Did I buy a lemon?

[Santa Cruz Rivian]

I get that your frustrated and you should be. You purchased a new vehicle and should expect it to work as designed.

I think the SC needs to address how to use these functions. With the key card you have to hold it right by the door handle. It is very slow until most recent updates. If you go into your Rivian app under vehicle information what software version does it say your truck is running?

The phone as a key is finicky to get setup but the delivery specialist should have taken you through this when you took delivery. Once I got mine setup it has been flawless except for the slowness mentioned above...again fixed in 2023.42.1 update.

The mobile charger we need more info. When you say it stops is the circuit breaker tripping? What exactly is happening when it stops and what are you expecting to happen?

Automatic wipers work well most of the time...when they don't you need to manually set the speed. I have found this happens most with misting rain or in foggy conditions.

The paint scratches will be addressed by Rivian but it will not be prioritized due to its cosmetic. SC are swamped but they should have given you a proper delivery experience. Not setting up your key is unacceptable.

I understand how the key card is supposed to work. Running version 2023.46.0. Sounds like there is something wrong with how my phone is registered in the truck. The truck may have a software conflict with the charger (not a breaker or wiring problem). Was raining hard today and no luck (not a big deal, but still annoying).

There are now about six different service tickets out to various Rivian team. The rep i dealt with last was very helpful. I will let everyone know how it gets resolved.

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[Electrified Outdoors]

I understand how the key card is supposed to work. Running version 2023.46.0. Sounds like there is something wrong with how my phone is registered in the truck. The truck may have a software conflict with the charger (not a breaker or wiring problem). Was raining hard today and no luck (not a big deal, but still annoying).

There are now about six different service tickets out to various Rivian team. The rep i dealt with last was very helpful. I will let everyone know how it gets resolved.

Man I'm sorry your going through this. Since some of these issues are pretty troubling (e.g. keycard and charging) I would push to get in there ASAP.

Since the key card works inside and not on the door sounds like you have a bad sensor. Your on the latest software.

It had a lot of trouble with PAAK but once I got it paired it's been flawless.

 

[Zoidz]

Sorry youre having these issues. Hopeful it is software and perhaps a 12 volt reset (something you probably need Rivian to do) will solve all of them. It’s not an official lemon until Rivian fails to fix the problem based on your state lemon laws. You might want to call it a lemon but at this point that’s really just a negative label you yourself are putting on it - to what benefit?

 

[milliemc]

It's pretty bad they tried to deliver a vehicle to you with scratches on the hood, but they will definitely repair all of those things.

Has anyone ever refused delivery because of too many problems? I just wondered.

 

[boise_mountain_biker]

Has anyone ever refused delivery because of too many problems? I just wondered.

Per my delivery guide, you can refuse the car upon delivery and you would be put in queue back in the Rivian shop. He was very careful that I didn't accept the car unless I was 100% sure. Mine had minor body panel alignment issues, a chipped glass roof, a hood ding, a scratched front bumper panel and a scratched lower front plastic panel. They all seemed pretty minor annoyances to me so I took the car as it drove well. They addressed most of the issue in the first service visit (10 days after delivery) and replaced the lower front plastic panel and front bumper panel on the second visit (1 month after delivery). The Boise service center has been great and responsive (and included Uber and/or a loaner car).

 

[Riviot]

Not a lemon.

It's only a lemon if you got Compass Yellow.

OP, you didn't answer the question about purchase. Did you buy directly from Rivian or a third party? Are you the first owner?

 

[Santa Cruz Rivian]

It's only a lemon if you got Compass Yellow.

Good one! I leased a new R1T (forest green) from Rivian.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Good one! I leased a new R1T (forest green) from Rivian.

Sounds like you got a lime then. Rivian should be able to fix all of your issues. Have heard of the electronics in the door handle going bad causing issues with phone-as-key and making the cards not work. But could be something else going on like a grounded out communications wire if you are having more hardware issues on top of that.

 

[runwithscissors]

Look, I want to be supportive of Rivian just as much as everyone here. My definition of a lemon is a truck that rolled of the assembly line on a Friday afternoon. After giving them 90k I shouldn't have this many issues and then not be able to get them repaired. Everyday is a new problem.

The rep was never able to get my phone to pair properly, said it was key but couldn't do any of the key functions. I know where to place the card, doesn't work. Used an electrify america charger successfully.

Fingers crossed they will repair all of these and then it will smooth out.

I had a bunch of issues and still do, pending a 3rd time to be serviced for annoying rattles. I picked from a shop R1S and knew I should've waited a month for them to build what I ordered. The quality just doesn't fit the price and I've bought all kinds of manufacturers from inexpensive to more expensive and none have had the fit and finish issues that my R1S has. Waiting 2-3 months between appointments is just annoying at this point and it's going to get worse.

I wish they just offered a R1S lease for 3 years because I definitely would've jumped on that. Early pricing and IRS rebate made it better but these people paying full freight today are definitely overpaying for this thing that has outdated cameras and pretty crappy ride quality compared to the R1T.

 

[Jeffh32]

Agreed about the key card. I have a pixel 7a and my wife has an iphone.

Didn't read all the thread to see if this was answered. I have a Pixel 5a (because I won't pay $1k for a phone) and it wouldn't pair either. They had to get a tech to come from the back and do it in 5 minutes. I turned off the lock on the phone temporarily and they got it to work perfectly. This was at the Atlanta SC. Maybe call them to see what they did.
I feel your pain though. Waited 2 years got a delivery date and the original VIN fell off the train so waited another month after paying to get a new truck only to have it delivered to another SC.

 

[strangelove]

I'm assuming you mean more of a metaphorical lemon than literal one. To be a literal lemon, you'll need to give the dealer the chance to fix the defects, and if after a few attempts the vehicle is still seriously flawed (and I believe it has to be serious), then yeah... you got a lemon. I wouldn't blame you for having some buyers regerts tho.

 

[defcon888]

Key fob works. Agreed, new deliveries is the focus. The service center when I picked it up seemed swamped.

We had issues a month after we picked our R1T up in May. The headlight system warning came up and we weren't able to turn the lights on and off which is okay during the day but rendered the vehicle useless at night.

We dropped the vehicle off and picked it up 4 days later and within 10 miles, it started doing the same thing. They drove out to our house, picked the R1T up, and left us a R1T loaner. They had our R1T for 3 weeks trying to figure it out. They brought in advanced techs and they couldn't figure it out. They flew a tech out from Normal Illinois that was an expert on the headlight system. After a week they finally used a camera scope to trace where the issue was and it turned out to be a faulty connector that was shorting out.

For our troubles, they reimbursed us our first car payment (which at the time, we hadn't even made). This was all 6+ months ago and ever since then, it is amazing. I drive from the Roseville area to the bay area 1 day a week. The is over 300 miles round trip and it has performed flawlessly.

If you were actually having "driveability" issues, you would get into the shop quickly, but to be honest, scratched paint and pairing isn't a major issue as long as you can use the FOB. They will fix it when you take it in.

We have an appointment for January 9th to address the Rivian-released statement/issue about the A/C compressor being filled to high. We are going to have them look at a few minor minor minor things (rattling speakers, also, my wife swears it pulls to the right, but I don't feel it). We made the appointment back in October.

As far as the charger.....we had a 240v - 14-50 covered outlet installed on the outside of our house (we live in the middle of nowhere and behind a gate). We have a 50a circuit and the charger we use is a Lectron 32a that we got from Amazon. We originally got it for charging our RAV4 Prime and have since been using it on that as well as the R1T. It has been outside plugged in 24/7, 365 for 2-1/2 years through the 110 degrees in the summer, in the 30's in the winter, rain, and snow (not so much at our altitude) and it has been a champ. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[Santa Cruz Rivian]

We had issues a month after we picked our R1T up in May. The headlight system warning came up and we weren't able to turn the lights on and off which is okay during the day but rendered the vehicle useless at night.

We dropped the vehicle off and picked it up 4 days later and within 10 miles, it started doing the same thing. They drove out to our house, picked the R1T up, and left us a R1T loaner. They had our R1T for 3 weeks trying to figure it out. They brought in advanced techs and they couldn't figure it out. They flew a tech out from Normal Illinois that was an expert on the headlight system. After a week they finally used a camera scope to trace where the issue was and it turned out to be a faulty connector that was shorting out.

For our troubles, they reimbursed us our first car payment (which at the time, we hadn't even made). This was all 6+ months ago and ever since then, it is amazing. I drive from the Roseville area to the bay area 1 day a week. The is over 300 miles round trip and it has performed flawlessly.

If you were actually having "driveability" issues, you would get into the shop quickly, but to be honest, scratched paint and pairing isn't a major issue as long as you can use the FOB. They will fix it when you take it in.

We have an appointment for January 9th to address the Rivian-released statement/issue about the A/C compressor being filled to high. We are going to have them look at a few minor minor minor things (rattling speakers, also, my wife swears it pulls to the right, but I don't feel it). We made the appointment back in October.

As far as the charger.....we had a 240v - 14-50 covered outlet installed on the outside of our house (we live in the middle of nowhere and behind a gate). We have a 50a circuit and the charger we use is a Lectron 32a that we got from Amazon. We originally got it for charging our RAV4 Prime and have since been using it on that as well as the R1T. It has been outside plugged in 24/7, 365 for 2-1/2 years through the 110 degrees in the summer, in the 30's in the winter, rain, and snow (not so much at our altitude) and it has been a champ. I can't recommend it enough.

It is inspiring to hear how well they took care of you. Having extremely limited ability to charge and lock/unlock seems like a significant issue to me.

 

[Yossarian]

To the OP: Sorry to learn of your troubles at delivery and disappointed that Rivian has been slow to effectively address the issues. I don't want to hijack your thread, but some others have raised an interesting, related issue that I'm curious about.

Has anyone ever refused delivery because of too many problems? I just wondered.

Per my delivery guide, you can refuse the car upon delivery and you would be put in queue back in the Rivian shop. He was very careful that I didn't accept the car unless I was 100% sure. Mine had minor body panel alignment issues, a chipped glass roof, a hood ding, a scratched front bumper panel and a scratched lower front plastic panel. They all seemed pretty minor annoyances to me so I took the car as it drove well. They addressed most of the issue in the first service visit (10 days after delivery) and replaced the lower front plastic panel and front bumper panel on the second visit (1 month after delivery). The Boise service center has been great and responsive (and included Uber and/or a loaner car).

I've always wondered about accepting a vehicle with less than trivial defects and trusting that they will be resolved satisfactorily at some point in the indeterminate future. While I'm sure that Rivian wants to do right by its customers, I'm suspicious of the company's capacity to actually resolve issues in a timely manner. I'm sure this varies by location however, so while the Rivian SC in Boise for example, appears to be able to take care of things relatively quickly, I'm sure that's not the case everywhere.

I'm still waiting for delivery of my R1S, but I'm not sure that I'd be as forgiving as the OP was when my time comes. At the moment, there is only one SC (Brooklyn) to handle vehicle sales in the southern NY/NYC metro area-NJ-CT-eastern PA-nothern DE region. I don't know how many vehicles were sold in the region, but Rivians are certainly not rare, and I suspect we're talking well north of a thousand, perhaps even several thousand. That's a lot for a single SC to handle. To their credit, Rivian is working hard to open other SC's in the area but as far as I can tell, only one will open next year and it will be some time before support ramps up to match the sales volume.

The bottom line for me is that while I don't expect a flawless vehicle when my R1S is delivered next year, I don't think I will accept it with defects like severe scratches or badly mis-aligned panels, much less serious connectivety problems. If that means going back in line and waiting longer, I'm OK with that. Getting pushed back means that I may not have to rely on a single overwhelmed SC, will perhaps get a vehicle that incorporates some serious improvements in QA/QC and if the delay is long enough, will have access to the Tesla charging network from day 1.

 

[Santa Cruz Rivian]

To the OP: Sorry to learn of your troubles at delivery and disappointed that Rivian has been slow to effectively address the issues. I don't want to hijack your thread, but some others have raised an interesting, related issue that I'm curious about.


I've always wondered about accepting a vehicle with less than trivial defects and trusting that they will be resolved satisfactorily at some point in the indeterminate future. While I'm sure that Rivian wants to do right by its customers, I'm suspicious of the company's capacity to actually resolve issues in a timely manner. I'm sure this varies by location however, so while the Rivian SC in Boise for example, appears to be able to take care of things relatively quickly, I'm sure that's not the case everywhere.

I'm still waiting for delivery of my R1S, but I'm not sure that I'd be as forgiving as the OP was when my time comes. At the moment, there is only one SC (Brooklyn) to handle vehicle sales in the southern NY/NYC metro area-NJ-CT-eastern PA-nothern DE region. I don't know how many vehicles were sold in the region, but Rivians are certainly not rare, and I suspect we're talking well north of a thousand, perhaps even several thousand. That's a lot for a single SC to handle. To their credit, Rivian is working hard to open other SC's in the area but as far as I can tell, only one will open next year and it will be some time before support ramps up to match the sales volume.

The bottom line for me is that while I don't expect a flawless vehicle when my R1S is delivered next year, I don't think I will accept it with defects like severe scratches or badly mis-aligned panels, much less serious connectivety problems. If that means going back in line and waiting longer, I'm OK with that. Getting pushed back means that I may not have to rely on a single overwhelmed SC, will perhaps get a vehicle that incorporates some serious improvements in QA/QC and if the delay is long enough, will have access to the Tesla charging network from day 1.

Unfortunately these issues were not apparent when I picked it up. I recommend you go over it with a fine tooth comb.

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