Rivian Air Suspension concerns?

[SoCal Rob]

Yup, I will. Churning through EVs "just because" kinda defeats the point of an EV. And, incidentally, whose buying the Rivian that needs $15,000 in air ride repairs over the Lightning?

It seems unlikely that you’ll spend $15,000 on air suspension system repairs unless you have to replace every single component more than once, based on my experience. Of course prices go up over time so… maybe that will be a realistic replacement price in the near future?

To answer your question, buyers looking for the advantages provided by a Rivian in acceleration, handling, features, ride comfort, and off-road capability will probably pay more for a Rivian, or any other vehicle with one or more of these advantages than a Lightning when they are shopping used.

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[Bullitt]

That would be like buying a Ferrari and swapping in a Honda F20C because the Ferrari motor needs to be rebuilt every 3-5 years.

While not what you were expecting, can’t wait to see how swapping a Honda into a Ferrari works out!
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a36330800/k-swapped-ferrari-308-build/

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Heard a lot about the LR long-term issues with air suspensions. I looked at a Defender before putting my deposit down on the R1S. Cracked windshield, cracked rear window, sudden power loss and owners ok with keeping a wrench to remove the battery cable to manage problems; made me rethink my decision. Also, the mark-ups of +50k on a 8cl model didn't help. I wanted to love the Defender but it just wasn't meant to be.

I've had none of those problems ? That's the thing with statistics - you never know where you'll fall. I'm on my third air suspension vehicle and have never had an issue with it in any of them. I have had plenty of other issues with my LRs, but that's luckily not been one of them.

I'm not concerned over the suspension on the R1T, and like others, view it as a selling point. I love air suspension - better ride, adjustability, etc etc. Failure rate statistics seem acceptable to me, but to each their own.

 

[skyote]

This pic is from 2019, but here is a decent look. The supplier is Dunlop Systems (confirmed late 2020). Looks to me like it would be pretty tough to retro a coil spring in there...

You would definitely need a module or "hack" to trick the SW, but I know similar things have been done on many different vehicles for a multitude of reasons.

 

[opnwide]

Man,this whole Rivian deal is killing me!

 

[skyote]

Man,this whole Rivian deal is killing me!

And I thought that skateboard was sexy before...

 

[timf]

As a point of reference, the air suspension just went out on my Model X. Based on remote diagnostics they are estimating I need a new compressor and 2 front air springs for $3200 total. The system performed reliably for the first 5 years but the last few months it sounded like the compressor was running more frequently suggesting a leak.

I'm really regretting not trading the Model X in a year ago when I had the chance. Had I known Rivian would keep delaying and EVs don't depreciate like they used to, it would have been an easy call. After this experience I think I'll be leery of keeping the R1S beyond its factory warranty period.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Based on remote diagnostics they are estimating I need a new compressor and 2 front air springs for $3200 total. The system performed reliably for the first 5 years but the last few months it sounded like the compressor was running more frequently suggesting a leak.

Our Land Rover displays a warning if there are extended compressor run times or slow rates of change. I don’t recall the exact wording. This lets you know to get the system checked/serviced.

I’m surprised Tesla doesn’t do something similar. I hope Rivian lets us know about potential leaks before killing the compressor from overuse.

 

[opnwide]

Go to 19:50 in the Edmunds review..."ride height change not possible due to overheated air compressor." Makes the hairs I don't have on top of my head stand up and gives me Land Rover twitches...

 

[SoCal Rob]

Go to 19:50 in the Edmunds review..."ride height change not possible due to overheated air compressor." Makes the hairs I don't have on top of my head stand up and gives me Land Rover twitches...

I see that as a good thing, potentially. The fact that the system is notifying the driver of the issue in plain language and forcing the system to allow the compressor to cool off is great! Especially compared to @timf’s Tesla, which seems to have allowed the compressor to be damaged through what was probably overuse and overheating from a leak, without notifying the driver.

Beyond that, my pressing question is: Why did it overheat? If someone was taking the vehicle from lowest setting to highest over and over again to test or play then I’m not too concerned. Maybe each of their shots involved several takes back-to-back? If they were using the system as it would typically be used and then got the error I’d be concerned. I’d like more information about this before thinking that this has the potential to be a common issue.

For our use, if normal operations can overheat the compressor then I suspect we’ll trip across the warning in short order when going off-road in 120F+ temps.

edit: typos

 

[opnwide]

I see that as a good thing, potentially. The fact that the system is notifying the driver of the issue in plain language and forcing the system to allow the compressor to cool off is great! Especially compared to @timf’s Tesla, which seems to have allowed the compressor to be damaged through what was probably overuse and overheating from a leak, without notifying the driver.

Beyond that, my pressing question is: Why did it overheat? If someone was taking the vehicle from lowest setting to highest over and over again to test or play then I’m not too concerned. Maybe each of their shots involved several takes back-to-back? If they were using the system as it would typically be used and then got the error I’d be concerned. I’d like more information about this before thinking that this has the potential to be a common issue.

For our use, if normal operations can overheat the compressor then I suspect we’ll trip across the warning in short order when going off-road in 120F+ temps.

edit: typos

Lol! perspective I guess...both my LR3 and my RRSport gave me suspension fault warnings all the time. Still ended up costing me tens of thousands of dollars in repairs that were never fully resolved in my Sport especially.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Lol! perspective I guess...both my LR3 and my RRSport gave me suspension fault warnings all the time. Still ended up costing me tens of thousands of dollars in repairs that were never fully resolved in my Sport especially.

From my perspective this sounds like a dealer problem more than a vehicle problem. If your Land Rover dealer couldn’t ever fix an air suspension issue for you then you are more patient than I am. Especially after $20,000+ of repairs!!!

 

[Inkedsphynx]

LR dealers are pretty bad. Still better than non-luxury brands from my experience, but still bad. I've never had a 'good' dealer experience.

 

[opnwide]

From my perspective this sounds like a dealer problem more than a vehicle problem. If your Land Rover dealer couldn’t ever fix an air suspension issue for you then you are more patient than I am. Especially after $20,000+ of repairs!!!

Two different LR dealers and one British independent. (I won’t rehash the earlier posts, but air suspension diagnostics are done by installing new parts and “and seeing if that worked”). Fingers crossed for the R1’s!!

 

[SANZC02]

As a point of reference, the air suspension just went out on my Model X. Based on remote diagnostics they are estimating I need a new compressor and 2 front air springs for $3200 total. The system performed reliably for the first 5 years but the last few months it sounded like the compressor was running more frequently suggesting a leak.

I'm really regretting not trading the Model X in a year ago when I had the chance. Had I known Rivian would keep delaying and EVs don't depreciate like they used to, it would have been an easy call. After this experience I think I'll be leery of keeping the R1S beyond its factory warranty period.

This thought process always surprises me. I can see replacing a vehicle when you lose faith in it, you tire of it, or your use case changes. Even if you just want the new vehicle but never really understood getting rid of it because the warrenty ran out.

Let’s say after tax and license you end up paying 85k for a Rivian, it has a 5 year warrenty if you drive less than 12k a year. Spread that cost out over 5 years and it is 1,417 dollars a month, let’s say you trade in the current vehicle and only pay half, that is 708 dollars a month. Unless over the next 5 years with the current vehicle you are paying more than that much a month in repairs you are losing money getting a new vehicle with a warrenty.

Example if you are in the 708 a month rate and the only repair was 3200 for the air suspension for the entire year you save 5200 for that year (708 x 12) -3200.

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