A Rivian buyer got his dream car after a 3-year wait. Days later, the car was dead and he faced a $2,100 bill.

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Not knowing enough about your own vehicle to even attempt a reset without having your hand held is the problem. Also pretty stupid to just drive into deep snow because you saw some Rivian marketing video….

The Darwin awards have more competition every year.

Definitely sounds like he did something stupid. But if a simple software reset was all that was needed, the Rivian Customer Service rep that he called should have recommended he try that first. If the company rep doesn't mention or suggest a software reset, its not unreasonable to think that most people don't know about it. And if a simple software reset was all that was required, I'd be pretty livid about spending $2k on a tow also. But let's not gloss over the part of the article that when the truck was returned to him, it was returned with "critical error message". I would be furious about spending $2k on a tow, and be staring down the barrel of spending another $2k on a tow immediately. The customer definitely needs to learn his lesson, but there are lessons here for Rivian to learn from also.

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[COdogman]

Definitely sounds like he did something stupid. But if a simple software reset was all that was needed, the Rivian Customer Service rep that he called should have recommended he try that first. If the company rep doesn't mention or suggest a software reset, its not unreasonable to think that most people don't know about it. And if a simple software reset was all that was required, I'd be pretty livid about spending $2k on a tow also. But let's not gloss over the part of the article that when the truck was returned to him, it was returned with "critical error message". I would be furious about spending $2k on a tow, and be staring down the barrel of spending another $2k on a tow immediately. The customer definitely needs to learn his lesson, but there are lessons here for Rivian to learn from also.

I agree the phone rep should have suggested it, but anyone who has read through the owners guide or spent time researching the new EV truck they just bought would know about the multiple reset methods. I don’t even have my truck yet and I have read through that entire guide 4-5 times (Yes, that is as sad as it sounds ).

Also, there is no guarantee the reset would have solved his problem. To me, if he didn’t just carelessly drive into deep snow he would not had any problem to complain about at all. Had he done the same thing in an ICE vehicle he could have just as easily damaged his truck on a rock under the snow or driven off into a rut on the side of the road. That is why I still put the majority of blame on him.

Also agree the error on return of the truck is a fail. But I didn’t get the impression Rivian was trying to make him pay for that part of it? Either way it’s a pain in the butt and it shouldn’t have happened. Although I have had experiences with other brands that returned vehicles to me multiple times with things either not fixed or with additional issues. It sucks, but it does happen.

To his credit the owner admits that maybe being an early adopter isn’t for him. But IMHO he doesn’t seem to really accept his share of the blame for what happened. It’s not Rivian’s fault he did something dumb. They could have handled it better after that happened, but the cause of the entire situation was him.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I agree the phone rep should have suggested it, but anyone who has read through the owners guide or spent time researching the new EV truck they just bought would know about the multiple reset methods. I don’t even have my truck yet and I have read through that entire guide 4-5 times (Yes, that is as sad as it sounds ).

It was different a year ago when there weren't lots of experiences with the vehicle, but to not know about the reset today seems kinda crazy. If it's a dream vehicle for them, are they here or on the reddit forum? Maybe not that big of a dream then.

 

[diehlryan]

How did this get enough attention to turn in to a news article. What a joke this is....and people that don't know enough will see the negative spin against Rivian and run with it. Thats unfortunate.

The guys brother is a CEO of a hedge fun with 15k followers on twitter. He was posting this whining like a baby to anyone that would listen.

 

[COdogman]

It was different a year ago when there weren't lots of experiences with the vehicle, but to not know about the reset today seems kinda crazy. If it's a dream vehicle for them, are they here or on the reddit forum? Maybe not that big of a dream then.

I can even understand that to a degree, although who wouldn’t want to come here and read all of our fascinating discourse?

I think there are still a bunch of folks who just trust a brand and expect them to inform them about everything they need to know. The owner did say they had family members with Rivians, so they did have another resource that most might not even have. The whole thing is just silly, not newsworthy to me.

 

[DuoRivians]

The guys brother is a CEO of a hedge fun with 15k followers on twitter. He was posting this whining like a baby to anyone that would listen.

Taylor is such a cry baby and really doesn’t know anything. I’m proud to be blocked by him.

 

[Insight75]

The guys brother is a CEO of a hedge fun with 15k followers on twitter. He was posting this whining like a baby to anyone that would listen.

Probably a Rivian short seller. Someone should investigate.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Probably a Rivian short seller. Someone should investigate.

Yup, my money is on this guy shorting Rivian stock.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Taylor is such a cry baby and really doesn’t know anything. I’m proud to be blocked by him.

Oh wow. So there wasn't even anything wrong with the truck. It was the autopark safety thing that got him.

 

[DuoRivians]

Oh wow. So there wasn't even anything wrong with the truck. It was the autopark safety thing that got him.

Yes, exactly. It’s totally user error to get stuck in the snow and then not being the right mode for towing.

Can’t help stupid

 

[moosehead]

Sooo, to sum the article:

- Buyer was 21 when he placed a deposit on a $86k vehicle. MMMkay.

- Owner drove into 2 1/2’ of snow, which would strand most vehicles

- Said 2 1/2’ of snow looked like it was heavy, consolidated, refrozen thick snow from Upstate NY. It certainly wasn’t light and fresh based on no snow in the surrounding trees. This would strand virtually any vehicle

- Despite above noob owner and operator abilities, buyer and his overly paid brother determine to blame the manufacturer for owner’s incompetence

Good luck with your Tacoma, bonehead.

 

[DuoRivians]

Sooo, to sum the article:

- Buyer was 21 when he placed a deposit on a $86k vehicle. MMMkay.

- Owner drove into 2 1/2’ of snow, which would strand most vehicles

- Said 2 1/2’ of snow looked like it was heavy, consolidated, refrozen thick snow from Upstate NY. It certainly wasn’t light and fresh based on no snow in the surrounding trees. This would strand virtually any vehicle

- Despite above noob owner and operator abilities, buyer and his overly paid brother determine to blame the manufacturer for owner’s incompetence

Good luck with your Tacoma, bonehead.

And they didn’t put the truck in tow mode. When the driver unbuckled his belt and lifted himself off of the chair, the car put itself in park (standard safety measure). Which the driver claims should never have happened, and is a fault of Rivian of putting in that measure.

I mean, these are rich people who think nothing is ever their fault and always the blame of others.

And of course, leave it trash Business Insider to write this for the clickbait whore it is

 

[Tahoe Man]

Worthless artical and click bait title.

 

[kvenom]

Read the article seeing a random guy who is 24 with a Rivian thinking there's no way he could afford one, scroll down to see brother is some hedgefund goon, leaving the thread satisfied he got stuck and has to foot the towing bill.

 

[PVguy]

Are those street tires he tried in 30 inches of snow? And then "he accidentally triggered a safety feature that got the car stuck between the park and drive gears."

but Rivian is the problem... it sounds to me the problem was between the steering wheel and the seat.

A Rivian buyer got his dream car after a 3-year wait. Days later, the car was dead and he faced a $2,100 bill.

I did not bother to read this “article “, but am wondering…..did he read the Owner’s Manual? I do not even have my R1T yet, but am on my second reading of same.

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