZ to the list of regions that has crap service experience. Niagara Falls, Rochester and Cleveland have all treated me well, been easy to schedule, proactive, and generally good experiences.

 

[Count Orlok]

at least service for critical issues only takes "hours" according to a recently interview with RJ.

BTW, The Count sits here surrounded by no drivable R1S and two more weeks for mobile service. SAD!!

 

[SwampNut]

have all treated me well, been easy to schedule, proactive

Yup, mine too. What they have never done well is timely service. WEEKS without the truck, shitty ICE rentals. The people are awesome, mostly. Except for the idiocy they pulled about my cargo tracks in the bed. Ordering parts days AFTER the truck was dropped off? In what world is that right? They knew exactly what they needed for over a month. The number of repairs needed is also high. And I still have a loose body panel they've "fixed" three times.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

Okay, you are an early adopter, had bad service experiences, and sold your Rivian. You have moved on, and the point of your post is what? Why now? Seems like you are having trouble letting go and moving on. From my perspective, service has been very good at my service center (Richmond VA). I think services experiences are a local thing, not a brand thing.

Agreed, @BCondrey! Service is a very complex system, with lots of moving parts. "Service is great" and "Service sucks" have one thing in common -- neither statement is actionable.

Specific to my experience with various components:

(1) 1-855-RIVIAN-5, the service hotline in Plymouth, Michigan, has been mostly impeccable. They understand a wide variety of problems, and they give good guidance on user-resolvable problems (which are the majority of problems we've had). Occasionally, especially with respect to update-related problems, I sense that the first person who answers the phone doesn't answer the problem. I can usually get a return call from a supervisor within a few hours.

(2) My nearest Service Center in Portland, Oregon, has been superb. Everyone treats us with diligence and a "can-do" attitude. When there are delays, they take care of us in the meantime. This seems to reflect strong leadership from the regional service manager, whose authority includes Portland and Tualatin Service Centers.

(3) Even at Portland, I'm sure there are people who have had bad service experiences despite reasonable expectations. We're all different. And some Service Centers have been, at least at times, a hot mess.

If Rivian knows specific pain points, they can act on them. If they know specific successes, they can build on them and try to replicate them. But sweeping generalizations -- good or bad -- don't help.

Best to all!

 

[2kwik4u]

Yup, mine too. What they have never done well is timely service. WEEKS without the truck, shitty ICE rentals. The people are awesome, mostly. Except for the idiocy they pulled about my cargo tracks in the bed. Ordering parts days AFTER the truck was dropped off? In what world is that right? They knew exactly what they needed for over a month. The number of repairs needed is also high. And I still have a loose body panel they've "fixed" three times.

Now, I'll agree with part of that.

People are super easy to deal with, times are available, and I don't think it's spent more than 7 calendar days in the shop at any one time. It is there every 45 days on average though, which is getting old at 21mo and 14 visits.

Parts have been fast for me. Diagnose day 1, parts ordered the next morning, usually arrive in a few days. No real hassles on aftermarket stuff for me either. I'm betting this is a volume issue with the "parts department" at your SC. I've never seen more than 3 trucks at mine, usually a couple EDV's as well.

They have "fixed" the suspension 5 times now. Throwing parts at it each time until they say "It's normal for a Rivian" then, when I come in the next time, "Oh yea that's bad" and throwing more parts at it. So, that part sucks, thing still rattles like a broken hay wagon on all but the smoothest of roads. This is bad enough I complain every time, they try every time, and it's never right. I'm now taking different parts of the truck apart every weekend to find it myself. Still have ~15mo on the lease and I would like to enjoy at some part of it.

I've also usually gotten a quad motor R1S as a loaner out of Niagara Falls. Rochester has a nice dual motor performance R1S as a loaner. I did get a Nissan Armada once because the truck failed on me out of town and had to be towed, and then a 4-Runner once because the loaner was out and the truck was undriveable. If I schedule ahead of time, they have the loaner though. Never cost me a dime though, so at least there's that.

 

[SwampNut]

 

[strykerwsu]

No, I have over 50k between my 2 with 1 service visit in 5 total years, fixed same day.

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