Poll: Has your Rivian ever turtled?

[MountainBikeDude]

Still in the used market and trying to discern how prevalent this issue is. Secondarily, does a turtled Rivian suffer increased risk of turtling again after the initial issue is resolved? If i'm shopping in the used market, do I have any way of knowing if a Rivian has turtled before?

Thanks for your participation.

Whats your definition of turtled? Turtle icon and reduced speed, or not able to drive and turtled?

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[MountainBikeDude]

Still in the used market and trying to discern how prevalent this issue is. Secondarily, does a turtled Rivian suffer increased risk of turtling again after the initial issue is resolved? If i'm shopping in the used market, do I have any way of knowing if a Rivian has turtled before?

Thanks for your participation.

I had a suspension issue which got worse over a few weeks. There were minor signs, and I ignored my inner voice on taking it in. Would partially dive toward the front passenger side going over expansion gaps on bridges, and pull slightly to that side on rebound.

Anyway, was in rock crawl mode going though some snow, and suspension faulted a couple minutes after raising it. Was confined to 31km/hr, but fortunately could coast down the hill faster .

After several resets, was able to quickly change from highest into Rally mode/normal suspension height, before the fault prevented it. Then a 45 minute sleep cycle allowed me to at least drive max 85km/hr, and was able to drive the 50km to the service centre.

I don't recommend driving a Rivian at speed with all the dampers and hydraulic sway bar defaulted to wide open. If you do, make sure you make driving inputs like you have Jessica Tandy in the back seat.

Front damper had a blown seal? Rivian took it in January 2nd and had it repaired in a day or two? 100% whole again.

So turtle mode is borderline a check engine light, once the issue is resolved, icon goes away. So don't give it much thought.

 

[zefram47]

The turtle can appear for many reasons. I had it happen on an off-road trail attempting to climb up a rock wall because an inverter or motor overheated. Waited a minute or two and it was back to normal.

 

[DeanB1452]

Early VIN '22 R1T. Errored on the freeway and once I exited it went into turtle mode. Luckily I was 2 miles away from the SC and limped my way there at 20 mph. A wiring harness came loose and rubbed against the wheel causing a short.

 

[Erik+]

R1T, never. Hobie 16, occasional and self inflicted turtles.

 

[TampaR1T]

Turtled once in an R1T gen 1. Pulled over. Parked. Restarted/reset software. Back to normal.

 

[Cycliste]

One time while at home. Hard and soft resets did not correct the problem. Rivian pushed an update to the vehicle to correct the error.

 

[BCondrey]

They resolve them sure, but the wild card is how many weeks are you going to be driving in an Enterprise rental while they do? People would be a lot more forgiving if loaners were available from the first stranding incident. Maybe open one less space this year and set aside some more loaners for every service center - that's my thought.

In 4 decades of car ownership before Rivian, I have had a rental provided exactly once. That was when Toyota had to replace the entire frame on my Tacoma. Getting a rental when they need to keep the vehicle seems like a great approach to me, and I don't get the whining that loaners aren't available. The times I've had a rental from Rivian it has been super convenient.

 

[BCondrey]

Turtle mode can be turned on in response to a bunch of circumstances and for various reasons. It isn't in and of itself a "problem".

 

[keabob]

Had my gen 1 R1T Launch Edition go to turtle mode after the front passenger-side wheel speed sensor fell off. The sensor then sliced open the CV joint boot. We immediately pulled over and called Rivian service who sent a tow truck after verifying a reset didn’t resolve the issue (at the time, we didn’t know about the sensor).

 

[JeremyMKE]

I have an early VIN R1T and had the rear drive unit fail early in my ownership. It went into to turtle mode and let me pull over in a parking lot to call service. They instructed me to go into conserve mode and limp home since I was pretty close and they had a flat bed at my house the next day to take it to service center. They got me in a loaner quickly and got me back in my truck in about three weeks. I’ve got 39,000 miles now and would not hesitate to buy another R1T.

I had a similar situation. Once the rear drivetrain was replaced neer had another "turtle" issue again. Mine was for sure a mechanical issue that was handled.

I had the vehicle back In less than 7 days and it happened in remote Michigan.

 

[waitingonanr1s]

In 4 decades of car ownership before Rivian, I have had a rental provided exactly once. That was when Toyota had to replace the entire frame on my Tacoma. Getting a rental when they need to keep the vehicle seems like a great approach to me, and I don't get the whining that loaners aren't available. The times I've had a rental from Rivian it has been super convenient.

I’m sorry you don’t like it. But every luxury car brand I’ve ever owned has provided a loaner - many will even do so for the day. At this price point most expect a loaner for an extended repair. Rivian is not positioning itself as Toyota, not that there is anything wrong with Toyota, but it’s not a luxury car brand.

Enterprise tries to put people in EVs and/or nicer rentals, but it’s not possible with the number of folks picking up rentals for Rivian repairs daily from them. As stated above - I’ve had a smoke smelling Highlander, Murano, and Mitsubishi (many more rentals than you’ve had in 4 decades evidently, which is another topic). None are adequate replacements for a 100k vehicle.

 

[Muir]

came here thinking from title that folks responding would be talking about running out of battery on road and their experiences instead of vehicle parts failures. anyone run out of battery and turtle? I had a Nissan LEAF (early 2010) and a actual turtle appeared on screen when you ran out of battery charge.

 

[Ciero]

2023 R1T Turtled a few times due to a loose battery cable. Minor fix that caused bit of drama at the time.

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