Trouble in Paradise: Rivian Collision Repair in Hawaii (outer island)

[ttphhi]

Doesn't Oahu have a service center there? Have you looked at them and how much it would be to ship it to them?

Service Center not up and running yet. I'm told end of year so hopefully Q1 2025 (I work in construction and am a realist...)

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[jambaman84]

Service Center not up and running yet. I'm told end of year so hopefully Q1 2025 (I work in construction and am a realist...)

oh shoot! sorry about that!

 

[ttphhi]

oh shoot! sorry about that!

It is what it is. Anyone who has one in Hawaii should know the risk we're taking. It's obvious OP is taking this whole sad story very well.
One thing that surprised me was that Rivian told OP to ship the vehicle back to the mainland. That's absurd and I too would have hung up on them.....

 

[Riviot]

 

[Bklyn29]

Sorry for the unfortunate event. May seem easy to fix but looks like it might need a lot of calibrations ...camera's front sensors etc.

 

[shrink]

Red Skull ain’t bad, but her name is Pele and just like Kilauea she’ll be active again one day!

 

[NY_Rob]

Sorry @shrink.. that sucks!!

I can only imagine how you feel, heck I'm very nervous driving my R1T around here and we do have "certified" Rivian collision shops in the area.

Best wishes for a great outcome!!


PS.. you can always disconnect the 12V batt(s) from the vehicle, that will 100% kill VD right there/right then! You could probably let it sit in that state for a couple of years with no problems.

 

[shrink]

Quick update:

I'm pleased to report the shop manager came to my house last week, took pictures, and started working on an estimate. I then received an email this morning that the shop is now an approved Rivian vendor! I think that's different than Rivian certified collision center, which they are still pursuing.

Estimate is complete and has been submitted to insurance. They'll be ordering parts next week.

Bad news, however, is that I think I'm going to remove the matte wrap. The shop is going to have to paint the bumper and charge port door, then blend with the driver's side fender and front door. I wouldn't be able to re-apply a matte wrap for a couple months and while a stupid-looking two-tone paint is an improvement over its current appearance, the wrap material is STEK Dynomatte and there are no vendors for that material on island. I should have done more research on that.

I'm just relieved things are progressing with this repair!

 

[AlohaR1T]

Quick update:

I'm pleased to report the shop manager came to my house last week, took pictures, and started working on an estimate. I then received an email this morning that the shop is now an approved Rivian vendor! I think that's different than Rivian certified collision center, which they are still pursuing.

Estimate is complete and has been submitted to insurance. They'll be ordering parts next week.

Bad news, however, is that I think I'm going to remove the matte wrap. The shop is going to have to paint the bumper and charge port door, then blend with the driver's side fender and front door. I wouldn't be able to re-apply a matte wrap for a couple months and while a stupid-looking two-tone paint is an improvement over its current appearance, the wrap material is STEK Dynomatte and there are no vendors for that material on island. I should have done more research on that.

I'm just relieved things are progressing with this repair!

Great to hear you found a shop. I'm waiting for a shop on Maui willing to repair Rivian's.

 

[shrink]

9 week update:

Repair progress has hit some speed bumps. The shop in Kona was having trouble ordering parts despite being an approved Rivian vendor. I was told there were some discrepancies in the parts diagrams and some parts could only be ordered by certified Rivian Collisions Centers. The shop was unable to contact anyone at Rivian for support and asked me to reach out as an owner.

I basically blasted emails to contacts I have at the local service center in Phoenix, the general customer service email, and the after sales support email, which is for 3rd party vendors.

Folks at my local SC here in Phoenix were able to facilitate and the shop now FINALLY has a point of contact directly with Rivian and they are "navigating" the parts ordering "obstacles." I was told just a couple days ago they hope to have the parts ordered s00n.

By the time the order is placed and the parts finally arrive in Hawaii, I'm guessing we'll be into early 2025.

At this rate, I'm hoping the repair will be done 6 months from the initial accident, or 3/1/2025, but I unfortunately can see it taking even longer.

I knew a collision repair would take a while especially in Hawaii. However, I do hope my trials and tribulations will help pave the way for quicker repairs via an established and certified local repair shop on island for current and future Big Island Rivian owners.

 

[shrink]

4-month (and 9 day) update:

Parts have FINALLY arrived at the repair shop in Kona. I will be having my R1S towed into the shop early in the week of Monday, 1/13/2025.

Estimated completion date is 2/1/2025, but I'm sure there will be hiccups. Apparently, Rivian won't let the shop touch the charge port door that needs to be repaired so they will be sending some mobile techs from Oahu when the time comes to complete that aspect of the repair.

I knew this process would suck, but I'm glad repairs will FINALLY be starting. I miss driving the car on island and am very excited to get it back on the road (and off-road). Also hoping this process will make future collision repairs easier for the growing number of Rivian owners on the Big Island! Seeing more and more of them every time I'm there.

Huge Mahalo to Kraftsman Auto Body for all their efforts so far!

https://www.kraftsmanautobody.com/

Hope to post a final update on this in a few weeks.

 

[Tecumseh]

It is what it is. Anyone who has one in Hawaii should know the risk we're taking. It's obvious OP is taking this whole sad story very well.
One thing that surprised me was that Rivian told OP to ship the vehicle back to the mainland. That's absurd and I too would have hung up on them.....

This has little to do with Hawaii. On the mainland, Rivian still hasn’t shipped replacement doors for my Rivian and it has been three months since the auto body shop took it in.

 

[AlohaR1T]

For those of us on Maui, Studio Autobody is in process of certification to repair Rivians. They will repair your Rivian now if you need it done. I had the unfortunate mishap of backing into a granite table in my garage. Truck will be going in a few weeks for the repair.

 

[shrink]

It only took 7-1/2 months but I FINALLY got my R1S back from collision repair in Kona! I have many, many thoughts and details to share and will do so in a later post, but for now - attached are some pics. I do need to re-wrap in matte (or remove the rest of the wrap) the repainted parts (front bumper, charge port door, quarter panels, and driver's side door). It looks a little funky in part glossy and part matte, but seriously so ecstatic just to have it back!!! There were many, many hiccups along the way but there is hope for the future (more details on that later).

 

[shrink]

Just wanted to update this post briefly:

Eternal MAHALO to Krafstman Auto Body in Kailua-Kona! They were the only ones on island I could find willing to do the repair. Keep in mind there are no Rivian Certified Collision Centers on the Big Island. But Jeremy, the production manager, was willing to jump through a stupid number of hoops to be able to perform the repair - and the good news is that they will now be becoming a fully certified Rivian Collision Center! The first and only on the Big Island, so Big Island owners will now have an option!

My wife, who hit the light post, would like everyone to thank her for facilitating this certification.

After I picked up my R1S, I was even told 2 more Rivians were coming into Krafstman for repair!

Final Highlights:
- From accident to post repair pickup: 7-1/2 months! Thankfully, we have another car on island and e-bikes. I enjoyed the latter quite a bit to be honest out of necessity. Very fun to e-bike to work in the morning in Hawaii along Ali'i Drive.

- It took several months for the shop to be authorized to buy parts and access technical diagrams. They first had to apply for this:

https://rivian.com/support/article/...tor-how-do-i-request-access-to-rivian-service

That took a month or so.

- Then they found out some parts they needed were restricted, so we had to jump through more hoops. I ended up reaching out to a supervisor whom I befriended at the Phoenix SC (Phoenix is my primary residence) and he was able to get a Collision Repair Manager based in San Francisco to become a coordinator for my case and once that relationship was established, things started moving along. I got nowhere with the general service line so it's pretty sad utilizing contacts as a multi-Rivian owner in 2 different states is what it took to get things moving, but it is what it is and things should be better going forward.

- accident was on 9/1/2024. I didn't get the car to shop until 1/14/2025. Krafstman started ordering parts in 10/2024, but things take a while to get to Hawaii and they didn't have what they thought was everything unit the holidays.

- Original estimate was completion by 1st week of February 2025. I didn't pick up until 4/17/2025.

- Delays were due to multiple issues including: missing parts; wrong parts sent; difficulty ordering additional restricted parts; and Rivian having to come out to perform certain repairs and procedures. The charge port was replaced and Rivian wouldn't let the body shop touch any of those electronics so a mobile crew from Oahu had to come out. A month later, there was some restricted wiring harness that Rivian needed to special order and install. Finally, Rivian had to come back out and assist with an alignment.

- I'm still unfortunately waiting one more repair even though I have the car back. One of the sensors could not be calibrated or something and the equipment to perform a full calibration is not on island. Rivian, Kraftsman, and another shop on island whose name I cannot recall are coordinating to ship the equipment in. It will then remain at the 3rd shop permanently and they will be the only shop on island that will be able to perform both sensor calibrations and alignments on Rivians.

- Total repair coast was approximately....wait for it....




$24,000


- I still have to re-wrap or remove the PPF as well. I did not anticipate how annoying this would be. I wrapped it in STEK DynoMatte and no one on island is certified to use that film. Good times. Stupid decision on my part.

- My conclusion: This was a GIANT pain in the ass. A Rivian being your own vehicle in Hawaii is risky. Best to have a second vehicle. While collision repairs should be much faster in the future thanks to the Krafstman-Rivian collaboration and groundwork my misfortune helped lay, this anticipated future efficiency remains unrealized - and Rivian collision repair takes a long time even on the mainland.

I am having serious second thoughts about one of my R2 Reservations, which was to replace the 2014 Jeep Cherokee I have in Kona. The risk of lengthy repair times could be too great. I have plenty of time to decide - especially as I experiment with an Ioniq 5.

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