This is why I love Rivian! Received replacement R1T with RJ's help

[SDH]

A great example for companies of how to turn a negative into many positives. The minor cost to Rivian has just bought them a tonne of goodwill. Good on them.

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[COdogman]

So glad they made it right for you! And kudos to you for handling it like an actual grown up

 

[Dark-Fx]

I too found that things were stuck until an email to RJ, which though never respond to

Just as an FYI, a lot of these "you can email the CEO!" accounts are actually not direct to the CEO, but are monitored by a team

RJ once replied back to me directly, but it was only three words, responding to my praise about the implementation of the camp leveling. It was back in mid 2022.

I'm glad the OP had such a resolution to his issues. And impressed Rivian ended up getting him to upgrade.

 

[Mellowyellow]

RJ once replied back to me directly, but it was only three words, responding to my praise about the implementation of the camp leveling. It was back in mid 2022.

I'm glad the OP had such a resolution to his issues. And impressed Rivian ended up getting him to upgrade.

Let me guess: "Stop emailing me!"

 

[GreggVA]

Awesome story and thanks for sharing it! Saw a reddit r/rivian post this morning "This car sucks" and a rant from a new R1S owner on totally BS stuff and feel like my yin/yang is more balanced

 

[bfilippo]

Awesome story and thanks for sharing it! Saw a reddit r/rivian post this morning "This car sucks" and a rant from a new R1S owner on totally BS stuff and feel like my yin/yang is more balanced

ugh, so much complaining. What is going on for folks that they need to complain on the internet to strangers about your electric truck that has 600-1000 hp and can drive like a sports car, with a giant computer? Oh well, glad we got you balanced, stay off Reddit!

 

[SilentD]

Nice! Thanks for sharing. Like others have said, good outcome. Too bad you had to escalate a little more. Glad you or kids weren't in vehicle when wheel fell off.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Awesome story and thanks for sharing it! Saw a reddit r/rivian post this morning "This car sucks" and a rant from a new R1S owner on totally BS stuff and feel like my yin/yang is more balanced

Hang around enough and you'll see it happens here. The difference is this group tend to govern itself. The subbreddit is anything goes and everyone has the right to give sermons, however unreasonable.

The behavior is unintelligent. What outcome are they hoping to achieve? It's about as dumb as running into a packed ice cream shop in the dead of summer and shouting, "ice cream sucks and you're all fat!!"

And, unsurprisingly, some in that subreddit think this forum is packed full of grumpy old men. Not surprising for children to say?

 

[Jeff M]

Hey Folks,

I have mentioned a few times lately that I had a long story about swapping out my R1T, and I now have reached the end of the story, so I figured I would post it here.

Back in early 2025, after receiving my first R1T Dual Standard in September 2024 (one of the first Gen2 R1T's delivered in New England), I had some wind noise that was a very minor nuisance. During an appointment for the truck that spring, the Chelsea SC suggested that they replace a small applique piece to reduce the wind noise. However, they needed another day to get the part and install, and I had to head back home that afternoon. So, I scheduled a follow-up appointment, and had to reschedule a few times (I live about 4 hours from the closest SC, so it's a logistical challenge to plan). By the time I finally got in there, it was early November. The appointment had been scheduled for months, albeit moved back a few times, but when I arrive, the tech tells me that they "forgot to paint the applique" and so it will actually be a few days. Thankfully, they have a loaner, and so I just drive right back home, expecting to come back in a week or so when convenient.

The day before I am scheduled to pick up my truck, the SC calls me and tells me there has been an incident. I ask what happened, and the tech tells me that they don't exactly know, but they were very busy and decided to have the certified body shop nearby address my small repair. I tell them that makes me nervous and to please keep me posted. I hear back the next morning, and the SC tech admits to me that the body shop, after completing the applique repair, and rotating my tires, apparently failed to torque the nut on one of my wheels properly, and the wheel literally came off the truck when it was being driven back to the SC.

The SC tech is very considerate, but of course I am incredibly concerned about what this means. Will this affect the long term reliability? Will my insurance be impacted? Will the value go down?

The SC tech was incredibly transparent and sent me the estimate for the work (over $17k!), which didn’t make me feel any better.

Several weeks go by, and then the SC gets it back from the body shop. They do an inspection and replace a control arm (not a small repair).

I finally get the truck back and about a week later, it goes into turtle mode, then emergency stop and finally shuts down completely with two of my kids in the back on US1. I call roadside, they get a tow dispatched, but this is right before Christmas, and rural Maine, so my wife drives from another town to get us so we can bring our daughter to her basketball game. It’s also 18 degrees, so, staying in the truck isn’t really an option.

After I get home, I’m just really worried this truck will end up being a headache after the accident. I live nearly four hours from the closest SC and have 3 kids. I’m a huge Rivian fan and have no desire to drive anything else (wife has an S Launch Edition Gen1).

So, I email RJ. I had heard he monitors his email and that’s part of why I really like the company culture. I didn’t whine, I just very matter of fact, gave him the series of events, and told him I did not feel like the truck was reliable for my family given the unknowns of how the accident affected it.

I get a call from the regional leader within an hour. They arrange to pickup my truck from my house (the tow company just brought it there because at the point they picked it up it was already like 2pm) on Monday (this was Saturday).

Regional leader then tells me they are going to replace my truck and that team will be connected to me on Monday. Meanwhile; I’m connected to the new Hudson SC supervisor (technically like 10 miles closer to me than Chelsea was).

On Monday, replacement team works with me and sales team at Hudson to find a replacement. I had trouble with the standard pack range loss in our climate during winter and wanted a larger battery. They suggest a max since the gen2 large isn’t much more than standard with 80-85% charging. Apparently due to the sizing of the Standard battery compared to others, you can’t get 20” AS/AT wheels from the standard that I loved, on any other configuration. So, I ask for the 20” AT’s.

After seeing transit delays with the new year, we decide to get a Tri Max that is sitting at Chelsea with the spec I want. I had forest green and had wanted to keep it, but my loaner from Hudson was storm blue and it grew on me. So, we ended up getting a better interest rate than before, Rivian gave me a very generous trade-in value for my previous truck, and I got a new, upgraded truck, with no miles, for basically the same monthly payment!

I even got rewards because I referred “myself” via the process.

James, Nico, Elaine, Christina (Hudson & New England lead) as well as Chris in the replacement team, were incredible to work with and made the process super smooth.

Very excited to go on adventures with “raspberry” as the weather warms! The Tri definitely has more oomph, and I can’t lie, I like it!

Very nice story and end result. But…. yeah there’s always that but… the initial problem - wind noise - is a fleet wide issue. Boise, ID service center has resolved my driver’s side, but pax side is still audible. It took over a week for the SC to isolate driver side, R&R windshield, replace SC related rear view mirror damage. The pax noise starts at around 55 mph and is more noticeable at 80. It could be pillar, small triangular window. More SC time required. I also noticed and mentioned this issue on the test drive vehicle-a 24 R1S. That car was really loud. I want mine taken care of during warranty so I don’t have those noise issues in the future.

 

[Robin]

Hey Folks,

I have mentioned a few times lately that I had a long story about swapping out my R1T, and I now have reached the end of the story, so I figured I would post it here.

Back in early 2025, after receiving my first R1T Dual Standard in September 2024 (one of the first Gen2 R1T's delivered in New England), I had some wind noise that was a very minor nuisance. During an appointment for the truck that spring, the Chelsea SC suggested that they replace a small applique piece to reduce the wind noise. However, they needed another day to get the part and install, and I had to head back home that afternoon. So, I scheduled a follow-up appointment, and had to reschedule a few times (I live about 4 hours from the closest SC, so it's a logistical challenge to plan). By the time I finally got in there, it was early November. The appointment had been scheduled for months, albeit moved back a few times, but when I arrive, the tech tells me that they "forgot to paint the applique" and so it will actually be a few days. Thankfully, they have a loaner, and so I just drive right back home, expecting to come back in a week or so when convenient.

The day before I am scheduled to pick up my truck, the SC calls me and tells me there has been an incident. I ask what happened, and the tech tells me that they don't exactly know, but they were very busy and decided to have the certified body shop nearby address my small repair. I tell them that makes me nervous and to please keep me posted. I hear back the next morning, and the SC tech admits to me that the body shop, after completing the applique repair, and rotating my tires, apparently failed to torque the nut on one of my wheels properly, and the wheel literally came off the truck when it was being driven back to the SC.

The SC tech is very considerate, but of course I am incredibly concerned about what this means. Will this affect the long term reliability? Will my insurance be impacted? Will the value go down?

The SC tech was incredibly transparent and sent me the estimate for the work (over $17k!), which didn’t make me feel any better.

Several weeks go by, and then the SC gets it back from the body shop. They do an inspection and replace a control arm (not a small repair).

I finally get the truck back and about a week later, it goes into turtle mode, then emergency stop and finally shuts down completely with two of my kids in the back on US1. I call roadside, they get a tow dispatched, but this is right before Christmas, and rural Maine, so my wife drives from another town to get us so we can bring our daughter to her basketball game. It’s also 18 degrees, so, staying in the truck isn’t really an option.

After I get home, I’m just really worried this truck will end up being a headache after the accident. I live nearly four hours from the closest SC and have 3 kids. I’m a huge Rivian fan and have no desire to drive anything else (wife has an S Launch Edition Gen1).

So, I email RJ. I had heard he monitors his email and that’s part of why I really like the company culture. I didn’t whine, I just very matter of fact, gave him the series of events, and told him I did not feel like the truck was reliable for my family given the unknowns of how the accident affected it.

I get a call from the regional leader within an hour. They arrange to pickup my truck from my house (the tow company just brought it there because at the point they picked it up it was already like 2pm) on Monday (this was Saturday).

Regional leader then tells me they are going to replace my truck and that team will be connected to me on Monday. Meanwhile; I’m connected to the new Hudson SC supervisor (technically like 10 miles closer to me than Chelsea was).

On Monday, replacement team works with me and sales team at Hudson to find a replacement. I had trouble with the standard pack range loss in our climate during winter and wanted a larger battery. They suggest a max since the gen2 large isn’t much more than standard with 80-85% charging. Apparently due to the sizing of the Standard battery compared to others, you can’t get 20” AS/AT wheels from the standard that I loved, on any other configuration. So, I ask for the 20” AT’s.

After seeing transit delays with the new year, we decide to get a Tri Max that is sitting at Chelsea with the spec I want. I had forest green and had wanted to keep it, but my loaner from Hudson was storm blue and it grew on me. So, we ended up getting a better interest rate than before, Rivian gave me a very generous trade-in value for my previous truck, and I got a new, upgraded truck, with no miles, for basically the same monthly payment!

I even got rewards because I referred “myself” via the process.

James, Nico, Elaine, Christina (Hudson & New England lead) as well as Chris in the replacement team, were incredible to work with and made the process super smooth.

Very excited to go on adventures with “raspberry” as the weather warms! The Tri definitely has more oomph, and I can’t lie, I like it!

Awesome

 

[bfilippo]

Too many repairs within than 3 years and 75K. R1T Adventure Quad. Not really holding up to the claims and marketing. Service center said I was driving it well within the limits of the vehicle. Apparently Rivian management thinks these issues are not enough to help.

The only Adventure is owning the truck.

Received March 2023 -Replaced the entire battery pack under a year. (Sept 2023)

-Replaced rear dampers due to a leak after (Nov 2024)

(Feb 2026) -Suspension error code to find metal shaving in the kinematic fluid. This caused an entire suspension system replacement outside of the 60K warranty. Cost me $10,500. Rivian said they wouldn’t help with any of the costs and gave me the email to take legal action if I choose.

Extremely unsatisfied with the level of support for early adopters. No options for extended warranty except 3rd party. Get ready to drop some money on repairs. Can’t wait to sell.

Sorry to hear things have been so frustrating, but your experience does seem to be a bit of an outlier. I do feel like service struggles way more in high density ownership areas like CA (not sure where you are) We have an R1S LE ‘22 with 82k miles without any issues. Daily driver. I text with our SC manager regularly.

 

[Luxus]

Great ending to a story that had the makings of a real nightmare scenario. The brand new vehicle gets damaged on their watch, they fix it but it's never quite the same again. Really impressive they took the next step to help get you a new one. In most of the industry, I don't think many automakers would do much beyond fixing that damage that happened on their watch. At least not with a lot of effort on the owner's part.

 

[dleepnw]

I think for the most part Rivian tries to the right thing for customers. However, I’m sure not everyone has this great an outcome. There are plenty of people with worse problems who have not gotten a buyback or replacement. All the issues under warranty Rivian has covered for me even things that weren’t part of warranty Rivian took care of.

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