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

[DD4ST]

And this is why Rivian will have a tough time transitioning non-early adopters to their platform. This is a rough story but not the only one I’ve heard. I would have ditched them after the first R1T buyback. This and other stories will absolutely affect R2 and R3 sales, no matter how much better Rivian is at building them. My own R1T has been relatively solid but I did have to have door panels realigned, which I have NEVER had to do in any other car brand since I have been buying new in the 1990’s. Top that off with a bad service model that makes it difficult to get timely fixes. I’ve had my R1T in service for five weeks for the PTC. But ultimately, QC better at the factory so less service is needed!

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[meshugy]

I think it’s telling that your R1S is the reliable one. Early Quad builds and Gen 2 seem to have the most issues. Late 2023/24 Quads seem to be overall a lot more reliable. I’m guessing your R1S is from this period.

 

[carsly]

Reads like Rivian is turning into a 21st century Land Rover.

Yes, you can get good ones that have no issues and will roll tens of thousands of fault-free miles...

...or....

...you get one that reinforces the brand's "legendary" reliability.

 

[portdirect]

I think it’s telling that your R1S is the reliable one. Early Quad builds and Gen 2 seem to have the most issues. Late 2023/24 Quads seem to be overall a lot more reliable. I’m guessing your R1S is from this period.

Bingo! (pun intended) Though our R1S is a early 2024 dual Also to be clear our original R1T was mechanically perfect until it went in to have the paint fixed - its the new gen2 one that is a shit show so far.

 

[meshugy]

Bingo! (pun intended) Though our R1S is a early 2024 dual Also to be clear our original R1T was mechanically perfect until it went in to have the paint fixed - its the new gen2 one that is a shit show so far.

it’s like just when Rivian got the Gen 1s dialed in they had to go and change everything which totally tanked the quality….

 

[Southern R1S]

And this is why Rivian will have a tough time transitioning non-early adopters to their platform. This is a rough story but not the only one I’ve heard. I would have ditched them after the first R1T buyback. This and other stories will absolutely affect R2 and R3 sales, no matter how much better Rivian is at building them. My own R1T has been relatively solid but I did have to have door panels realigned, which I have NEVER had to do in any other car brand since I have been buying new in the 1990’s. Top that off with a bad service model that makes it difficult to get timely fixes. I’ve had my R1T in service for five weeks for the PTC. But ultimately, QC better at the factory so less service is needed!

What's most confusing is they seem to be extremely hit or miss.

Like "Bluey" that OP mentioned, my Gen 1 R1S (the only Rivian I own currently) has been essentially flawless outside of a few panel gaps & an interior rattle here and there. Absolutely zero mechanical / functional issues and really nothing that I wouldn't accept as "normal" on a new Lexus. Hard to reconcile why some vehicles seem to roll off the line flawless while others have nothing but issues.

Not a scientific analysis by any means, but it seems to me like issues with Gen 1 issues are more common on the R1T vs. R1S, and problems on both models are more common on Gen 2 vs. Gen 1, which makes me wonder if some of this may boil down to Gen 1 R1S being the least problematic model simply because Rivian essentially refined the R1 platform on the R1T before R1S production ramped (working out a lot of the more common issues), and then essentially a full reset occurred when both models went to Gen 2 simultaneously.

 

[carsly]

What's most confusing is they seem to be extremely hit or miss.

Like "Bluey" that OP mentioned, my Gen 1 R1S (the only Rivian I own currently) has been essentially flawless outside of a few panel gaps & an interior rattle here and there. Absolutely zero mechanical / functional issues and really nothing that I wouldn't accept as "normal" on a new Lexus. Hard to reconcile why some vehicles seem to roll off the line flawless while others have nothing but issues.

Not a scientific analysis by any means, but it seems to me like issues with Gen 1 issues are more common on the R1T vs. R1S, and problems on both models are more common on Gen 2 vs. Gen 1, which makes me wonder if some of this may boil down to Gen 1 R1S being the least problematic model simply because Rivian essentially refined the R1 platform on the R1T before R1S production ramped (working out a lot of the more common issues), and then essentially a full reset occurred when both models went to Gen 2 simultaneously.

It also feels like Rivian skipped pilot production of a few hundred units that should have been field tested for 3-6 months when they went to Gen2. They just made the switch on the production lines and pressed 'full send'.

 

[Mellowyellow]

@portdirect I would also say if your local service center isn't doing a good job, try another one. I realize this may not be possible for a lot of people but I was going to Brooklyn, NY and wasn't happy with their quality of work. They opened one closer to me (Blauvelt, NY) and the difference is night and day.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It also feels like Rivian skipped pilot production of a few hundred units that should have been field tested for 3-6 months when they went to Gen2. They just made the switch on the production lines and pressed 'full send'.

They couldn't afford the downtime with their ramp up plans. Their stock would get slaughtered at the rate they are hemorrhaging money. I do agree that this is the best way to get reliable vehicles. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible for Rivian.

 

[@Andoo117]

Love the R1S, hated the buying experience. In short we had similar issues, paint was scratched, all that the sales folks said was we can buff that out, i mean it looked like the long travel cargo plastic unwrapper for Rivian had s@x with the car whilst wearing his zippered jacket. We rejected the delivery and when they came the second time it had the same scratches with Rivian saying they would not attempt a second buffing. Panel mismatches and missing interior panels! All with the same dialogue, if you don't like this one, reject it and look for another in the shop, someone else will scoop this one up tomorrow. That's some sad salesmanship. In the end though the R1S is amazing but that sales experience does leave you soured. PS. Tony the guy who did the initial walkthrough with us... i pointed out the plastic had a scratch on it, he said the nature of the plastic makes it easily scratchable, he then took his finger nail and scratched said plastic trim and said see! So now i drive around with Tony's signature on the bumper.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

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.

What in the world? This brand has treated you like garbage and driven you mad enough to post a multi part complaint. And you think moving to another brand would cause resentment? Bud, get another truck and move on. You won’t resent it. You’ll be happy you don’t have to worry about your car falling off a lift lol.

 

[cevans]

This is a superb post.

I empathize with this experience and go through this roller coaster of emotions daily.

I would call my relationship with the truck the epitome of “love/hate” with the added tweak that I REALLY want to love it.

The design, the packaging, I love it all. But the simple stuff - the “do you know how to build a vehicle stuff” - is infuriating.

I’m in the market for a three row. I want my R1T to be good so that I can choose an R1S…but then something else pops up and reminds me that the dream is not the reality.

 

[mzdds]

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…

My first Rivian mobile tech congratulated me after inspecting mine. He said ”yours was one of the real good builds based off the VIN”. Fortunately for me, I am sure he knows exactly what he meant.

 

[s4wrxttcs]

All my issues have been with Service appointment wait times, and having to come back to fit the same issue.

They have no sign off for saying "yes, this fixed the problem".

My 2022 R1T hasn't been trapped at a Service Center from long stretches, but its always had some issue since I bought it in 2022. I think right now is the only time I don't have a service ticket open.

Only now is it close to what it's supposed to be. I say close because after two attempts at fixing the front passenger side wind noise they finally have it mostly solved. You can still tell there is an issue on that side, but its not as prevalent as it was. It was fine for almost 2 years but one day it suddenly had a rather loud wind noise issue at highway speeds.

Assuming there isn't any major hiccup my plan is to keep my 2022 T1T until the R2 comes out or something equivalent.

I feel like my next car will either be some subscription service autonomous car (probably dreaming on this one) or a simpler form of the R1T/R1S. The R2 seems to fit what I want nicely.

Despite the issues Rivian has I'm still attracted to the brand. I like smaller companies, and I like having an all integrated UI.

Sure I'm still going to go "Man, I wish it had carplay" but it's not really that big of a deal. It's mostly because Rivians nav is laughably bad where Google/Apple maps are just mildly bad.

I probably would have stuck with Tesla if they're line up hadn't gotten utterly boring aside from the CyberTruck which is way too far in the love it or hate it category where I hate it.

The GMC Sierra is intriguing. I'm not sure that's really me though and I've never owned a GMC or even saw myself as one.

The Porsche Mecan EV I could see myself in, but not with Porsche pricing.

So maybe I like Rivian simply because I'm like "Meh" to all the other options.

Maybe if someone came out with a completely open source EV.

 

[Rividiculous]

On one hand, I think Rivian can get its s— together and make all these service issues a thing of the past. They need to invest big time though and they need to get it done before the R2 comes out. Maybe they need a build quality /service COO. I don’t want them taking their eye off of designing fantastic vehicles.

Vehicles break and no brand can achieve perfection but if the service experience becomes better, and newer builds prove more reliable people on this forum are going to notice. And more of our friends are going to be buying Rivian’s.

On the other hand, if Rivian isn’t committed tonight fixing things (pun intended), then c’mon VW, just buy them already and bring in the Porsche team. Will reliability be top ranked? No, but getting out of the reliability rankings cellar would certainly enhance Rivian’s appeal.

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