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What’s up with all of the Rivian bashing on here?

Christopher1000

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I’ve owned my Launch Edition since early 2022 and am new to this forum and surprised at all of the negative comments about Rivians on here. It seems posters would be better served calling Rivian service instead of whining on here about their technical issues.
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kurtlikevonnegut

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I’ve owned my Launch Edition since early 2022 and am new to this forum and surprised at all of the negative comments about Rivians on here. It seems posters would be better served calling Rivian service instead of whining on here about their technical issues.
Lots of FUD, and also people who are generally happy with their Rivian have no reason to come here and tell their story. People who have a negative experience want everyone to hear about it, because misery loves company.
 

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There's a lot of reasons why someone might post here vs. contacting service (some probably do both), and why there may be more negative comments now than before. I've only had my truck since June of this year so I'm not sure how things were in the early days, but here are a few reasons why negative feedback may be increasing:

- Honeymoon/novelty of being so unique is wearing off, and that glow isn't enough to overwhelm the frustration of issues popping up.
- Some issues persist, and now at almost 3 years of maturity, people feel like they should have been addressed by now.
- Service is among the slowest around. My recent service appointment is over 3 months away. And some problems may not even be fixed after a service visit (like my suspension noise that I'm going back for).
- New software issues or fixes may make the vehicles worse than they were originally (like auto suspension on dual motor trucks).
- Prices have gone up since the early adopters' purchases went through and people demand more for their money.
- Identifying an issue on a public forum may reveal a fix an owner can perform themselves vs. calling service. I wish there were more constructive threads like this as I will almost always do something myself if it is easy and inexpensive to do vs. taking my vehicle somewhere.

It's true that some people just like the screech of their own voice, but having others to sympathize with their pain of vehicle issue may offer some consolation that they're not the only ones, and searching for others' misery on a forum is one way to find those people.
 

Marchin_MTB

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There are people with genuine R1 issues and airing those is healthy. I agree that some of the recent ones should have gone to service prior to posting. That said there are problems that the collective knowledge here can help you with. There are also SC resolutions that it is good for us to know about and archive.
 
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Christopher1000

Christopher1000

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There's a lot of reasons why someone might post here vs. contacting service (some probably do both), and why there may be more negative comments now than before. I've only had my truck since June of this year so I'm not sure how things were in the early days, but here are a few reasons why negative feedback may be increasing:

- Honeymoon/novelty of being so unique is wearing off, and that glow isn't enough to overwhelm the frustration of issues popping up.
- Some issues persist, and now at almost 3 years of maturity, people feel like they should have been addressed by now.
- Service is among the slowest around. My recent service appointment is over 3 months away. And some problems may not even be fixed after a service visit (like my suspension noise that I'm going back for).
- New software issues or fixes may make the vehicles worse than they were originally (like auto suspension on dual motor trucks).
- Prices have gone up since the early adopters' purchases went through and people demand more for their money.
- Identifying an issue on a public forum may reveal a fix an owner can perform themselves vs. calling service. I wish there were more constructive threads like this as I will almost always do something myself if it is easy and inexpensive to do vs. taking my vehicle somewhere.

It's true that some people just like the screech of their own voice, but having others to sympathize with their pain of vehicle issue may offer some consolation that they're not the only ones, and searching for others' misery on a forum is one way to find those people.
Every vehicle I’ve owned has issues and service has often been terrible with many including Range Tune Range Rover and Mercedes. I didn’t go on forums and whine about them, I dealt directly with the companies to get the issues actually resolved.
 

ChiefBushWookie

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I learned a long time ago that people don’t often come to forums to talk about how great their experience is, because there is no need to. People come to help identify causes of issues or express experiences that were unpleasant, which does help others with similar issues. The downside is that it creates information bias that makes it appear that the product is bad when in reality the negative sentiment is only a very small percentage of owners.
 

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I think a lot of people who bought Rivians did so as their “dream car” or a big splurge purchase and it’s the first car at that price point. That leads to unrealistic expectations
 

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beatle

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Every vehicle I’ve owned has issues and service has often been terrible with many including Range Tune Range Rover and Mercedes. I didn’t go on forums and whine about them, I dealt directly with the companies to get the issues actually resolved.
Talking about your recent issue on a forum isn't specifically "whining," nor is forum discussion mutually exclusive with dealing with the service center.

I don't think anyone finds value in those that make their first post a one-liner like "omg this truck sucks, been in service for 17 days, f this." Those people usually get piled on and rightly run out of town quickly for shitposting.

But a detailed thread on suspension noise with video and sound that later identifies TSBs for others to reference that have the same issue will make resolving these issues faster for both the owners and Rivian. Or better yet, teardowns and DIY fixes. Those are the real value I hope to get out of forum discussions about issues.
 

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Yeah I think it’s unfair to label someone with a “negative” post as a troll or Musk acolyte or short seller. A lot of us are investors. People come together to get help, to complain, to get tips, to show off, to highlight great features, etc…. It’s a mixed bag.

You are also catching the forum right after Rivian had a bunch of bad news. Could be timing.
 

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I’ve owned my Launch Edition since early 2022 and am new to this forum and surprised at all of the negative comments about Rivians on here. It seems posters would be better served calling Rivian service instead of whining on here about their technical issues.
I think it’s a situation that comes naturally as a company grows. You will have more folks who complain. I’ve seen the trend rise and candidly it just takes away from the fun, positivity, and great info I’ve had on this forum for some time.

I can understand people’s frustrations related to their experience with the vehicle and the company. Most are valid complaints and I think there is learning and growth for Rivian to take away from some of the feedback as they continue to mature as a company. I have seen Rivian respond and improve over time.

Personally, I like my vehicle, I’m a fan of the company, and I have a reservation for an R2 that I plan to fulfill. My service center experience in Dallas has also been exceptional. Like every other brand, Rivian isn’t for everyone. If some folks continue to have an experience that is unsatisfactory, I encourage them to explore other choices. I’m sure we all do the same in other areas of our lives.

And with that, I’m going to run an errand for the family just to enjoy another sweet, sweet drive in this machine!
 

Hereforthesnacks

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Personally, I like my vehicle, I’m a fan of the company, and I have a reservation for an R2 that I plan to fulfill. My service center experience in Dallas has also been exceptional. Like every other brand, Rivian isn’t for everyone. If some folks continue to have an experience that is unsatisfactory, I encourage them to explore other choices. I’m sure we all do the same in other areas of our lives.
I disagree. If folks continue to have bad experiences, I would like Rivian to address the issues so that customers stay and flock to the brand! Not move on…
 

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A forum like this is a place to vent your issues and problems. If the moderators were to screen out negative threads and posts, they might as well shut it down because it would be absolutely useless.

I have been a member of the Airstream Forums (airforums.com) for almost twenty years. Over its existence (since 2002), it has had almost 200,000 members. The posting on AirForums is very much like it is here on RivianForums. Problems are aired and discussed, and resolutions are proposed and evaluated. Airstream news and the introduction of new models are discussed. There is the occasional troll or spammer, but that is just a fact of life. The moderators on AirForums control the trolls (some are actually suspended for misbehavior) and ban the spammers. Airstream is regularly held accountable for some of their more questionable decisions and features or lack thereof.

The Airstream Company closely monitors AirForums to see what their customers are saying. The Company maintains its own membership on AirForums and occasionally comments in a thread. Rivian could benefit from watching RivianForums to get a real feel for what is going on in their customer community.

Brian
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