500-800 miles from Service Center......from those with Rivian experience....how risky will this be?

[Joules Burn]

Don't they have a 200 mile purchase restriction from a service center?

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[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Hello all. New member here.

My wife and I are retired in the mountains of southern NM about 90 miles north of El Paso. We love it here but of course are a long way from civilization, especially any current Rivian Service centers. We are EV curious and would really love to pick up a great EV while we are still young enough to enjoy it. We will have 2 other cars to go along with whatever EV we buy (if any). One will be a trouble free medium size SUV that can easily be our travel car if we do not want to deal with charging. The other is currently my BRZ for fun. So we can deal with any short term hiccups with an EV. The Rivian R2 will easily meet our needs for local travel and we would likely take on some trips that are not too long. However.......

The 2 closest service centers are Phoenix and Dallas/Austin/Houston. We are 500 miles from Phoenix where my mom recently passed and I no longer have any real reasons to go there. And 800 miles from Houston where we have 2 kids and 4 grandkids. We don't really have any reason to go to Austin or Dallas. We will probably go to Houston fairly often and can bring the Rivian as needed. It is unclear whether any more centers will be built say in El Paso or Albuquerque any time soon.

I am not very concerned if we need to occasionally visit the service center in Houston with any niggling more minor issues that might crop up in a new model. However, I am very concerned with any issues that would make the vehicle undriveable for an 800 mile trip.

So I thought I would ask you august and wise forum members whether you think it is worth the risk to buy a R2? We currently have an April 2024 reservation date which probably won't come up for awhile for the Launch Edition which is the one we would get. By nature I do not mind taking a little risk for an interesting life experience. But having to say tow the Rivian 800 miles, perhaps multiple times in the vehicles lifetime is not my idea of fun...and waaaay expensive And I am not certain that Rivian would pay for the tow even if it was a warranty item. Modern ICE vehicles have been amazingly reliable and we have not had any ICE issues that made a vehicle undriveable for over 30 years. I have heard stories of some problems with R1's that have made them undriveable, and that makes me nervous.

So what say you oh wise ones!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice you might share.

Best,

Mark

IMO, if you're asking this, you already know the answer. You may have no problems and it's a non-issue. But when you do run into problems, 500-800 miles worth of major pain in the ass. Pretty straight-forward. Mobile service is either a R1T or a Rivian van. They can only do minor things that do not require more than one tech, do not require a shop lift or do not require shop equipment that can't fit in their mobile service vehicles.

 

[LR4toR1S]

I'll add that generally most issues don't prevent your car/truck from being able to be driven. They can be super annoying or

I have a very early Gen2 R1S.....I think I may have one of the most problem prone Gen 2s to have ever been built. Its been a brutal experience. This coming from a LR4 Land Rover owner.

 

[josh0]

I’d say it’s really up to your tolerance for road trips. I’ve made the drive from Abiquiu to the Colorado Springs service center several times (about 330 miles). It’s a beautiful drive, and I’ve generally just made a little road trip out of it and had fun. In my 3 years of Rivian ownership I have never once encountered an issue that prevented me from driving, or even put me in turtle mode. You hear some horror stories on the forums, but the simple fact is that nobody reports it when nothing goes wrong, which is the majority of the time, so things are always going to sound worse than they actually are.

 

[lefkonj]

It's a crapshoot when buying from Rivian. I've met owners with 100k miles and zero service center visits. My truck is in the service center about every 45 days on average. Most are somewhere in the middle, with I would say the majority being less frequent than mine, but not zero.

I have a first gen R1. If it's any indication of how Rivian launches a vehicle platform (which is the only real indication we have), then I wouldn't buy a first generation platform from them when 10+hrs from a service center.

Couldn't disagree more. I know this is your personal experience but I have had 2 R1s in 3.5 years. Aside from an original problem 3.5 years ago my vehicles only have required service for tires. I didn't take it to Rivian I took it locally and twice had mobile service perform it on my driveway. While I get the issues people had with the R1 in the very beginning I would believe that won't be the same with the R2. I would gladly take a R2 right now or another R1, has been an amazing vehicle for us. I wouldn't hesitate at all even with the distance. Just get a charger installed in your garage well before you take delivery so that is done and done.

 

[DuoRivians]

Don’t do it. It’s way too far. And there are good EVs from others too.

 

[Hillbilly]

Hello all. New member here.

My wife and I are retired in the mountains of southern NM about 90 miles north of El Paso. We love it here but of course are a long way from civilization, especially any current Rivian Service centers. We are EV curious and would really love to pick up a great EV while we are still young enough to enjoy it. We will have 2 other cars to go along with whatever EV we buy (if any). One will be a trouble free medium size SUV that can easily be our travel car if we do not want to deal with charging. The other is currently my BRZ for fun. So we can deal with any short term hiccups with an EV. The Rivian R2 will easily meet our needs for local travel and we would likely take on some trips that are not too long. However.......

The 2 closest service centers are Phoenix and Dallas/Austin/Houston. We are 500 miles from Phoenix where my mom recently passed and I no longer have any real reasons to go there. And 800 miles from Houston where we have 2 kids and 4 grandkids. We don't really have any reason to go to Austin or Dallas. We will probably go to Houston fairly often and can bring the Rivian as needed. It is unclear whether any more centers will be built say in El Paso or Albuquerque any time soon.

I am not very concerned if we need to occasionally visit the service center in Houston with any niggling more minor issues that might crop up in a new model. However, I am very concerned with any issues that would make the vehicle undriveable for an 800 mile trip.

So I thought I would ask you august and wise forum members whether you think it is worth the risk to buy a R2? We currently have an April 2024 reservation date which probably won't come up for awhile for the Launch Edition which is the one we would get. By nature I do not mind taking a little risk for an interesting life experience. But having to say tow the Rivian 800 miles, perhaps multiple times in the vehicles lifetime is not my idea of fun...and waaaay expensive And I am not certain that Rivian would pay for the tow even if it was a warranty item. Modern ICE vehicles have been amazingly reliable and we have not had any ICE issues that made a vehicle undriveable for over 30 years. I have heard stories of some problems with R1's that have made them undriveable, and that makes me nervous.

So what say you oh wise ones!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice you might share.

Best,

Mark

The worst part is that the last couple of times I've taken ours in to the service centers for work, they effed it up and either wasted my time and the trip or didn't fully do the job correctly which will necessitate bringing it back in. Our earlier experiences in owning a Rivian were better with service, now, we're questioning whether we want to remain loyal. Already cancelled our R2 reservation.

Good luck.

 

[Time2Roll]

Get the Rivian. Worst case rent a trailer to haul it in for service.

 

[skyguyscott]

Oh wow. I did not realize that the mobile service guys were stationed around the country vs being dispatched from service centers. That makes it sound more liveable.

We live just east of Cloudcroft. Do you think they would come here? What type of services have you had performed?

Also, I do a lot of my own work.....can we for instance change out the 12v battery when the time comes ourselves, or is there special calibration required with factory tools?

 

[skyguyscott]

One test I had performed in the past when evaluating a new company is that I will call them up on the phone. Depending on the number they give you, this will either send you directly to sales or to a phone tree where you press one for sales two for service, etc. I first contact the sales office and see how quickly they pick up. Then I call back and select service and compare the pick up times. I would certainly call Rivian directly and ask them point blank if your situation is viable. They may not know, or declined to give you an answer, or give you incorrect information, but there is a chance they may actually give you honest and accurate information. I would also contact them via Web chat and perform the same tests and ask them the same questions and compare the answers from the chat versus the phone. That I would take all of these test results add them to what answers you get here and make a judgment call.

I have had my 2026 R1 T for about 10 months and have had zero serious problems. I did take it into the service center to have the tires rotated and to fix some noise coming from the driver side window. It’s about an 80 mile drive for me, but it took two trips because they did not have the window parts on the first visit my local service center treated me well and the folks there seemed gracious and welcoming.

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

Hello all. New member here.

My wife and I are retired in the mountains of southern NM about 90 miles north of El Paso. We love it here but of course are a long way from civilization, especially any current Rivian Service centers. We are EV curious and would really love to pick up a great EV while we are still young enough to enjoy it. We will have 2 other cars to go along with whatever EV we buy (if any). One will be a trouble free medium size SUV that can easily be our travel car if we do not want to deal with charging. The other is currently my BRZ for fun. So we can deal with any short term hiccups with an EV. The Rivian R2 will easily meet our needs for local travel and we would likely take on some trips that are not too long. However.......

The 2 closest service centers are Phoenix and Dallas/Austin/Houston. We are 500 miles from Phoenix where my mom recently passed and I no longer have any real reasons to go there. And 800 miles from Houston where we have 2 kids and 4 grandkids. We don't really have any reason to go to Austin or Dallas. We will probably go to Houston fairly often and can bring the Rivian as needed. It is unclear whether any more centers will be built say in El Paso or Albuquerque any time soon.

I am not very concerned if we need to occasionally visit the service center in Houston with any niggling more minor issues that might crop up in a new model. However, I am very concerned with any issues that would make the vehicle undriveable for an 800 mile trip.

So I thought I would ask you august and wise forum members whether you think it is worth the risk to buy a R2? We currently have an April 2024 reservation date which probably won't come up for awhile for the Launch Edition which is the one we would get. By nature I do not mind taking a little risk for an interesting life experience. But having to say tow the Rivian 800 miles, perhaps multiple times in the vehicles lifetime is not my idea of fun...and waaaay expensive And I am not certain that Rivian would pay for the tow even if it was a warranty item. Modern ICE vehicles have been amazingly reliable and we have not had any ICE issues that made a vehicle undriveable for over 30 years. I have heard stories of some problems with R1's that have made them undriveable, and that makes me nervous.

So what say you oh wise ones!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice you might share.

Best,

Mark

We have no idea what the reliability of the R2 will be. Hopefully much better than the R1 line. Any new model of vehicle is bound to have bugs though. Maybe wait for the second generation R2 or a mid-cycle refresh? There will definitely be more reviews and data at that point.

 

[mferring]

Warranty work - especially for an issue that has the vehicle underivable, they absolutely will cover towing costs.

I certainly hope so. But I was very clear with the Houston rep and he said that even if it is a warranty item they may not tow it.

I also read of a case where they had to tow from Alaska to Seattle and the owner had to pay. But that might not have been a warranty item.

 

[mferring]

One test I had performed in the past when evaluating a new company is that I will call them up on the phone. Depending on the number they give you, this will either send you directly to sales or to a phone tree where you press one for sales two for service, etc. I first contact the sales office and see how quickly they pick up. Then I call back and select service and compare the pick up times. I would certainly call Rivian directly and ask them point blank if your situation is viable. They may not know, or declined to give you an answer, or give you incorrect information, but there is a chance they may actually give you honest and accurate information. I would also contact them via Web chat and perform the same tests and ask them the same questions and compare the answers from the chat versus the phone. That I would take all of these test results add them to what answers you get here and make a judgment call.

I have had my 2026 R1 T for about 10 months and have had zero serious problems. I did take it into the service center to have the tires rotated and to fix some noise coming from the driver side window. It’s about an 80 mile drive for me, but it took two trips because they did not have the window parts on the first visit my local service center treated me well and the folks there seemed gracious and welcoming.

Good advice. I will definitely discuss this with them again when my reservation number comes up.

 

[mferring]

Don't they have a 200 mile purchase restriction from a service center?

I don't think so. The Houston rep said that they have customers from Lousiana.

 

[mferring]

Couldn't disagree more. I know this is your personal experience but I have had 2 R1s in 3.5 years. Aside from an original problem 3.5 years ago my vehicles only have required service for tires. I didn't take it to Rivian I took it locally and twice had mobile service perform it on my driveway. While I get the issues people had with the R1 in the very beginning I would believe that won't be the same with the R2. I would gladly take a R2 right now or another R1, has been an amazing vehicle for us. I wouldn't hesitate at all even with the distance. Just get a charger installed in your garage well before you take delivery so that is done and done.

Thanks for this. We already have a level 2 charger capability with Nema 14-50 plug, so we are good there.

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