What I Did Not Realize About Servicing

[elektrode]

I knew I was buying a new truck model from a brand new company:

(I dealt with this telling myself they have a lot of vets from the industry and a great warranty)
(and there's no other vehicle I can by with this capacity and performance)
(I was getting is pre-March pricing - spend money to make money)

I knew that this would be my first EV and I had some learning to do:

(I dealt with this knowing that it was inevitable to make a change, so why not now)

What I did NOT realize was what service was going to be like:

1) I've never done mobile service. I'm mentally programmed for dealership warranty service.. I'm sure you Tesla guys are laughing and you think I'm dumb, but I just did not get how different it was going to be from a dealer.

2) I did not realize that Rivian Service is brand new too - they are learning as they go. They are learning how to repair this vehicle in the field. They are learning how to communicate with customers. They are learning in real time. They are learning real time how their brand new vehicle fails.

3) I did not realize what contacting service would be like and that I'd be indirectly vectored through a call service for every interaction. I have to call someone random to ask them to call someone specific. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

This is all on me... but I did not understand it. Within 5 days of having the vehicle - I started learning as my R1T was towed off for repairs... and it'll be heading back next week for the same repair.

Sponsored

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Was it not fixed the first time?

 

[elektrode]

They fixed a number of things: installed spare, tonneau, paint blem on charge door.

But the Driver+ Unavailable issues I'm having that causes ALL radar features to be disabled did not get fixed. They thought they fixed it (firmware issue) and I believe them - because there's no way they returned it obviously this broken. (You don't realize how many features are radar dependent until ALL radar features are disabled - such as basic cruise control is disabled)

My truck was gone for a week and the very first time I touched the brake pedal the exact issue came back.The very moment I received it back, I knew it had to be towed again 6+ hours away.

I'm keeping the rental on retainer for fear my local Enterprise won't have any rentals (again).

Was it not fixed the first time?

 

[COdogman]

I don’t have my truck yet so I haven’t had to live through this annoying experience, but given how new they are I am actually impressed with how well they have handled things so far, based on most accounts I have read here on the forum. I expected it to be rough going for that first year at least… I think it’s important to separate things they told you up front from actual mistakes they made.

mobile service - they told us that’s what it would be and anyone who has or knows about Tesla understands that is a mixed bag. But they did tell us about it right from the start. Personally I’m willing to trade that for the dealer model all day.

The fact they gave your truck back with the exact same issue that occurred the first time you drove it again makes me think they didn’t test drive it after claiming they “fixed” it. That is inexcusable and needs to improve immediately. Total waste of your time and their own.

 

[electruck]

The first 2 items are understandable but item #3 is something Rivian is going to need to get a handle on - there seem to be too many layers of indirection, no one who is actually responsible for the vehicle repairs, and no escalation path other than to email RJ directly.

 

[elektrode]

Yeah this one is weird - getting it back with the same problem. In their defense, I asked them to re-test drive it and double check it, gave them a quiz over the phone about specifics, and I think the service advisor had them check it once more beyond that. I could confirm they test drove it through the app using “locate my vehicle” and checking the mileage.

The fact they gave your truck back with the exact same issue that occurred the first time you drove it again makes me think they didn’t test drive it after claiming they “fixed” it. That is inexcusable and needs to improve immediately. Total waste of your time and their own.

 

[COdogman]

Yeah this one is weird - getting it back with the same problem. In their defense, I asked them to re-test drive it and double check it, gave them a quiz over the phone about specifics, and I think the service advisor had them check it once more beyond that. I could confirm they test drove it through the app using “locate my vehicle” and checking the mileage.

That is cool that you can track all of that. I hadn’t even considered that. I guess sometimes strange things happen. A long time ago I had a Subaru that had some sort of weird electrical bug that would prevent it from starting randomly. It would get towed to the shop and start right up for them every time

Hopefully they are learning from all these experiences too.

 

[mwexler2]

Using my vast automotive expertise (I’m a software engineer ;-) I’m going to guess there is a loose connection somewhere and the process of loading on flatbed truck, driving it 6 hours and unloading it somehow triggers it.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I'm a little surprised at the number of people who willingly signed up to be early adopters who are now perplexed by having to deal with early adopter growing pains.

That's not to marginalize some of the issues or to absolve Rivian of any responsibility to address the issues that have been identified, simply to highlight that if you didn't have some baseline expectation for there to be growing pains and inconveniences then your expectations were not really based in reality.

Auto manufacturers who have been building cars for over a hundred years still regularly issue recalls for significant issues. Toyota had to issue a stop sale and recall on their first real EV because they botched it so badly. To think that a brand new manufacturer wouldn't struggle with mastering mass production while simultaneously building out a service network and developing the institutional knowledge required to address issues as they come up is just madness if I'm honest.

They have work to do improving their process and quality of service. I personally think they will get there, but I absolutely expect there to be hiccups along the way. For me, getting a $17,000 discount ($24,500 if you include the tax credit now) was worth it.

 

[Craigins]

To add to the above, I'm surprised at all these deliveries that are so far away from service centers. I thought they were prioritizing proximity to service centers.

 

[Acoustic71]

To add to the above, I'm surprised at all these deliveries that are so far away from service centers. I thought they were prioritizing proximity to service centers.

Like the old man said, "Depends."

 

[Sierra7117]

I'm a little surprised at the number of people who willingly signed up to be early adopters who are now perplexed by having to deal with early adopter growing pains.

That's not to marginalize some of the issues or to absolve Rivian of any responsibility to address the issues that have been identified, simply to highlight that if you didn't have some baseline expectation for there to be growing pains and inconveniences then your expectations were not really based in reality.

Auto manufacturers who have been building cars for over a hundred years still regularly issue recalls for significant issues. Toyota had to issue a stop sale and recall on their first real EV because they botched it so badly. To think that a brand new manufacturer wouldn't struggle with mastering mass production while simultaneously building out a service network and developing the institutional knowledge required to address issues as they come up is just madness if I'm honest.

They have work to do improving their process and quality of service. I personally think they will get there, but I absolutely expect there to be hiccups along the way. For me, getting a $17,000 discount ($24,500 if you include the tax credit now) was worth it.

I agree mostly. It's still an $80K purchase even with discounts. That aside, even if it was free if one isn't able to use an object for its intended purpose for an extended period of time, it basically turns into a tableweight and holds zero useful value for that person. Everyone has a limit for when they'll finally deem something as no longer useful, even though they knew there would be hiccups from a new company. Hiccups are different from projectile vomit. I suppose it'd be different if you're bezos or gates with unlimited resources and options, but that isn't most folks

 

[elektrode]

My main SC is less than 3hrs away Richmond VA. But they towed it to ATL SC cause they said it would get fixed quicker and they had more techs available there. That was a surprise to me as well.

I told a future R1S owner at the local DCFC (which I was testing) that “Yes, I can read. I knew the service would be mobile, I just didn’t fully understand what that meant yet.”

It’s like I’m a teenager and telling me not to do something dangerous just does not register cause I gotta learn it myself before I get it.

To add to the above, I'm surprised at all these deliveries that are so far away from service centers. I thought they were prioritizing proximity to service centers.

 

[atebit]

Yeah but, “growing pains” do not equal “ineptitude”. I think the former is a reasonable speed bump to expect at this point, but not the latter.

 

[tgo10000]

That is cool that you can track all of that. I hadn’t even considered that. I guess sometimes strange things happen. A long time ago I had a Subaru that had some sort of weird electrical bug that would prevent it from starting randomly. It would get towed to the shop and start right up for them every time

Hopefully they are learning from all these experiences too.

yikes i had a similar subaru issue, they figured it out the same month the warranty expired and gave me a quote…needless to say they got an earful and it was covered under warranty.

to the op, totally understand it’s one thing to
know something to be true it’s another to understand the practical implications of that truth. good luck on getting it worked out

Sponsored