trek96
Member
- First Name
- John
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2023
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 35
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Vehicles
- 2023 Rivian R1T
- Occupation
- Television Producer
- Thread starter
- #1
I know, coming on to rant is not a great idea (forgive the length). Got my '23 R1T (Quad, large) back last April, vin 23xxx. I knew then, and I still know now that Rivian is a new company, and in a sense I was helping to beta test. Since getting the truck, it has been cumulatively been at the service center for over 60 days (not including mobile visits). Of course not all of that time has the truck been actually in the shop, my service center (El Segundo in SoCal) has a 3 month wait just to get in the shop, once you are there and drop the car of they flat out tell you that it will sit there for a week before it is even looked at. It has been like that for over a year. Fine, they give me rides to Enterprise and pay for a rental. Keeps miles off my truck I suppose.
What gets me is the mismanagement at the facility and the lack of support and frankly knowledge the employees there have. I have had multiple small things come up that I bank together and make one appointment to have them all addressed (speaker rattle, failing window switch, inoperative tailgate, sticking exterior door handle, etc). Things I know need to be addressed, but I can go about my day and live and alone are not worthy of a trip to the service center. On one of these visits I had 6 issues, of which only one was fixed when I picked it up. The other 5 were listed as repaired and signed off on, but had not even been touched. On top of that someone gouged a large hole in one of my door panels. Sigh, I just pointed out the issues before I even left, got an apology and had to make another appointment.
All of the above I can and have actually just dealt with. Here is where I feel it's just madness.
When I took delivery of the truck, the door seal (gasket) on the rear driver door was not completely adhered to the door. It was visibly pulling away and made the door harder to close. I took delivery and made an appointment to have it replaced. Which it was in June of last year. Since then, I have had the gasket replaced 5 times. It keeps pulling away, sometimes it is already beginning to pull away when I pick the truck up from service. It's a revolving line of excuses. It's summer, so the heat weakens it, Rivian is testing new glue, etc. I ask, could it be perhaps door alignment. They never want to investigate, just keep replacing. Meanwhile I am dealing with a door that is hard to close and a gasket that is sometimes literally hanging off (I have kids, so the door is used a lot). How many replacements before someone wants to help me really figure it out?
But it's a gasket, not the end of the world and it's not affecting the drivability. So I live with the cycle.
Today I just picked up the truck from another visit. Last fall I began to notice that when I turned the wheel in reverse while moving it would make some clicks. I made a note of it on a visit. I was told it was normal and all was within spec. A few months later the clicks got louder. I took it in with other issues (maybe the ac recall?) and they said they lubed a bolt causing it. It clicked before I even got home. But lived with it. I began to hear it while driving forward and it got louder. It would click going straight at this point. Went in again, this time they replaced the half shafts, which did not line up with the symptoms, but I got it back and the clicks were gone. A few weeks later the clicks reappeared and were really loud and frequent. Waited 3 months again for an appointment, they replaced the control arms. Said that was for sure the fix. A few weeks later the clicks came back and soon after loud pops began every time I turned the wheel. Pops so loud they would startle people in a parking garage. I would feel it in the steering wheel. I made an appointment for 3 months out as that was the first avail. The service center converted it to a mobile visit because it could happen sooner. The tech came and verified something was for sure up. But he could not do anything (of course) and said he would escalate it to management to get my car in asap. 2 weeks go by I hear nothing. I call Rivian. They have no notes on the car needing anything. They make notes and tell me I will hear back within 2 days. A week later I call again, this time they see notes, but noting has been done. So again I am promised a call asap. A week later I get a call and finally get an appointment a few weeks away (for sure a win). I drop it off, of course being told they won't be able to get to it for a week, and pray this time it will get fixed. I had 3 items that were concerns. The front noise, again my friend the door seal, and a clunking that had been happening for the last few months a low speed. It's coming from the rear, it's rhythmic with wheel rotation, and I only hear it until about 15 mph. I did a test drive with a tech who heard all the front end noise, as well as confirmed the rear noise was not normal. I am updated through the process via the app that the fix is to replace the front subframe. Truck is in the shop for 2.5 weeks. I receive a text yesterday AM that the subframe and gasket were replaced and my truck will be ready by 3p and to respond if I had any questions. I respond, and ask if the rear clunking noise was addressed. I get no response, then at 6p I get a call from the service center my truck is just now ready. I asked if the rear noise was addressed as well and the woman on the phone said yes and that it was caused by the subframe. I clarified that it was the front subframe replaced, and the noise was in the rear. She told me it was all related. She then asked if I wanted my car washed and charged. I had never been asked that, and my car had never been washed after a visit. I gladly accepted and was told it would be ready for pick up by 10a. Here we go...
I arrive at 1:30pm, well over 3 hours after the time I was told the car would be washed and charged. Had my kids with me. I run in, check in with the same woman I talked to on the phone the night before. She tells me she will have the truck pulled around. I go outside and pull the car seats and kids out of the rental. After it's unloaded, the employee comes out and asks how far I live. I tell her that I don't live that far (it's about 40 min away). She tells me that apparently my truck had just finished being worked on so there was no time to wash it or charge it, and it had only 90 miles on it. I was confused but told her I should be fine on 90 miles. She offers to charge it, but I tell her that I have my kids and assumed I the car would be charged. She then turns it on me and tells me that I should wait for a call and not rely on the app to tell me the car is ready. I explain to her that she had called me last night and told me it was ready then and was the very one who told me to come at 10 and it would be charged. She was confused, but apologetic.
10 min later they pull the truck around. I load up and leave. I turn the wheel, not clicks and pops! I get out of the parking lot. Clunk....clunk....clunk from the rear.
I turn around. The employee is confused and tells me they replaced the whole subframe including the rear. I explain to her the subframe is only the front and there is a separate one for the rear. She rebuffs me and tells me the whole underside of the truck was replaced. I tried to explain, but she goes to get a manager. We go for a drive, he confirms the noise. But because it's not crazy loud, and because it goes away at higher speed they recommend I live with it and when it gets louder bring it back in because right now its not a "big issue". I explain this is the same road I had went down the past 10 months with the front subframe. I just wanted out of there, and not to have my kids have to be tortured any longer in the back seat. So I left with a headache.
The problem for me is this, I know the R1T is great and the perfect truck for me. But I keep getting bit by issues that I think would not cause me such overall problems if the service side was more in line with the product. I live in LA, and there are quite a few Rivians. Especially with the lease deals earlier this year. The service centers are overrun. They can't keep up, and when you get in, I feel you are rushed through and not really given complete service.
I'm not anti-Rivian. I know I have a first run truck and most likely a bad single example as many people on this forum have had little to no issues. I want to have the R1T. A few months ago I went to the Rivian Center in Venice and talked to them about the Gen 2. I know most of the issues I have experienced are rectified with the redesign (front suspension, rattles, etc). So I went in thinking I would maybe trade in my truck for a Gen 2. At that point, my truck was 1 year old and had 10k miles on it. I paid 95k plus tax for it, and was offered 60k from Rivian. This is the most I have ever spent on a vehicle and don't want to lose 35k in one year. So I decided to keep it, but now this is my situation. Constant service sorrow.
Sorry for the long rant. I just need to get it off my chest. I can't complain too much to my spouse too much since I paid so much for the truck....
I'm not sure there is much advice out there for me besides live with it, or get rid of the truck. But throwing it out there if anyone else is fed up with service, you are not the only one.
John
What gets me is the mismanagement at the facility and the lack of support and frankly knowledge the employees there have. I have had multiple small things come up that I bank together and make one appointment to have them all addressed (speaker rattle, failing window switch, inoperative tailgate, sticking exterior door handle, etc). Things I know need to be addressed, but I can go about my day and live and alone are not worthy of a trip to the service center. On one of these visits I had 6 issues, of which only one was fixed when I picked it up. The other 5 were listed as repaired and signed off on, but had not even been touched. On top of that someone gouged a large hole in one of my door panels. Sigh, I just pointed out the issues before I even left, got an apology and had to make another appointment.
All of the above I can and have actually just dealt with. Here is where I feel it's just madness.
When I took delivery of the truck, the door seal (gasket) on the rear driver door was not completely adhered to the door. It was visibly pulling away and made the door harder to close. I took delivery and made an appointment to have it replaced. Which it was in June of last year. Since then, I have had the gasket replaced 5 times. It keeps pulling away, sometimes it is already beginning to pull away when I pick the truck up from service. It's a revolving line of excuses. It's summer, so the heat weakens it, Rivian is testing new glue, etc. I ask, could it be perhaps door alignment. They never want to investigate, just keep replacing. Meanwhile I am dealing with a door that is hard to close and a gasket that is sometimes literally hanging off (I have kids, so the door is used a lot). How many replacements before someone wants to help me really figure it out?
But it's a gasket, not the end of the world and it's not affecting the drivability. So I live with the cycle.
Today I just picked up the truck from another visit. Last fall I began to notice that when I turned the wheel in reverse while moving it would make some clicks. I made a note of it on a visit. I was told it was normal and all was within spec. A few months later the clicks got louder. I took it in with other issues (maybe the ac recall?) and they said they lubed a bolt causing it. It clicked before I even got home. But lived with it. I began to hear it while driving forward and it got louder. It would click going straight at this point. Went in again, this time they replaced the half shafts, which did not line up with the symptoms, but I got it back and the clicks were gone. A few weeks later the clicks reappeared and were really loud and frequent. Waited 3 months again for an appointment, they replaced the control arms. Said that was for sure the fix. A few weeks later the clicks came back and soon after loud pops began every time I turned the wheel. Pops so loud they would startle people in a parking garage. I would feel it in the steering wheel. I made an appointment for 3 months out as that was the first avail. The service center converted it to a mobile visit because it could happen sooner. The tech came and verified something was for sure up. But he could not do anything (of course) and said he would escalate it to management to get my car in asap. 2 weeks go by I hear nothing. I call Rivian. They have no notes on the car needing anything. They make notes and tell me I will hear back within 2 days. A week later I call again, this time they see notes, but noting has been done. So again I am promised a call asap. A week later I get a call and finally get an appointment a few weeks away (for sure a win). I drop it off, of course being told they won't be able to get to it for a week, and pray this time it will get fixed. I had 3 items that were concerns. The front noise, again my friend the door seal, and a clunking that had been happening for the last few months a low speed. It's coming from the rear, it's rhythmic with wheel rotation, and I only hear it until about 15 mph. I did a test drive with a tech who heard all the front end noise, as well as confirmed the rear noise was not normal. I am updated through the process via the app that the fix is to replace the front subframe. Truck is in the shop for 2.5 weeks. I receive a text yesterday AM that the subframe and gasket were replaced and my truck will be ready by 3p and to respond if I had any questions. I respond, and ask if the rear clunking noise was addressed. I get no response, then at 6p I get a call from the service center my truck is just now ready. I asked if the rear noise was addressed as well and the woman on the phone said yes and that it was caused by the subframe. I clarified that it was the front subframe replaced, and the noise was in the rear. She told me it was all related. She then asked if I wanted my car washed and charged. I had never been asked that, and my car had never been washed after a visit. I gladly accepted and was told it would be ready for pick up by 10a. Here we go...
I arrive at 1:30pm, well over 3 hours after the time I was told the car would be washed and charged. Had my kids with me. I run in, check in with the same woman I talked to on the phone the night before. She tells me she will have the truck pulled around. I go outside and pull the car seats and kids out of the rental. After it's unloaded, the employee comes out and asks how far I live. I tell her that I don't live that far (it's about 40 min away). She tells me that apparently my truck had just finished being worked on so there was no time to wash it or charge it, and it had only 90 miles on it. I was confused but told her I should be fine on 90 miles. She offers to charge it, but I tell her that I have my kids and assumed I the car would be charged. She then turns it on me and tells me that I should wait for a call and not rely on the app to tell me the car is ready. I explain to her that she had called me last night and told me it was ready then and was the very one who told me to come at 10 and it would be charged. She was confused, but apologetic.
10 min later they pull the truck around. I load up and leave. I turn the wheel, not clicks and pops! I get out of the parking lot. Clunk....clunk....clunk from the rear.
I turn around. The employee is confused and tells me they replaced the whole subframe including the rear. I explain to her the subframe is only the front and there is a separate one for the rear. She rebuffs me and tells me the whole underside of the truck was replaced. I tried to explain, but she goes to get a manager. We go for a drive, he confirms the noise. But because it's not crazy loud, and because it goes away at higher speed they recommend I live with it and when it gets louder bring it back in because right now its not a "big issue". I explain this is the same road I had went down the past 10 months with the front subframe. I just wanted out of there, and not to have my kids have to be tortured any longer in the back seat. So I left with a headache.
The problem for me is this, I know the R1T is great and the perfect truck for me. But I keep getting bit by issues that I think would not cause me such overall problems if the service side was more in line with the product. I live in LA, and there are quite a few Rivians. Especially with the lease deals earlier this year. The service centers are overrun. They can't keep up, and when you get in, I feel you are rushed through and not really given complete service.
I'm not anti-Rivian. I know I have a first run truck and most likely a bad single example as many people on this forum have had little to no issues. I want to have the R1T. A few months ago I went to the Rivian Center in Venice and talked to them about the Gen 2. I know most of the issues I have experienced are rectified with the redesign (front suspension, rattles, etc). So I went in thinking I would maybe trade in my truck for a Gen 2. At that point, my truck was 1 year old and had 10k miles on it. I paid 95k plus tax for it, and was offered 60k from Rivian. This is the most I have ever spent on a vehicle and don't want to lose 35k in one year. So I decided to keep it, but now this is my situation. Constant service sorrow.
Sorry for the long rant. I just need to get it off my chest. I can't complain too much to my spouse too much since I paid so much for the truck....
I'm not sure there is much advice out there for me besides live with it, or get rid of the truck. But throwing it out there if anyone else is fed up with service, you are not the only one.
John
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