R2 Configurator is Live! 🎉 What's your configuration?

[RWerksman]

Im unsure why you and others feel this way. I built an iX3 and it was mid $70s to get it to R2 LE level of equipment….and it’s way slower. I’ll pass. R2 is a steal.

I think you missed the point.

Paint options on a more expensive BMW iX3 are still less.
Paint options on a wildly more expensive Taycan, from a company that nickles and dimes you for everything, are less.

Neither of those should be the case. Rivian paint options don't have to be less, but they shouldn't be that much more either.


I'd also say that even if you disagree, it's pretty clear by this thread and other discussions on the internet, that the pricing of the paint is shifting the narrative on what is almost certainly a wonderful vehicle more negative. Today should be nearly universally celebratory & exciting.


R1 configurator launch was HYPE for those of us who had a preorder. It created loads of excitement and it drove loads more reservations. It was palpable. Was this?

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[Just Passing By]

I think you missed the point.

Paint options on a more expensive BMW iX3 are still less.
Paint options on a wildly more expensive Taycan, from a company that nickles and dimes you for everything, are less.

Neither of those should be the case. Rivian paint options don't have to be less, but they shouldn't be that much more either.


I'd also say that even if you disagree, it's pretty clear by this thread and other discussions on the internet, that the pricing of the paint is shifting the narrative on what is almost certainly a wonderful vehicle more negative. Today should be nearly universally celebratory & exciting.


R1 configurator launch was HYPE for those of us who had a preorder. It created loads of excitement and it drove loads more reservations. It was palpable. Was this?

Why should Rivian's pricing automatically be in lock step with other manufacturers? Should they also charge for all the options the other manufacturers do? Should they copy the competitors' nickle and diming too? And stating that paint pricing is changing the narrative is such a ridiculous extrapolation based on the limited commentary on the internet versus the size of the US car buying population.

The only thing that matters is what the total out-the-door price is for a Rivian R2 spec'd the way a buyer wants it, versus whatever else they are considering as an option, or versus their budget. If Rivian didn't charge what they are for the paint then they'd be building the extra margin in somewhere else and maybe the base price would be higher instead.

 

[rbdavis808]

Don't really get all the hoo-hah over the paint pricing, etc. Is Rivian trying to steal market share from Porsche or BMW? Or maybe from somebody else? And what does that somebody else charge for paint? Uhhh, $1-2k? White interior? $1k, you say? Boy am I pissed, think I'll take my $60k and put it down on a Spectre as they offer over a dozen colors standard!

This is like arguing at the pizza parlor over the topping charges. Price what you want in toto, then buy it or don't in comparison to what you can get across the street.

 

[DuoRivian]

Why should Rivian's pricing automatically be in lock step with other manufacturers? Should they also charge for all the options the other manufacturers do? Should they copy the competitors' nickle and diming too? And stating that paint pricing is changing the narrative is such a ridiculous extrapolation based on the limited commentary on the internet versus the size of the US car buying population.

The only thing that matters is what the total out-the-door price is for a Rivian R2 spec'd the way a buyer wants it, versus whatever else they are considering as an option, or versus their budget. If Rivian didn't charge what they are for the paint then they'd be building the extra margin in somewhere else and maybe the base price would be higher instead.

BMW may “buckle and dime”
As you call it but the Volvo EX60 has a comparable spec (glass roof, heated/cooled seats etc) and their paint prices and interior color changes will be cheaper too.

I can understand Rivian wanting to make more profit (this is almost all pure margin) and we will see if it impacts sales as we go into late 2027 once initial reservations start to dwindle. They have competition from BMW and Volvo at one end and the rest of the market at the lower price points.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I think you missed the point.

Paint options on a more expensive BMW iX3 are still less.
Paint options on a wildly more expensive Taycan, from a company that nickles and dimes you for everything, are less.

Neither of those should be the case. Rivian paint options don't have to be less, but they shouldn't be that much more either.


I'd also say that even if you disagree, it's pretty clear by this thread and other discussions on the internet, that the pricing of the paint is shifting the narrative on what is almost certainly a wonderful vehicle more negative. Today should be nearly universally celebratory & exciting.


R1 configurator launch was HYPE for those of us who had a preorder. It created loads of excitement and it drove loads more reservations. It was palpable. Was this?

You can have a totally reasonable opinion that Rivian's paint upcharges feel steep, that's fair.
However, comparing Rivian's paint pricing to a BMW iX3 or Porsche Taycan is making a false equivalence: it assumes that option pricing scales linearly with vehicle MSRP, but that's not how manufacturing economics work, which I'd hope you'd know given your business. Paint costs are driven by pigment complexity, application process, quality control standards, and production volume, not by what the base car costs. A niche, low-volume manufacturer like Rivian has fundamentally different cost structures than BMW or Porsche, who are painting hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year and have amortized those specialty paint line costs across massive scale. Rivian doesn't get that luxury yet. The comparison is apples to oranges.

Invoking Porsche's reputation for aggressive option pricing is a red herring and actually undermines the argument. If even Porsche, notorious for charging for things like a rear wiper and a clock, prices paint lower, the implication is that Rivian is being more predatory than Porsche. But this ignores that Porsche's paint prices are set against a $100K+ base price where margins are enormous.

"They shouldn't be that much more" is just your preference dressed up as logic. More than what, exactly? Your post never establishes a principled benchmark for what paint should cost. It simply gestures at competitors' numbers and declares Rivian's too high.

The claim that paint pricing is "shifting the narrative negative" and that the launch day "should be nearly universally celebratory" is just one forum poster looking to validate opinion: "I'm right because so many others feel the way I do" - you're disappointed. Rivian has failed you - but you can't extrapolate that logically to "Rivian has failed everybody."

 

[mellowthecat]

You can have a totally reasonable opinion that Rivian's paint upcharges feel steep, that's fair.
However, comparing Rivian's paint pricing to a BMW iX3 or Porsche Taycan is making a false equivalence: it assumes that option pricing scales linearly with vehicle MSRP, but that's not how manufacturing economics work, which I'd hope you'd know given your business. Paint costs are driven by pigment complexity, application process, quality control standards, and production volume, not by what the base car costs. A niche, low-volume manufacturer like Rivian has fundamentally different cost structures than BMW or Porsche, who are painting hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year and have amortized those specialty paint line costs across massive scale. Rivian doesn't get that luxury yet. The comparison is apples to oranges.

Invoking Porsche's reputation for aggressive option pricing is a red herring and actually undermines the argument. If even Porsche, notorious for charging for things like a rear wiper and a clock, prices paint lower, the implication is that Rivian is being more predatory than Porsche. But this ignores that Porsche's paint prices are set against a $100K+ base price where margins are enormous.

"They shouldn't be that much more" is just your preference dressed up as logic. More than what, exactly? Your post never establishes a principled benchmark for what paint should cost. It simply gestures at competitors' numbers and declares Rivian's too high.

The claim that paint pricing is "shifting the narrative negative" and that the launch day "should be nearly universally celebratory" is just one forum poster looking to validate opinion: "I'm right because so many others feel the way I do" - you're disappointed. Rivian has failed you - but you can't extrapolate that logically to "Rivian has failed everybody."

A lot of users on Reddit unhappy about about the paint situation. I don’t think it’s just one person’s disappointment.

I do think the paint price is high but is being overblown, and I think certain people are using paint as the hill they will die on when they probably had other reservations coming in.

I think, and what I think is worth about as much as horse manure, everyone should be comparing their equipped R2 to their equipped Toyobaru, EX60, or iX3 and decide if they think the R2 is worth it. Mine was $5k difference and though a certain car was equipped at $5k more. I thought it was worth at least that much more.

Another factor in the disappointment is it seems like there may be a lot of people stretching to get themselves into an R2, especially on Reddit. But paint is only 3% of the total purchase price. If I am not going to buy something because of a 3% option, I probably wasn’t going to buy it anyway or was stretching too far to get into it.

every manufacturer has options. Expensive ones, cheap ones, nickel and dime options. Everyone should be looking at the package built for themselves rather than parsing out options and splitting hairs on whether that it is a value or not. Value is different to everyone. I actually thought paint wasn’t terrible and about what I thought it would be

 

[Mos Eisley]

A lot of users on Reddit unhappy about about the paint situation. I don’t think it’s just one person’s disappointment.

Understand - and never said it's one person. Social media and forums represent a tiny fraction of the buyer base. Yup- paint is expensive on the Rivian - Yup- it's raised some eyebrows. But I surmise, just my opinion, it will barely dampen enthusiasm for R2.

 

[Jeremy3292]

I can’t believe everyone is tripping out over the R2 paint prices They’re the same price as Tesla and they’re all a $1,000 less than the same paint in R1. So hilarious bc I’m sure a lot of people here paid for the paint when they bought a Tesla and/or R1 as most people on here had/have one of those vehicles before. Internet is a funny place to be!

 

[dduffey]

New option to use in your account (for non-Rivian Leases)

Dang!

My daughter turned 16 and we were waiting to get my wife an R2 (so daughter could have her car) ... but if priority is going to lease holders and everyone else pushed back then it looks like there is no point in waiting and just buying my wife something else (we don't lease).

Sucks because if we did lease we could always extend the lease, but we don't really have an option here.

Bummed!

 

[DevSecOps]

Dang!

My daughter turned 16 and we were waiting to get my wife an R2 (so daughter could have her car) ... but if priority is going to lease holders and everyone else pushed back then it looks like there is no point in waiting and just buying my wife something else (we don't lease).

Sucks because if we did lease we could always extend the lease, but we don't really have an option here.

Bummed!

No where in that does it say priority goes to lease holders. It could actually be the opposite; if you have reservation but your lease doesn't end until, let's say, December they could push you back in the list to coincide with the term of the lease.

Even if they did prioritize some it would likely deprioritize others leading to a wash. The only thing confirmed for prioritization is current ownership of an R1.

With all these "supposed" reservation holders crying about paint pricing sounds like those of us who don't care about 2k on a 60k vehicle will be sliding into a early spot anyway.

 

[dduffey]

No where in that does it say priority goes to lease holders. It could actually be the opposite; if you have reservation but your lease doesn't end until, let's say, December they could push you back in the list to coincide with the term of the lease.

Even if they did prioritize some it would likely deprioritize others leading to a wash. The only thing confirmed for prioritization is current ownership of an R1.

With all these "supposed" reservation holders crying about paint pricing sounds like those of us who don't care about 2k on a 60k vehicle will be sliding into a early spot anyway.

It literally says "lease ending soon? We will consider that" ... That is clearly prioritizing leases ending soon.

Whether someone has late lease or no lease doesn't prioritize them in that statement. If anything, it will create a "queue starving" effect where there will always be someones lease coming up "soon" (including that December lease) given the volume.

This in no way "becomes a wash" for non lease holders.

 

[DevSecOps]

It literally says "lease ending soon? We will consider that" ... That is clearly prioritizing leases ending soon.

Whether someone has late lease or no lease doesn't prioritize them in that statement. If anything, it will create a "queue starving" effect where there will always be someones lease coming up "soon" (including that December lease) given the volume.

This in no way "becomes a wash" for non lease olders.

Equal treatment and prioritization are conceptually distinct: to consider something equal is to treat all items the same, while to prioritize is to rank items by importance.

You're hanging your hat on a single word and there's zero confirmation of your interpretation of that word.

You're choosing to look at it negatively without confirmation of anything from Rivian. Could you be correct, sure, but you could be wrong. I wouldn't base buying another car off of an interpretation of the word consider without confirmation that it has any outcome of your place in line.

 

[dduffey]

Equal treatment and prioritization are conceptually distinct: to consider something equal is to treat all items the same, while to prioritize is to rank items by importance.

You're hanging your hat on a single word and there's zero confirmation of your interpretation of that word.

I would agree with you if production wasn't limited/ramping or if they didn't clearly call out considering of timing for leases expiring soon.

I too believe existing R1 owners are prioritized and I am an early R1T VIN owner.

But that doesn't change that R1 owners who having a lease ending soon will be considered in timing (i.e. placed in line sooner).

 

[R1S88]

I wonder if it would have been better for Rivian to have just made the price 2k higher and said the premium paint was "free." Either way it's the same price, but optically, people seem to be upset about paying "more" for paint. The price is the price, unless you want the discount for silver, which they can produce in more volume. Is it better marketing to have a lower headline price and a paint upcharge, or a higher headline price and no upcharge?

 

[DevSecOps]

But that doesn't change that R1 owners who having a lease ending soon will be considered in timing (i.e. placed in line sooner).

That actually proves my point. Rivian started leasing November 27, 2023. Therefore those leases won't be coming to term until the end of the year at the very earliest. Anyone who is in line for an R2 who is one of those current lease holders will probably get pushed back if they intend on swapping their vehicles.

All I'm saying is that it could actually open up more early spots. We just don't know and Rivian hasn't said anything to confirm.

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