Why am I doing this to myself - long time Rivian customer close to giving up.

[portdirect]

I’ve been a Rivian fan from the start. We jumped in early 2023 with a Gen1 quad R1T (in the best color, Compass Yellow), and that truck was initially rock-solid for us. Because of that fantastic experience, we bought a Gen1 R1S, which has been nearly problem-free aside from a spate of random openings of the frunk that mobile service quickly fixed. Now I’m on my second R1T, and I’m honestly questioning my sanity sticking with this brand. My experience with Rivian’s quality control—especially on the service side—has been one headache after another.

Bingo: The First R1T, the Falling Lift, and the Never-Ending Repair Ordeal
My first R1T, nicknamed “Bingo,” was delivered back in 2023. It was almost perfect except for one glaring issue: a paint defect spotted the moment I picked it up from the factory in Normal, IL. I nearly rejected delivery, but given the train ride out there (and Rivian’s assurance it would be a simple fix I could handle later), I went ahead and drove it home. That “simple fix” turned into a months-long nightmare.

The “Fell Off the Lift” Saga

• June 2024: I dropped Bingo off for a rear paint repair, after having waited for the SC in St Louis to open and them to have collision centers in the area. The service center and local Rivian-certified body shops said the entire panel needed repainting.
• July 12, 2024: I’m expecting a routine update. Instead, I get a call: “Your truck fell off the lift during final inspection, but don’t worry, we’ll fix it.” Alarms went off in my head.
• Conflicting Updates: The collision center called daily for almost a week with odd reports—a minor scratch during reassembly, waiting on parts, repainting and “baking” for 48 hours. The whole thing felt unsettling and far from the simple fix Rivian had promised.

Trim Troubles, Deleted Gear Guard, and More

• Immediate Damage: When I finally picked up Bingo from the Rivian SC; the truck was dirty (it looked like it has been used to move car parts based of the mud and grease in the bed), the tailgate trim was torn, the spoiler was off-kilter, and the “full panel repaint” was actually a spot blend.
• Vanished Footage: Gear Guard footage over the bed disappeared. The service center guessed it was due to spoiler removal while it sat outside.
• Multiple Return Visits: After each fix, new issues popped up—misaligned trim, more snapped clips, mismatched paint. They replaced everything from A-pillar and B-pillar trim to the spoiler and bed trim.

Second Collision Center & Multiple Repaints

• Paint Fails Again: By August, the new paint started wrinkling and cracking. The seam sealer didn’t bond right.
• Switching Shops: Rivian arranged a different collision center, but that turned into weeks of repeated re-sprays, poor inspections, and fresh problems like cracked headliners, exposed conductors and incomplete repairs.

The Buyback Decision
Rivian did a full buyback and threw in a $10k goodwill credit for a new truck. By then, I was exhausted—for 6 months Bingo spent more time in shops than in my driveway, and each pickup felt like rolling the dice on what might still be broken - as I was doing Rivian's QC for them - they had actually paid the 2nd service center $10K in labor alone for work that was not performed, and missed this until we pointed it out to them. Before anyone calls BS on this, it was a large part of the reason Rivian offered buyback including all incurred costs and the discount on a gen2 without needing to even call a lawyer.

Muffin: The “Press-Level” Gen2 Tri-Motor R1T That Couldn’t Drive Past 4 MPH
Enter R1T #2, nicknamed “Muffin,” which I picked up on December 13, 2024. Based on our saga to date Rivian promised a “press-level” inspection—essentially the same scrutiny they’d give a vehicle destined for a big-name automotive review - which actually pushed our delivery back by over a week to 'give them time to get it perfect'. I was hopeful, but that optimism vanished almost immediately.

Day One (and Then Some) Disappointments

1. Gear Tunnel Door Misalignment
   • Right at delivery, the driver-side gear-tunnel door felt off. The sales guy brushed my wife off, calling it “normal for Gen2.” and tried to explain to her how the gear tunnel doors worked as though she had never used one before. We were unconvinced, but just wanted to get back on the road so accepted delivery.
   • As soon as we actually tried to drive, the truck threw an error about the gear tunnel door needing service, and capped speed at 4 mph.
   • The service center realigned the door and adjusted the sensor, which took 30 mins —only then could I actually go faster than walking speed.
2. Window Calibration Issues
   • Both passenger-side windows wouldn’t fully close, after opening - bouncing up and down several times before stopping with an inch or two too go.
   • Standard recalibration from the owner’s manual did nothing; the tech finally had to hook up a laptop via the OBD2 port.
   • Again, day-one stuff that should’ve been caught pre-delivery and another additional 30 mins at the SC whist they fixed it before we could go home.
3. Steering Wheel Defect
   • The original steering wheel had leather peeling away. Rivian replaced it via a mobile service visit a few days later
   • Yet again, day-one stuff that should’ve been caught pre-delivery.

All of these issues were reported before we had even driven off the lot - with hindsight we should have rejected delivery on the spot, but naively thought "this cant get any worse can it?" Well it could:

1. Rattle From Passenger-Side Doors
   • At lower speeds, when driving home, we heard an annoying rattle on the passenger side. Initially thought it was the front door.
   • Mobile Service discovered it was actually the rear door trim contacting an internal component. They adjusted it, and the rattle stopped—at least for a while.
2. Door Contact and Paint Damage
   • We missed this at pick up but *both* yes *both* front doors were actually hitting the rear doors whenever we closed them, chipping the paint on both.
   • A later service appointment realigned the doors on both sides and touched up the chipped paint. It’s better now, but it’s another example of baffling day-one misalignment.
3. Intermittent Front Camera Disconnect
   • The first time it happened, I was in the middle of an automatic lane change at 70 mph on Highway Assist. Suddenly, the camera cut out and the truck dumped me out of assist, mid-lane-change.
   • It’s happened multiple times since, including once when a Rivian service staffer was riding along. They claimed they’d “never seen this on a Gen2 before.” Great to be the first, I guess.
4. Morning Startup Failures
   • On several occasions, I’ve gone to drive the truck after it’s been sitting overnight, only to find it won’t shift into Drive. The screen basically demands a full reset before letting me go anywhere.
   • It’s incredibly frustrating and has happened enough times to be a real concern.
5. Inconsistent Braking
   • Sometimes tapping the brake pedal triggers a near full-stop—like the brake booster is going haywire. It’s almost digital: on or off.
6. Creaks and Rattles (Again)
   • The passenger-side door is back to creaking, and now the dashboard rattles when driving on the highway. Though of course it went silent (after driving me crazy the whole way to the SC) when doing a test drive with the SC staff - though at least they were able to witness the other issues, and I was able to get video recordings of it occurring for them.

Hardly Driven, Constant Resets
The worst part? Muffin barely has any miles on it. For Two weeks after delivery, I was out of the country, and then another three weeks went by for PPF and ceramic coating. In the short windows I’ve actually driven it, I haven’t made it more than 100 miles without needing some kind of reset—sometimes a quick reboot, sometimes a full hard reset. On multiple occasions when trying to put the truck into drive the infotainment screen literally says 'Reset Software Shift to Park. Then Press both buttons for 15 seconds' - something the service center says they were "unaware a gen2 could even do that" - it does not let me drive until that procedure has been done. I'm not even going to go into the L2 charging issues with these Max Packs and the Midwest weather here. Right now its' back in service again, and the SC has warned me that it may be several weeks this time - as worse case they will need to replace the wiring harness.

Why I’m (Still) Here (For now)

• R1 is a Rock Star: “Bluey,” our Gen1 R1S, runs flawlessly. That’s what stings the most: Rivian can build a great product; I’ve seen it first-hand.
• Brand Loyalty—Or Naivety?: I’ve always loved Rivian’s adventure-vehicle vision. I want them to succeed.
• They Tried: The buyback for Bingo and $10k credit showed good faith. But it doesn’t erase the fact that I’m on a second truck with a laundry list of issues.

Where to go from here?
I’m tired of feeling like a perpetual beta tester for build consistency and service quality. One R1T fiasco might be “bad luck,” but two? It’s fair to question if Rivian’s R1T program has deeper quality-control issues. I’m telling this story because I still believe in Rivian’s potential. If you’ve run into similar problems—or found a magic fix—I’d love to hear about it - I'm considering engaging investor relations and senior leadership at this point. I see what they did right with the R1, and I want to hope they can replicate that across the board. But after Bingo’s endless repairs and Muffin’s immediate meltdown, my patience is on thin ice. If you have success stories, I need to hear them—because right now, I’m close to giving up on the R1T altogether, no matter how cool it looks and awesome it is to drive (when it runs). Let me know if you’ve got advice, or if I’m just hurting myself by trying to stay loyal.

@Donald Stanfield this post is for you would love some of your fan-boi snark or words of encouragement - I really want to love this truck again.

Edit: S(p)elling

Sponsored

 

[Rividiculous]

Oh man, that’s a rough history. These are wonderful vehicles but those sound like frustrating as all hell experiences.

We were still beta testers but let’s hope that soon these kinds of stories are a thing of the past.

 

[f1racer328]

I had a similar problem that I just got resolved. 60+ days in the service center for 2 small paint defects that turned into an absolute shit show as well.

I should have rejected delivery, but was also assured it would be simple and quick to fix.

The collision shop here is terrible, and makes excuses for their shitty work. The service center itself has been great, but not the collision shop.

It took 10 months to resolve my issues, after going back and forth and scheduling appointments and what not. 60 days without my R1T. Can't lemon law in AZ on a lease (I plan to buy out at the end of the lease assuming everythings good)

It's been bullshit, so I hear you man. On the bright side, I've had no mechanical issues except one electrical issue that I'm pretty sure the collision shop caused.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

It’s a tough story for sure. Gen 2 came with some software glitches but Rivian has resolved quite a bit. The USB power issue was one I was glad to see they resolved.

Aside from the water intrusion on my wife’s R1S my R1T had mostly nitpicky issues. Even with a SC 30 mins from my home it’s still very inconvenient to take it to service due to the wait before and after drop off. I feel for folks who are further away from their SC.

Rivian does try to make things right though which goes a long way in my book. I can’t wait for R2…service will probably get worse before it gets better when R2 comes.

 

[JeromePowell]

I’ve been a Rivian fan from the start. We jumped in early 2023 with a Gen1 quad R1T (in the best color, Compass Yellow), and that truck was initially rock-solid for us. Because of that fantastic experience, we bought a Gen1 R1S, which has been nearly problem-free aside from a spate of random openings of the frunk that mobile service quickly fixed. Now I’m on my second R1T, and I’m honestly questioning my sanity sticking with this brand. My experience with Rivian’s quality control—especially on the service side—has been one headache after another.

Bingo: The First R1T, the Falling Lift, and the Never-Ending Repair Ordeal
My first R1T, nicknamed “Bingo,” was delivered back in 2023. It was almost perfect except for one glaring issue: a paint defect spotted the moment I picked it up from the factory in Normal, IL. I nearly rejected delivery, but given the train ride out there (and Rivian’s assurance it would be a simple fix I could handle later), I went ahead and drove it home. That “simple fix” turned into a months-long nightmare.

The “Fell Off the Lift” Saga

• June 2024: I dropped Bingo off for a rear paint repair, after having waited for the SC in St Louis to open and them to have collision centers in the area. The service center and local Rivian-certified body shops said the entire panel needed repainting.
• July 12, 2024: I’m expecting a routine update. Instead, I get a call: “Your truck fell off the lift during final inspection, but don’t worry, we’ll fix it.” Alarms went off in my head.
• Conflicting Updates: The collision center called daily for almost a week with odd reports—a minor scratch during reassembly, waiting on parts, repainting and “baking” for 48 hours. The whole thing felt unsettling and far from the simple fix Rivian had promised.

Trim Troubles, Deleted Gear Guard, and More

• Immediate Damage: When I finally picked up Bingo from the Rivian SC; the truck was dirty (it looked like it has been used to move car parts based of the mud and grease in the bed), the tailgate trim was torn, the spoiler was off-kilter, and the “full panel repaint” was actually a spot blend.
• Vanished Footage: Gear Guard footage over the bed disappeared. The service center guessed it was due to spoiler removal while it sat outside.
• Multiple Return Visits: After each fix, new issues popped up—misaligned trim, more snapped clips, mismatched paint. They replaced everything from A-pillar and B-pillar trim to the spoiler and bed trim.

Second Collision Center & Multiple Repaints

• Paint Fails Again: By August, the new paint started wrinkling and cracking. The seam sealer didn’t bond right.
• Switching Shops: Rivian arranged a different collision center, but that turned into weeks of repeated re-sprays, poor inspections, and fresh problems like cracked headliners, exposed conductors and incomplete repairs.

The Buyback Decision
Rivian did a full buyback and threw in a $10k goodwill credit for a new truck. By then, I was exhausted—for 6 months Bingo spent more time in shops than in my driveway, and each pickup felt like rolling the dice on what might still be broken - as I was doing Rivian's QC for them - they had actually paid the 2nd service center $10K in labor alone for work that was not performed, and missed this until we pointed it out to them. Before anyone calls BS on this, it was a large part of the reason Rivian offered buyback including all incurred costs and the discount on a gen2 without needing to even call a lawyer.

Muffin: The “Press-Level” Gen2 Tri-Motor R1T That Couldn’t Drive Past 4 MPH
Enter R1T #2, nicknamed “Muffin,” which I picked up on December 13, 2024. Based on our saga to date Rivian promised a “press-level” inspection—essentially the same scrutiny they’d give a vehicle destined for a big-name automotive review - which actually pushed our delivery back by over a week to 'give them time to get it perfect'. I was hopeful, but that optimism vanished almost immediately.

Day One (and Then Some) Disappointments

1. Gear Tunnel Door Misalignment
   • Right at delivery, the driver-side gear-tunnel door felt off. The sales guy brushed my wife off, calling it “normal for Gen2.” and tried to explain to her how the gear tunnel doors worked as though she had never used one before. We were unconvinced, but just wanted to get back on the road so accepted delivery.
   • As soon as we actually tried to drive, the truck threw an error about the gear tunnel door needing service, and capped speed at 4 mph.
   • The service center realigned the door and adjusted the sensor, which took 30 mins —only then could I actually go faster than walking speed.
2. Window Calibration Issues
   • Both passenger-side windows wouldn’t fully close, after opening - bouncing up and down several times before stopping with an inch or two too go.
   • Standard recalibration from the owner’s manual did nothing; the tech finally had to hook up a laptop via the OBD2 port.
   • Again, day-one stuff that should’ve been caught pre-delivery and another additional 30 mins at the SC whist they fixed it before we could go home.
3. Steering Wheel Defect
   • The original steering wheel had leather peeling away. Rivian replaced it via a mobile service visit a few days later
   • Yet again, day-one stuff that should’ve been caught pre-delivery.

All of these issues were reported before we had even driven off the lot - with hindsight we should have rejected delivery on the spot, but naively thought "this cant get any worse can it?" Well it could:

1. Rattle From Passenger-Side Doors
   • At lower speeds, when driving home, we heard an annoying rattle on the passenger side. Initially thought it was the front door.
   • Mobile Service discovered it was actually the rear door trim contacting an internal component. They adjusted it, and the rattle stopped—at least for a while.
2. Door Contact and Paint Damage
   • We missed this at pick up but *both* yes *both* front doors were actually hitting the rear doors whenever we closed them, chipping the paint on both.
   • A later service appointment realigned the doors on both sides and touched up the chipped paint. It’s better now, but it’s another example of baffling day-one misalignment.
3. Intermittent Front Camera Disconnect
   • The first time it happened, I was in the middle of an automatic lane change at 70 mph on Highway Assist. Suddenly, the camera cut out and the truck dumped me out of assist, mid-lane-change.
   • It’s happened multiple times since, including once when a Rivian service staffer was riding along. They claimed they’d “never seen this on a Gen2 before.” Great to be the first, I guess.
4. Morning Startup Failures
   • On several occasions, I’ve gone to drive the truck after it’s been sitting overnight, only to find it won’t shift into Drive. The screen basically demands a full reset before letting me go anywhere.
   • It’s incredibly frustrating and has happened enough times to be a real concern.
5. Inconsistent Braking
   • Sometimes tapping the brake pedal triggers a near full-stop—like the brake booster is going haywire. It’s almost digital: on or off.
6. Creaks and Rattles (Again)
   • The passenger-side door is back to creaking, and now the dashboard rattles when driving on the highway. Though of course it went silent (after driving me crazy the whole way to the SC) when doing a test drive with the SC staff - though at least they were able to witness the other issues, and I was able to get video recordings of it occurring for them.

Hardly Driven, Constant Resets
The worst part? Muffin barely has any miles on it. For Two weeks after delivery, I was out of the country, and then another three weeks went by for PPF and ceramic coating. In the short windows I’ve actually driven it, I haven’t made it more than 100 miles without needing some kind of reset—sometimes a quick reboot, sometimes a full hard reset. On multiple occasions when trying to put the truck into drive the infotainment screen literally says 'Reset Software Shift to Park. Then Press both buttons for 15 seconds' - something the service center says they were "unaware a gen2 could even do that" - it does not let me drive until that procedure has been done. I'm not even going to go into the L2 charging issues with these Max Packs and the Midwest weather here. Right now its' back in service again, and the SC has warned me that it may be several weeks this time - as worse case they will need to replace the wiring harness.

Why I’m (Still) Here (For now)

• R1 is a Rock Star: “Bluey,” our Gen1 R1S, runs flawlessly. That’s what stings the most: Rivian can build a great product; I’ve seen it first-hand.
• Brand Loyalty—Or Naivety?: I’ve always loved Rivian’s adventure-vehicle vision. I want them to succeed.
• They Tried: The buyback for Bingo and $10k credit showed good faith. But it doesn’t erase the fact that I’m on a second truck with a laundry list of issues.

Where to go from here?
I’m tired of feeling like a perpetual beta tester for build consistency and service quality. One R1T fiasco might be “bad luck,” but two? It’s fair to question if Rivian’s R1T program has deeper quality-control issues. I’m telling this story because I still believe in Rivian’s potential. If you’ve run into similar problems—or found a magic fix—I’d love to hear about it - I'm considering engaging investor relations and senior leadership at this point. I see what they did right with the R1, and I want to hope they can replicate that across the board. But after Bingo’s endless repairs and Muffin’s immediate meltdown, my patience is on thin ice. If you have success stories, I need to hear them—because right now, I’m close to giving up on the R1T altogether, no matter how cool it looks and awesome it is to drive (when it runs). Let me know if you’ve got advice, or if I’m just hurting myself by trying to stay loyal.

@Donald Stanfield this post is for you would love some of your fan-boi snark or words of encouragement - I really want to love this truck again.

Edit: S(p)elling

Ugh, I feel your pain though never was tested the way you have been. Rivian is not going to survive this way.

 

[COdogman]

As someone who has been accused of being a “Rivian employee” multiple times , I would probably be close to giving up too if my experience were the same as yours.

My T is my only vehicle, so I knew from the beginning if I ended up in one the cycles of pain like yours that I read about occasionally, I would be forced to bail on Rivian regardless of how big a fan I am. I got lucky and mine has been amazingly reliable so far, but that is what is so frustrating with Rivian. Why does one customer get a lemon and the next one gets a gem??‍ They have to do better…

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

I have a similar level of pain with Rivian vehicles and empathize strongly. Thank you for posting. Hopefully someone at Rivian is taking note (though I doubt it).

Ignore @Donald Stanfield; he's some kind of party apparatchik that deals only in propaganda.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

You aren't going to get much snark from me on this one. It sounds like you had Larry, Mo, and Curly over there fixing your truck. I laugh reacted this post because the cascade of errors here is unbelievable. Your idea of contacting senior leadership is warranted, and I'd likely be in the same frame of mind.

My Gen 1 R1T was great for the entire time I had it, but I had similar issues, just not as bad to start. The delivery driver backed into a tree and crunched my tailgate on the way to delivery. Rivian owned it immediately and made it right, but that put a damper on the whole experience. My new trimax had some issues and was in the Franklin center this past Monday. The rear defroster wasn't plugged in correctly from the factory, another simple fix but cost me 6 hours of driving there and back. The Franklin team was great, though, and my issue was solved on the same day.

Now for the encouragement. As you said, you have an R1S that is flawless, so you know the vehicle design is solid. Once the issues get sorted, you'll have a great vehicle. My view is that there is nothing else out there I'd rather drive, so anything will be a compromise. Rivian provides excellent customer service, such as your buyback with 10K Goodwill. They sent me a bunch of free swag for my tailgate issue, and it was fixed in a week's turnaround. Unfortunately they only need to do them because of incompetence in other departments. Between the goodwill and how much improvement the Gen 2 is over the Gen 1 these kinks will be ironed out eventually.

That isn't much of a consolation from your viewpoint, and I completely understand why. I'm not sure what can be said that changes your experience meaningfully. No matter what, you've still dealt with unacceptable errors. I'm not sure what I'd do if I were in your shoes. If I sold the truck and got something else I would be pissed that I had to drive whatever that is. If I kept it and had to continue to deal with issue after issue, I'd feel like an idiot for that.


P.S. I cannot see comment #7, as I am blocked, but I can imagine it's someone whining about me. I don't come on here to make friends, although I have. You can't make everyone happy, and I don't mind ruffling a few feathers. I took your tag of me in the spirit in which it was intended, and I don't find your post to be whiny or entitled.

 

[Nixapatfan]

Feel for you going through it multiple times. Mine is down too with suspension hydraulic line leaking and the earliest appointment is 2 months out. They say it's drivable so no rush, I don't agree it's safe to drive so will sit in the driveway for the time being. The irony here is my EV is leaking oil with a drip pan below it and my ICE cars aren't.

They really need to fix service ASAP, waiting months for serious problems is nuts.

 

[portdirect]

The USB power issue was one I was glad to see they resolved.

Aside from the water intrusion on my wife’s R1S my R1T had mostly nitpicky issues. Even with a SC 30 mins from my home it’s still very inconvenient to take it to service due to the wait before and after drop off. I feel for folks who are further away from their SC.

I don't think USB power has been resolved yet has it? Its giving the s00nish folks issues still, I'm watching pretty closely as their chargers are great in our gen1 and the factory gen2 charger is really only marginally better than the gen1 was.

Good to hear from another person who went through a buy-back though, I assume you got a replacement R1S and things were good after then?

 

[Ecupip]

Very sorry to hear this, and see that others have lots of grief too.

I've learned and seen it firsthand with others too many times. If you see anything wrong with the paint, let that vehicle go. Dealers and body shops rarely ever meet your expectations. Most of the time, it ends up being worse than it was before.

I hope they can address the new issues, or you can use the lemon law if it meets your state's requirements.

 

[Zoidz]

You have stuck with this longer than most people would. It's very disappointing that Rivian has not dialed in many of the "simple" things such as fit and finish. I know it's not "simple" but with over 100k vehicles produced they have had plenty of time to work through the fit and finish production issues (both equipment and people) to get it right. My R1S has never been in for service. THe only issue I had was a tiny paint imperfection which I did not see. It was not evident at all until the PPF shop called me while they were prepping/correcting prior to PPF application. It was so minor I didn't want to deal with Rivian fixing it, and you would not see it unless I pointed it out.

 

[portdirect]

You aren't going to get much snark from me on this one. It sounds like you had Larry, Mo, and Curly over there fixing your truck. I laugh reacted this post because the cascade of errors here is unbelievable. Your idea of contacting senior leadership is warranted, and I'd likely be in the same frame of mind.

My Gen 1 R1T was great for the entire time I had it, but I had similar issues, just not as bad to start. The delivery driver backed into a tree and crunched my tailgate on the way to delivery. Rivian owned it immediately and made it right, but that put a damper on the whole experience. My new trimax had some issues and was in the Franklin center this past Monday. The rear defroster wasn't plugged in correctly from the factory, another simple fix but cost me 6 hours of driving there and back. The Franklin team was great, though, and my issue was solved on the same day.

Now for the encouragement. As you said, you have an R1S that is flawless, so you know the vehicle design is solid. Once the issues get sorted, you'll have a great vehicle. My view is that there is nothing else out there I'd rather drive, so anything will be a compromise. Rivian provides excellent customer service, such as your buyback with 10K Goodwill. They sent me a bunch of free swag for my tailgate issue, and it was fixed in a week's turnaround. Unfortunately they only need to do them because of incompetence in other departments. Between the goodwill and how much improvement the Gen 2 is over the Gen 1 these kinks will be ironed out eventually.

That isn't much of a consolation from your viewpoint, and I completely understand why. I'm not sure what can be said that changes your experience meaningfully. No matter what, you've still dealt with unacceptable errors. I'm not sure what I'd do if I were in your shoes. If I sold the truck and got something else I would be pissed that I had to drive whatever that is. If I kept it and had to continue to deal with issue after issue, I'd feel like an idiot for that.


P.S. I cannot see comment #7, as I am blocked, but I can imagine it's someone whining about me. I don't come on here to make friends, although I have. You can't make everyone happy, and I don't mind ruffling a few feathers. I took your tag of me in the spirit in which it was intended, and I don't find your post to be whiny or entitled.

Thanks @Donald Stanfield , you hit the nail right on the head with my predicament: If I get rid of the truck and get a GMC Serria (which I don't really want, but is the only thing that I think we would be looking at) then I'd forever resent it; if we stick with what's really feeling like a lemon then I'm at risk of starting to resent myself.

You'll need to forgive me taking the bait, but honestly the gen2 is not an upgrade over the gen1 from what I've experienced: as you know myself and others have found its efficiency in cool weather (at least) to be less than the gen1 quad: and I'm not going to be drawn into conversations about if I'm using the right mode or not - our quad lived in AP mode and was a great blend of performance, capability (the roads here are no where near smooth enough for sport mode) and range. Additionally, the thermal management of the HV electronics is absolutely awful, to the point where in sub 55f weather they cant even hold 48A L2 charging beyond around 82% - something that Rivian are starting to quietly admit (and I've now heard this from multiple independent employees, who are frustrated that the company is intentionally keeping quite on about this issue) they may never be able to fix on the gen2, and is one of the motivations for getting manual preconditioning available as a way of partially mitigating the issue. It seems like development was so rushed that they never did any cold weather testing at all on the gen2 HV platform, and now have issues that cannot be fixed.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Thanks @Donald Stanfield , you hit the nail right on the head with my predicament: If I get rid of the truck and get a GMC Serria (which I don't really want, but is the only thing that I think we would be looking at) then I'd forever resent it; if we stick with what's really feeling like a lemon then I'm at risk of start resenting myself.

You'll need to forgive me taking the bait, but honestly the gen2 is not an upgrade over the gen1 from what I've experienced: as you know myself and others have found its efficiency in cool weather (at least) to be less than the gen1 quad: and I'm not going to be drawn into conversations about if I'm using the right mode or not - our quad lived in AP mode and was a great blend of performance, capability (the roads here are no where near smooth enough for sport mode) and range. Additionally, the thermal management of the HV electronics is absolutely awful, to the point where in sub 55f weather they cant even hold 48A L2 charging beyond around 82% - something that Rivian are starting to quietly admit (and I've now heard this from multiple independent employees, who are frustrated that the company is intentionally keeping quite on about this issue) they may never be able to fix on the gen2, and is one of the motivations for getting manual preconditioning available as a way of partially mitigating the issue.

First off I will bring up the not using the correct mode because it is relevant. Conserve mode is even more critical in the tri over the quad. It functions like AP on the freeway because unlike in the quad the rear motors will engage if necessary so you retain passing power. Can’t complain about efficiency if you don’t use the mode designed to be efficient. That’s like complaining about not getting the range in sport. The modes are all designed for different things.

You are right about it not holding L2 charge. Mine drops down, but instead of getting 11.6kw I’m getting 10.2. I don’t care as that difference doesn’t much affect my use. I don’t see that as a big deal as I charge to over 80% so rarely that I can account for the extra time.

The improvements on suspension, fit and finish, in the case of the ascend trim the styling, the autonomy features and the cameras are all nice and appreciated. For me the only thing lacking from the Gen 1’s was a little bit of interior quality and detail. It was good but everything else was a great for me. The new ascend takes that good to great and with the other improvements I consider it hitting the next level of quality.

 

[Ngkgb]

Feel for you going through it multiple times. Mine is down too with suspension hydraulic line leaking and the earliest appointment is 2 months out. They say it's drivable so no rush, I don't agree it's safe to drive so will sit in the driveway for the time being. The irony here is my EV is leaking oil with a drip pan below it and my ICE cars aren't.

They really need to fix service ASAP, waiting months for serious problems is nuts.

this sounds insane. I would call again and have them make you a priority. How’s it safe to drive white oil leaking out of the suspension? I know the SoCal service centers are pretty good about that.

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