I am at a loss, Rivian service is broken and I can't take it anymore

[RivAW]

Lemon law it. I believe if they attempt to repair an issue 3 times and it's still not fixed it qualifies.

The lemon law varies by state. Advise OP to investigate their state lemon law or contact a law firm that addresses it. Make the claim if it qualifies and move on so as not to prolong your suffering. Some individual vehicles are just “lemons” and you need out…then determine whether it’s worthwhile to try another Rivian or if you’ve had enough.

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[AlanP]

You mean like it would cost me thousands per repair post warranty for any other vehicle in this price range? Pick any luxury or high end pickup/ SUV and you’re in the same boat.

I considered this before I placed my reservation and decided I was willing to go forward. If I change my mind before my warranty is up I can sell or trade it.

There is no difference IMO.

I asked this question in all seriousness and here’s why. I owned a RAV4 EV for nine years. I paid $1400 for the extended Toyota factory warranty. It was the best purchase I’ve ever made. Over the life of the vehicle pretty much every major component failed at least once, and it was all repaired expeditiously and it no cost by the Toyota dealership. adding up all the repair invoices, which again I did not have to pay for totaled more than $50,000.
I wasn’t aware that there are non-dealer factory warranties and don’t know how responsive and successful in repairing Rivian’s those companies might be.

 

[COdogman]

I asked this question in all seriousness and here’s why. I owned a RAV4 EV for nine years. I paid $1400 for the extended Toyota factory warranty. It was the best purchase I’ve ever made. Over the life of the vehicle pretty much every major component failed at least once, and it was all repaired expeditiously and it no cost by the Toyota dealership. adding up all the repair invoices, which again I did not have to pay for totaled more than $50,000.
I wasn’t aware that there are non-dealer factory warranties and don’t know how responsive and successful in repairing Rivian’s those companies might be.

Sure, it’s a fair question. Obviously we don’t have a large sample size of Rivians past the warranty yet to go off of, but I imagine when we get to that point Rivian won’t care who pays the bill, whether it’s a 3rd party or the owner. Also important to remember our HV batteries have an 8 yr 175k mile warranty.

Rivian will also start selling preowned Rivians soon so that should provide more info.

 

[DuoRivian]

Sure, it’s a fair question. Obviously we don’t have a large sample size of Rivians past the warranty yet to go off of, but I imagine when we get to that point Rivian won’t care who pays the bill, whether it’s a 3rd party or the owner. Also important to remember our HV batteries have an 8 yr 175k mile warranty.

Rivian will also start selling preowned Rivians soon so that should provide more info.

I can understand why Rivian don’t offer OEM extended warranties because they have very little idea what will go wrong and how often it will in those six plus year old vehicles. Given some of the issues on nearly new vehicles it is a potential financial black hole which they don’t want exposure too for perfectly understandable reasons.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

I asked this question in all seriousness and here’s why. I owned a RAV4 EV for nine years. I paid $1400 for the extended Toyota factory warranty. It was the best purchase I’ve ever made. Over the life of the vehicle pretty much every major component failed at least once, and it was all repaired expeditiously and it no cost by the Toyota dealership. adding up all the repair invoices, which again I did not have to pay for totaled more than $50,000.
I wasn’t aware that there are non-dealer factory warranties and don’t know how responsive and successful in repairing Rivian’s those companies might be.

Yeah, there are 3rd party warranties. But, shop around and get a reputable one. Many will deny, deny deny.

This is why getting an extended warranty from the manufacturer has an advantage. This way it’s only two parties involved, you and the manufacturer. With 3rd party, it you, manufacturer, and the insurer. Even if it’s a manufacturer-associated/recommended provider, the process is smoother.

 

[Noah Arc]

Do you really understand it when you say" I know it's a new company "?
My R1T s.n. is 001xxx so I'm on of the first ones to take possession of the vehicle. I have ranted plenty here about imperfections of the vehicle design and YET I can't relate to your complaints.
1. I was always offered a rental vehicle while my truck was in service. (My truck is a working truck with tools that cannot be transferred easily)
2. I expected issues so 60 days in service seems to be reasonable.
3. I had experienced plenty of issues and long time wait for non safety problems. ALL my safety issues ( air bags and suspension) where addressed quickly.
4. Recently I had to fix ANOTHER cracked windshield and connectivity issues and got the El Segundo S.C. work with my travel schedule so I dropped the vehicle on my departure day and pick it up two weeks later when I came back to Los Angeles (El Segundo SC is very close to LAX).

I'm VERY critical of Rivian management and everyone knows it and yet, issue and slow response is expected

 

[R1Tom]

I can understand why Rivian don’t offer OEM extended warranties because they have very little idea what will go wrong and how often it will in those six plus year old vehicles. Given some of the issues on nearly new vehicles it is a potential financial black hole which they don’t want exposure too for perfectly understandable reasons.

There is some solid reasoning not to buy one of these for anyone thinking about buying one of these close to warranty expiration or out of warranty... Jeez....are you hoping for the worst resale values in the industry?

You are basically saying if you were Rivian you wouldn't want the financial risk of having to take care of the very thing you are asking people to buy.

Who knows....maybe you are absolutely right and Rivian knows the financial hole that would be.....and maybe why they shortened warranty on the Dual Motors?

Edit...

I sure hope that isn't case and they really just haven't got to point of rolling something out. Rivian needs resale to be as good as possible so OEM extended warranties would convey they confidence.

 

[Hillbilly]

My God. My eyes.

 

[Arbitrator]

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

You’re doing a great job with convincing me whether I should cancel my order for the new Tri-Motor and walk away from my $3,000 non refundable deposit.

 

[mkhuffman]

You’re doing a great job with convincing me whether I should cancel my order for the new Tri-Motor and walk away from my $3,000 non refundable deposit.

This thread (and others with a similar topic) and helping to convince me to lease rather than buy. I have never leased before, but if Rivian goes out of business, you can walk away at the end of the lease. I am sure whoever buys the leases from the bankruptcy process will charge for every little thing, so walking away is probably going to be expensive. Hmm...

It is good to remember that a forum is a place for people to complain and seek help. In my experience, forums have a high percentage of negative posts. It's the nature of a forum, I think. If you are happy, you are not looking for a forum to tell everyone about it.

The exception are the fans who are excited about the product and participate because of their excitement. They are not normal people. I put myself in that group. I am not an owner yet, but I am very excited about the R1. I am not normal. Normal people buy a car and drive it, and don't even know this forum exists. Until they are frustrated or have a problem and need help.

 

[mkhuffman]

In my life I’ve been screwed over by more dealer service departments (not including sales) than I can recall. The only advantage they have over Rivian in my opinion is the convenience of being local to more of the population. But if most of them are incompetent and fail at communications and overcharge, is it really better? I think Rivian is suffering through the same thing most businesses have been suffering through over the last 10 years. Staffing and the economy and everything else…. That being said, it’s not an excuse. They have to solve this problem.

Rivian has a long way to go but I’ll roll with them vs. a dealer any day.

It is so interesting people have such vastly different experiences. I have never, ever had a problem with dealer purchase or service.

Was every experience perfect? No. I agreed to pay for window etching and that turned out to be stickers inside the doors. Whatever. It was only $250 and I did it primarily because I wanted the salesman to get credit for selling it. It is similar to the reason I usually tip way more than most people do. That is just me.

Anyway, I took my old MB E320 to a local European independent repair shop and they told me the injectors had to be replaced for around $2k. I was skeptical of the diagnosis so I decided to have the car towed to the MB dealership. They found a different cause and repaired the problem for less. My MB spent a lot of time in that dealership service center over the years, and they always treated me right. Maybe it is because I understand cars and show them respect as people trying to figure out a difficult problem.

I like the dealership model.

I like the fact there is competition between dealers and I can choose who I do business with (I purchased my MME from a dealer in NJ, 7 hours from my house, because they had the best deal). I like that there are Ford dealerships for my MME in just about every city and town I am driving through. I like how many of them are locally owned.

And it worries me that Rivian has no competition for warranty service and I will have no choice but to deal with the Richmond Service Center (which based on posts on this forum seems to be one of the good ones - for now).

 

[MidnightRun]

There will be good and bad experiences everywhere, but the law of averages usually settles the score and is the ultimate story teller of who rises to the top and who sinks.

For all the talk of Lexus service, I rarely used them for actual service issues. All three of my Lexus vehicles proved to be pretty solid outside of trivial recalls. My cars went to the dealer for oil changes, inspections, and recalls. That’s it. And I’ve owned all of them for about 10-15 years each. I did have the occasional rattle or minor service bulletin and those experiences were always top notch.

I did have one poor experience that Sewell ultimately went above and beyond to address. Long story short. I took my car in for two minor safety recalls that did not require test drives. My car stayed at the dealer over the weekend and when I picked it up it had 250 miles on it and my MPG had dropped from 22 to 13.

No one could figure out exactly what happened but we all had a pretty good idea. No big deal. I expressed my concerns and the service director gave me a Lexus extended warranty free of charge for my trouble and offered to hold my keys anytime I came in for service.

It took a few days to come to the resolution above with minimal effort on my part.

 

[SANZC02]

Just another perspective, as mentioned earlier in this thread, you are going to have way more negative posts than positive ones on a forum. Just the nature of the forums, people are way more likely to complain than praise.

Not saying Rivian service does not need work but I have had 2 services at a service center, had 2 recalls done through mobile service, and had one mobile service to install the spare tire I purchased. All of those were handled well, took longer for the SC fixes, a week both times, than I preferred but I was happy with the work.

I compare it to Tesla service, I purchased my Tesla in 2016, that was 4 years after they started deliveries and service appointments back then were very hard to get. It really did not improve much until they were able to add more service centers around 2019 when the Model 3 and Model Y were released. I had to make an appointment with Tesla a few days ago to have the window switch fixed on the rear drivers side door. Even today earliest mobile appointment was 10 days and earliest service center appointment was 3 weeks at 1 SC and 4 weeks at the other one near me.

To put a little perspective on things, Rivian has delivered over 100k vehicles, even if there are 1k horror stories on this forum that is only 1% of the vehicles. There are reasons that in 2023 and 2024 Rivian had the highest marks in consumer satisfaction surveys.

2023, EV survey

2024

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

I think the Rivian service model is fundamentally flawed because of perverse incentives: service is a cost center, there is every motivation in the world to skimp on service, hide problems, etc. Show me the incentives and I will show you the outcome. Whereas, a dealer model creates a balance of power that can stand up to the monopoly power of tribute to er.

That said, service has recently begun to improve in my area. The last visit was exemplary. So, it may get better in the short term. At least for me, the trend is good. That might last for a few years.

 

[Zoidz]

Just another perspective, as mentioned earlier in this thread, you are going to have way more negative posts than positive ones on a forum. Just the nature of the forums, people are way more likely to complain than praise.

Well stated. It's the age old adage in customer service. 0, 1 or 2 people might tell others about a positive experience. 10 or 20 people will tell others about a bad experience, whether it's an EV today, or a steam horseless carriage in 1820.

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