First look at @ “Introducing the R1 Shop” -- Rivian website to shop for R1T that delivers in 6-8 weeks

[John G.]

22 trucks available on the West Coast (Washington State).

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[Craigins]

Rivian can feel free to bump me to the front of the "build the truck you ordered" list. I would happily be an evangelist for them around Atlanta. Not that they have really ever gone out of their way to court me as a customer.

I've been on Rivian mailing lists since end of 2019, put in 2 preorders (8/20 and 4/21), live close-ish to where they are going to be theoretically building a plant, but somehow I never made the cut for any invites to anything. I had to stop by the SC myself and ask for a First Mile drive, which I only just got less than a month ago. I even work less than 1/2 mile from the capital where they have come several times to lobby Georgia for direct sales. Hell, one of GA's congressmen is a longtime family friend and I know 2 state senators. I would have HAPPILY swung by and advocated for Rivian.

Anyway, for me personally I have seen very little interest in retaining me as a customer with the notable exception of getting access to the Shop. This move definitely broke MO for them. Rivian definitely knows they have a boatload of orders and don't need to work on customer retention.

Best option: Tell us where we stand in line! I cant stand seeing people who ordered a year after me getting VINs and having no idea when my turn is coming. Next best would be a quick check-in every so often from my guide (or whoever) saying "Hey, we haven't forgotten about you. While I can't tell you exactly where you stand in line, I know trucks with your build are rolling off the line. So it hopefully won't be too much longer. Hang in there!"

I'm in the same boat as you, WITHOUT access to the shop (and I preordered a month earlier). However I'm not following your logic.

They have given you your place in line. Your "build the truck you ordered" is set for Oct-Nov, just like me. My guide confirmed that for me. I hadn't heard anything since I last asked for an update June 2nd, and he replied back Oct-Nov is my current time frame. So I went from, probably within 2 weeks on 5/12 to Oct-Nov. Starting to feel like godfodder.

The question we should be asking is why are they building so many vehicles people don't want. Seems to be the 20" vs 21"/22". They probably botched their uptake predictions on the "default" 21" and are now stuck trying to get rid of them to make room in the warehouse. Or perhaps Pirelli requires a certain order amount for their custom tires, and the pre-orders were not satisfying those conditions. Thus they have to build a bunch of junk configurations and hope people buy them off the shop to move things that people don't want.

Just like the computer parts market the last 2 years. Bundle garbage with what people want, forcing them to buy garbage to get the thing they really want, just so you can move inventory.

Doesn't make the customers feel great, but generates dollars.

 

[sickhews]

The question we should be asking is why are they building so many vehicles people don't want. Seems to be the 20" vs 21"/22". They probably botched their uptake predictions on the "default" 21" and are now stuck trying to get rid of them to make room in the warehouse. Or perhaps Pirelli requires a certain order amount for their custom tires, and the pre-orders were not satisfying those conditions. Thus they have to build a bunch of junk configurations and hope people buy them off the shop to move things that people don't want.

The crazy thing to me is, there are plenty of us that do want these trucks with 21”/22” wheels and they’re not delivering them (or I guess the people they’re delivering to don’t hang out online in places like this). They’d rather show these builds to people who clearly want their original config instead of selling them to other people.

 

[Gavinmcc]

all those 21s

are there AT tires that fit on those 21 rims?

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

The question we should be asking is why are they building so many vehicles people don't want. Seems to be the 20" vs 21"/22". They probably botched their uptake predictions on the "default" 21" and are now stuck trying to get rid of them to make room in the warehouse. Or perhaps Pirelli requires a certain order amount for their custom tires, and the pre-orders were not satisfying those conditions. Thus they have to build a bunch of junk configurations and hope people buy them off the shop to move things that people don't want.

Just like the computer parts market the last 2 years. Bundle garbage with what people want, forcing them to buy garbage to get the thing they really want, just so you can move inventory.

Doesn't make the customers feel great, but generates dollars.

My only nitpick with this statement is that I don't think there is any shortage of people who are willing to take a truck with 21" wheels, only that there are less of those among the LE crowd than the non-LE crowd since they don't have the free AT option. I think the reason there are so many 21" wheel configs in the shop that aren't being claimed is that most shop invites are going to LE reservation holders (due to the fact that most people with invites have '19/'20 preorder dates) who are much less likely to want the 21" wheels than their non-LE counterparts. Considering the monetary value of a LE truck, I'd certainly be hesitant to downgrade if I had an LE reservation as well.

 

[Craigins]

The crazy thing to me is, there are plenty of us that do want these trucks with 21”/22” wheels and they’re not delivering them (or I guess the people they’re delivering to don’t hang out online in places like this). They’d rather show these builds to people who clearly want their original config instead of selling them to other people.

Honestly it is a BS game of semantics.

Rivian: There isn't a parts shortage.

Translated: We can build vehicles to sell to customers, just with the parts that the early customers don't want.

In the past, they would go down the line and start delivering to the mid/late 21 early 22 folks that matched the config, and then the optics looks horrible. You're skipping over people that have been waiting years, while declaring "there is no part shortage".

So now, instead of allocating it to the late preorders, they dump them in the shops and give early preorders access to the shop. That way when a late preorder gets their truck, they can point to the shop and say "We gave you the chance".

When reality, they have a parts shortage for the orders they have on the books. (or in my post, the opposite, a parts excess that they need to get rid of).

 

[Atlrivian]

I'm in the same boat as you, WITHOUT access to the shop (and I preordered a month earlier). However I'm not following your logic.

They have given you your place in line. Your "build the truck you ordered" is set for Oct-Nov, just like me. My guide confirmed that for me. I hadn't heard anything since I last asked for an update June 2nd, and he replied back Oct-Nov is my current time frame. So I went from, probably within 2 weeks on 5/12 to Oct-Nov. Starting to feel like godfodder.

The question we should be asking is why are they building so many vehicles people don't want. Seems to be the 20" vs 21"/22". They probably botched their uptake predictions on the "default" 21" and are now stuck trying to get rid of them to make room in the warehouse. Or perhaps Pirelli requires a certain order amount for their custom tires, and the pre-orders were not satisfying those conditions. Thus they have to build a bunch of junk configurations and hope people buy them off the shop to move things that people don't want.

Just like the computer parts market the last 2 years. Bundle garbage with what people want, forcing them to buy garbage to get the thing they really want, just so you can move inventory.

Doesn't make the customers feel great, but generates dollars.

I admit I was fairly unclear. I was trying to say what you just did. If they have so much spare capacity to build so many intentional orphans, why can't they build our specific trucks? Unless.... they have a real shortage of the parts people actually want.

A different way of asking the question of where I stand in line is: What do we make of all the 2021/2 orders getting trucks now? Do they not "count" toeards Rivian's 25k 2022 trucks? Does the fact that they are getting trucks move us back in line? Or are the trucks they are getting "bonus trucks" that would otherwise have never been built?

 

[Craigins]

My only nitpick with this statement is that I don't think there is any shortage of people who are willing to take a truck with 21" wheels, only that there are less of those among the LE crowd than the non-LE crowd since they don't have the free AT option. I think the reason there are so many 21" wheel configs in the shop that aren't being claimed is that most shop invites are going to LE reservation holders (due to the fact that most people with invites have '19/'20 preorder dates) who are much less likely to want the 21" wheels than their non-LE counterparts. Considering the monetary value of a LE truck, I'd certainly be hesitant to downgrade if I had an LE reservation as well.

right, it is back to the optics of delivering a truck to a 1/21 order when a 12/19 order is waiting for a truck.

which loops back to, WHY are they producing so many 21"s if they are trying to deliver to early pre-order holders.

 

[Atlrivian]

right, it is back to the optics of delivering a truck to a 1/21 order when a 12/19 order is waiting for a truck.

which loops back to, WHY are they producing so many 21"s if they are trying to deliver to early pre-order holders.

I don't think they really care. A customer is a customer and FOR NOW they have an enormous backlog.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

right, it is back to the optics of delivering a truck to a 1/21 order when a 12/19 order is waiting for a truck.

which loops back to, WHY are they producing so many 21"s if they are trying to deliver to early pre-order holders.

There is most certainly an issue with 20" ATs that is limiting output whether Rivian admits it or not. I think at least one person here has referenced being told that (officially or unofficially) due to supply constraints. That said, Rivian is in a tight spot because they can't just shut down the line and not build trucks because they don't have one of the wheel options available but as you metioned the optics are also bad if they are delivering more to later orders while the earliest adopters are left waiting. Personally I think the store is a good compromise because those early orders who are more flexible have at least gotten preference over later orders and it takes away some of the "lottery" aspect that was causing a lot of problems in the spring. It's certainly not perfect though.

 

[Craigins]

A different way of asking the question of where I stand in line is: What do we make of all the 2021/2 orders getting trucks now? Do they not "count" towards Rivian's 25k 2022 trucks? Does the fact that they are getting trucks move us back in line? Or are the trucks they are getting "bonus trucks" that would otherwise have never been built?

Right, this is now my worry. That they are wasting parts building these vehicles and we'll be pushed back into 2023.

At this point, I'm expecting them to get to my vehicle and then tell me they no longer offer Launch Green, that they ran out.

Edit: So as to not derail the thread any longer, they are producing builds for the shop because of lack of parts (that they are mostly unwilling to admit) and trying to appease the older preorder holders, which really ends up just making almost everyone upset. The late preorder holders because the shop is filled with models nobody with shop access wants, and the new preorder holders that get to stare at their configs in the shop while they can do nothing.

The solution? Admit you have a f*****g parts shortage (like OC interior) and are building the vehicles you have parts for and that is why the newer preorder holders are getting their vehicles.

 

[Atlrivian]

Right, this is now my worry. That they are wasting parts building these vehicles and we'll be pushed back into 2023.

At this point, I'm expecting them to get to my vehicle and then tell me they no longer offer Launch Green, that they ran out.

Edit: So as to not derail the thread any longer, they are producing builds for the shop because of lack of parts (that they are mostly unwilling to admit) and trying to appease the older preorder holders, which really ends up just making almost everyone upset. The late preorder holders because the shop is filled with models nobody with shop access wants, and the new preorder holders that get to stare at their configs in the shop while they can do nothing.

The solution? Admit you have a f*****g parts shortage (like OC interior) and are building the vehicles you have parts for and that is why the newer preorder holders are getting their vehicles.

I think about the whole OC thing differently. Per Rivian the OC didn't meet their QC standards from the supplier. That sounds like not quite Rivian's fault.

Not ordering enough ATs would be a whole different kind of dumb. Nothing like marketing yourself as an adventure vehicle, and not being able to sell said adventure trim vehicle. Of course it could be Pirelli's issue, etc.

As someone who started as a Max pack, I just cant shake the feeling that I'm continually being strung along for a bait and switch (which is how I view the Shop).

Jumping back on topic, the more I think about your suggestion that Shop allocation goes to number of undelivered preorders, the more it makes sense. Lending credence: there is only one service center in the southeast. It only recently came fully online. Anecdotally, almost everyone I have heard of around here wants the offroad package with ATs. That would be in creeping with our local truck culture.

 

[Craigins]

I think about the whole OC thing differently. Per Rivian the OC didn't meet their QC standards from the supplier. That sounds like not quite Rivian's fault.

Not ordering enough ATs would be a whole different kind of dumb. Nothing like marketing yourself as an adventure vehicle, and not being able to sell said adventure trim vehicle. Of course it could be Pirelli's issue, etc.

As someone who started as a Max pack, I just cant shake the feeling that I'm continually being strung along for a bait and switch (which is how I view the Shop).

Jumping back on topic, the more I think about your suggestion that Shop allocation goes to number of undelivered preorders, the more it makes sense. Lending credence: there is only one service center in the southeast. It only recently came fully online. Anecdotally, almost everyone I have heard of around here wants the offroad package with ATs. That would be in creeping with our local truck culture.

And then You see this

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/oct-dec-2022-delivery-windows.4880/post-177968

 

[Atlrivian]

And then You see this

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/oct-dec-2022-delivery-windows.4880/post-177968

Yes extremely frustrating given their preorder date.

Just a feeling from the way my guide worded some responses, but I get a strong feeling that Underbody Shields are just as big a choke point as the 20s. So combining the two is very problematic. I'm going to give it another round or two of emails to my guide (I check in once a week) and then likely ditch the
Underbody Shield. I'm hoping I can find an aftermarket solution in a year or two.

 

[dleepnw]

22 trucks available on the West Coast (Washington State).

bruh... just give me access to the Shop Rivian and I'll go ahead and pick one of these.

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