Delivery to Disaster: My Rivian Broke Down in Less Than 24 Hours

[Wuet]

I had a nice long post recrafted by the GPT, but I don't want that to be a problem hearing my story.

I bought a Rivian R1T, picked it up Friday June 27th. Within 24 hours it had a critical battery system issue and has been in the shop since. They denied my request to replace the truck. The tonneau cover broke when I checked it in for service and asked if it was supposed to be so loud.

6 months in, maybe I'd accept a major repair, but within the first 24 hours?

Anyway,
At this point I regret the purchase.
Dan

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[nelw]

This post generated by ChatGPT ^^^

 

[Wuet]

This post generated by ChatGPT ^^^

Well, it was rewritten by it. My original was long and boring.

 

[captainjp]

This post generated by ChatGPT ^^^

You beat me to it. lol
The rewritten version is long and boring as well

 

[kenyee]

FWIW, I've read stories about it dying on the way home from initial pickup and also it dying within the first week of ownership.
It's sad that this happens but it does happen occasionally even on ICE cars...

 

[ndmiller]

I researched two forums to find help before I purchased. I read the stories....

I got a call: there were material defects in the spoiler paint. I could delay delivery or bring it back later for replacement. I had plans, so I took delivery anyway.

The paint on the spoiler was clearly bad.

I am still fascinated by new buyer claiming to have done research on Rivian (or any other car company) and then took delivery of a vehicle with a major flaw in hopes it would be taken care of later.

There are dozens and dozens of Rivian stories (and other brand stories) where delivery was accepted with obviously bad flaws that went completely sideways shortly after.

Why are people still doing this on $100K vehicles???? Blows my mind.

Good luck to OP, this is only the beginning, lets all hope your story can educate another buyer researching Rivian to not take delivery of a flawed vehicle.

 

[Wuet]

I am still fascinated by new buyer claiming to have done research on Rivian (or any other car company) and then took delivery of a vehicle with a major flaw in hopes it would be taken care of later.

There are dozens and dozens of Rivian stories (and other brand stories) where delivery was accepted with obviously bad flaws that went completely sideways shortly after.

Why are people still doing this on $100K vehicles???? Blows my mind.

Good luck to OP, this is only the beginning, lets all hope your story can educate another buyer researching Rivian to not take delivery of a flawed vehicle.

On some level I am totally with you. I wrapped up a lot of money and plans into the truck and we had everything ready to head out off roading that next day. I can deal with a paint issue. Things happen.

One thing that got me was the lack of contact. I would hope that this is an extreme case and someone in leadership would reach out with a little sympathy, but I didn't even speak to a manager till three days later, when i asked.

I guess I should have not had expectations wrapped up in a vehicle... I'm too old to be learning lessons, heh.

 

[iansriv]

OP-that is absolutely horrible. I know it's very frustrating but I would politely escalate and document as much as possible. This may not make you feel better but whenever I have had issues, Rivian has stepped up. All the best.

 

[COdogman]

I would also be spooked if I were in your shoes. But new vehicles of all prices have failures sometimes. Depending on what went wrong, it could be a simple fix and you could own the truck for years after that without issue.

I just crossed the 2 year mark with mine and the only issue has had is a HV battery failure at around 9 months. It was replaced in 6 days and I was back on the road. Not a single issue since.

The PTCs have always had problems, so while it’s still unacceptable, it’s at least a well known issue affecting many owners.

 

[Aardvark]

I have a great deal of empathy for you. If this were my situation, I would justifiably be angry and discouraged. My advice, which isn't worth a worth much, would be to give Rivian a chance to make it right for you. When you get a working R1T back, and start driving it, I believe you won't regret staying with the brand.
I know I'm one of the lucky ones with a gen 1 R1S which, at 34,000 miles, has not needed any service except for a courtesy hub bolt torque check. I still love getting behind the wheel of this car at every chance.
Good luck, and please let us know what they find. I'm curious on this one.

 

[waitingonanr1s]

Sorry you've joined the "my new gen 2 is dead in 24 hours club". Yeah, their policy doesn't allow for replacement or return once you accept the vehicle in the app. It sounds like you're already beating that drum, but use this time to research your state's lemon laws and make sure Rivian knows you plan to exercise your full rights. Build documentation of communications and service history so you have it if needed in the future.

They're pretty good about expeditiing repairs when the vehicle is inoperable, but they seem to move more slowly and drag things out if you let them manage it without supervision and check-ins. The best service advisors and service centers provide daily updates, but some are reluctant to and push back on that. I would still keep checking in daily so they know you're taking notice - maybe a slower cadence once it's diagnosed and a repair timeline is established.

I just went through this with back to back replacements of bad cooling valves with my gen 2 over the first 3 weeks I owned it. I've put 2,000+ miles on it since getting it back in mid-June and it's running great. I also regretted the transaction in the weeks after (and wouldn't repeat the upgrade had I known the hassle it would be), but I'm ultimately happy with my Gen 2. I hope they get yours fixed quickly.

It's the worst to have a brand new car die on you and Rivian could do a better job of smoothing the experience for how ever many people it happens to - there's a lot of emotion invested in car purchases and it's frustrating when you go from being excited to take delivery to regretting the transaction because you feel like you got a lemon in 24 hours. Rivian really needs to prioritize QA to prevent this. Out of around 10 car purchases in my lifetime, my Gen 2 purchase was by far my worst purchase experience (compared to my gen 1 purchase experience which was one of the smoothest and easiest ones). Clearly anecdotal, but the pace of these reports while not incredibly frequent, does not appear to be slowing down either.

 

[andrewgrhogg]

Research your states lemon laws and then make sure that they know that you know them and intend to exercise them. I did this with mine (CA and broke before it drove off the lot but after acceptance and then broke again a few days later) and told them a) the vehicle was unusable and b) that I was counting backwards to 30 days and then was going to invoke lemon law. That got them moving after the truck sat there doing nothing at their facility for 1 week on the 2nd time around …and there were already at 15+ days!

several months later trim is falling off and the AC is not cold enough and the radio turns off randomly and my seat doesn’t move to my position on Drive and …

 

[Windblade]

Lose friend purchased a Lightning. After his 2nd charge at home and on a trip 350 miles away, the charging interface died. Had to be towed home. It was fixed. He is back on the road and super happy that he’s electric. That said he still wishes he got the Rivia instead. Not because it broke down, but because he likes the ride better. Sxxt happens.

 

[Windblade]

Lose friend purchased a Lightning. After his 2nd charge at home and on a trip 350 miles away, the charging interface died. Had to be towed home. It was fixed. He is back on the road and super happy that he’s electric. That said he still wishes he got the Rivia instead. Not because it broke down, but because he likes the ride better. Sxxt happens.

. That should be close, not lose and Rivian v Rivia. Can’t trust Siri.. 🥸

 

[CANCERDOC]

Mine threw errors and turtle mode within one block of the service center after pickup. So that was maybe 300 feet away? Ended up with a buyback (when they had the 7 day guarantee) and they replaced the vehicle. My second Rivian has been in the shop a dozen times over the past year again with some major (requiring towing) and a few minor issues. I’m hoping everything is fixed and I never have to visit them again but also realize that’s wishful thinking.

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