Rivians Are Not Avaiable in All Areas

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I have to admit, the closest service center to me is 2.5 hours away from me. It does leave me wondering if Rivian will be a good long term solution for me. I still plan on taking delivery, but if I needed two service visits in a short amount of time, I would probably consider something else.

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[Joe schmoe]

We have just received a letter from the Rivian Customer Engagement Center. We had inquired as to why we had not received an invitation into the R1 Shop. We had also asked why we did not have a guide assigned as we were one of the very earliest adopters on November 28, 2018.

We were told that our preorder date was meaningless because we live in a very rural area, hundreds of miles from any of the Rivian Service Centers. The letter went on to say that Rivian is prioritizing deliveries to customers in or near major cities where Rivian has service infrastructure in place.

We are very bummed about this turn of events. I have attached the letter from Rivian for everyone to look at.

Brian

i know it doesn’t help much, but I feel your pain. My preorder was placed in late 2019, and I’m still waiting, no guide contact, and I live perhaps a 10 minute drive from a service center.

I agree with others that I wouldn’t characterize Santa Rosa beach as “very rural.” We have a second home near you in Miramar beach and from the traffic you certainly wouldn’t call it rural. we were there last weekend, and someone notice my Rivian ball cap, told me they’d seen two locally.

 

[ciderarchitect]

We already know there are others who have taken delivery that live at least as far from a SC as @moosetags. The question is, did those people list their rural address or some other address closer to an SC to get their truck sooner?

This sucks, but is at least a little more transparent. Looks like @moosetags is about 300 miles from the nearest service center in Atlanta, and I’m 290 miles from the nearest service center in Bellevue. There is a guy two miles from me that got a truck in June, but it appears they are adjusting their approach to minimize the ancillary costs in servicing these vehicles under warranty. My preorder isn’t 3+ years old like some here, but I am still disappointed that my Oct-Dec delivery window may not be legit. Just highlights the hurdles of creating an automotive company from the ground up, though I am concerned as to how long Rivian can realistically hold to pre-March 1 pricing…

 

[Count Orlok]

Thanks for posting this; helps confirm the observation that reservation date is meaningless.

 

[ads75]

This sucks, but is at least a little more transparent. Looks like @moosetags is about 300 miles from the nearest service center in Atlanta, and I’m 290 miles from the nearest service center in Bellevue. There is a guy two miles from me that got a truck in June, but it appears they are adjusting their approach to minimize the ancillary costs in servicing these vehicles under warranty. My preorder isn’t 3+ years old like some here, but I am still disappointed that my Oct-Dec delivery window may not be legit. Just highlights the hurdles of creating an automotive company from the ground up, though I am concerned as to how long Rivian can realistically hold to pre-March 1 pricing…

Initially Rivian may not have cared how far customers were from service centers, but once they moved to trim costs (and had layoffs), I am sure they started looking at service costs/towing costs. Especially with items they know are having problems with, and may have near terms solutions for some of those problems. For example, Rivian may not want to deliver a truck 200 miles away, knowing there is a decent chance it's tonneau cover will need the updated design in 6 months. Also, reading through older posts, some people needed repeat work for issues, Rivian may want to work out some of its build/service procedures before trying it out on someone that needs a tow 200 miles each way.

 

[COdogman]

This sucks, but is at least a little more transparent. Looks like @moosetags is about 300 miles from the nearest service center in Atlanta, and I’m 290 miles from the nearest service center in Bellevue. There is a guy two miles from me that got a truck in June, but it appears they are adjusting their approach to minimize the ancillary costs in servicing these vehicles under warranty. My preorder isn’t 3+ years old like some here, but I am still disappointed that my Oct-Dec delivery window may not be legit. Just highlights the hurdles of creating an automotive company from the ground up, though I am concerned as to how long Rivian can realistically hold to pre-March 1 pricing…

Well, I certainly hope you get yours before they draw a hard line on that policy, although it does make sense on some level. Seems to me they could also just communicate with buyers that for the time being if they live more than xxx miles from a service center, they won’t be able to do home delivery/ pickup. That would at least give people in your situation the option of taking the chance or waiting until there are more service centers.

 

[crashmtb]

The closest service centre to me is 8 hours and an international border away.

The closest service centre in the same country is likely to be a 13+ hour drive and two provinces over. But the only one Rivian has actually mentioned opening is at the other end of the country, opposite three mountain ranges - 24 hours drive at best.

I don’t live in a remote or Rural area - I live in a city of about 750,000 people, even Tesla does not have a presence here beyond a rented bay in a warehouse. So I don’t expect Rivian to show up in any meaningful way any time soon.
If I did live somewjere truly rural - I.e. have to drive an hour to get groceries - I wouldn’t have even bothered preordering.

at least you could attempt to utilize an address in a larger city, where other rivian’s have been delivered, and possibly have a vehicle sooner.
Rivian has not even had their vehicles certified for sale here.

 

[COdogman]

The closest service centre to me is 8 hours and an international border away.

The closest service centre in the same country is likely to be a 13+ hour drive and two provinces over. But the only one Rivian has actually mentioned opening is at the other end of the country, opposite three mountain ranges - 24 hours drive at best.

I don’t live in a remote or Rural area - I live in a city of about 750,000 people, even Tesla does not have a presence here beyond a rented bay in a warehouse. So I don’t expect Rivian to show up in any meaningful way any time soon.
If I did live somewjere truly rural - I.e. have to drive an hour to get groceries - I wouldn’t have even bothered preordering.

at least you could attempt to utilize an address in a larger city, where other rivian’s have been delivered, and possibly have a vehicle sooner.
Rivian has not even had their vehicles certified for sale here.

What have they been telling you about expected delivery windows, or even a delivery year? I know you’re a max pack guy, but there are probably quite a few Canadian orders I would assume?

 

[Zybane]

I'm 4 hours from Atlanta (my closest Rivian service center), I guess maybe I am ruled out of getting my R1S? I wonder if I should change my address to Atlanta and then back to my home address right at delivery.

 

[moosetags]

i know it doesn’t help much, but I feel your pain. My preorder was placed in late 2019, and I’m still waiting, no guide contact, and I live perhaps a 10 minute drive from a service center.

I agree with others that I wouldn’t characterize Santa Rosa beach as “very rural.” We have a second home near you in Miramar beach and from the traffic you certainly wouldn’t call it rural. we were there last weekend, and someone notice my Rivian ball cap, told me they’d seen two locally.

Santa Rosa Beach is "rural" in a different way. Even though it is often crowded and congested, very few people actually live here. Walton County estimates that less than 15% of the housing units south of US 98 are full time residences. There are plenty of tourist service available, but not so much for full time residents. For instance, there is only one new car dealership in Walton County. That is the Chevrolet dealership in DeFuniak Springs. It is a very small dealership where the third-generation owner is one of the three salesmen. We have seen one Rivian R1T here, and it had a Georgia tag.

Brian

 

[Raul A.]

@moosetags

We were told that our preorder date was meaningless because we live in a very rural area, hundreds of miles from any of the Rivian Service Centers. The letter went on to say that Rivian is prioritizing deliveries to customers in or near major cities where Rivian has service infrastructure in place.

Reading between the lines, We think that we are being told that our order may never be filled as there will always be orders in big cities to be filled first.

Thanks for sharing... I live far from the nearest Service Center. I am willing to travel to a service center to pick up R1T and willing to travel to said service center if issues arise. Please keep us informed.

 

[moosetags]

This sucks, but is at least a little more transparent. Looks like @moosetags is about 300 miles from the nearest service center in Atlanta, and I’m 290 miles from the nearest service center in Bellevue. There is a guy two miles from me that got a truck in June, but it appears they are adjusting their approach to minimize the ancillary costs in servicing these vehicles under warranty. My preorder isn’t 3+ years old like some here, but I am still disappointed that my Oct-Dec delivery window may not be legit. Just highlights the hurdles of creating an automotive company from the ground up, though I am concerned as to how long Rivian can realistically hold to pre-March 1 pricing…

Yes, Rivian is now being a little more transparent. I wish that they had been that way several years ago. They should have told me a long time ago that since I live more than 300 miles from any big city, my chances of actually getting an R1T are slim to none. If I had known this two or three years ago, I would have seriously considered taking a run at the Ford Lightning or the Electric Silverado and could have been one of the early adopters with Ford or GM.

This latest turn of events now has me wondering if my price point will hold until Rivian expands to less populated areas. I may well be looking at several more years before I am able to get a truck.

We are also disappointed that Rivian has little or no regard for the fact that we were one of their very earliest adopters. In their letter, Rivian makes it clear that preorder date is meaningless compared to where we live.

Brian

 

[crashmtb]

What have they been telling you about expected delivery windows, or even a delivery year? I know you’re a max pack guy, but there are probably quite a few Canadian orders I would assume?

I got an estimated window of 2nd half of 2023…back at end of December last year. Absolutely nothing since. Not even a “the news is there’s no news”.

I enquired with customer service some months ago and was told the sa,e thing everyone else has heard - there will be an update end of summer. Which, when pressed means end of september. Why they didn’t just say ”an updste should go out sometime in September” I don’t know.

 

[adamthp]

I’m gonna be that guy.

I received my truck back in May and I’m ~6.5 hours to the closest SC. Preorder April ‘19. I’ve been lucky and it’s only had to have one SC visit. Rivian picked up and then returned the truck in 4 days, including a weekend. Keep the faith!

 

[Raul A.]

I’m gonna be that guy.

I received my truck back in May and I’m ~6.5 hours to the closest SC. Preorder April ‘19. I’ve been lucky and it’s only had to have one SC visit. Rivian picked up and then returned the truck in 4 days, including a weekend. Keep the faith!

Nice. Thanks!

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