Cost to remove item from under seat

[Shakes1906]

Rivian mobile service wants to charge me $320 to remove an item which fell between the driver seat and console and is now stuck under the seat. Work entails unbolting the seat, retrieving the item, and bolting the seat back on. The item is worthless, but is annoyingly sliding around down there.

Seems like an awful lot of money to mitigate an issue caused by poor design (and something falling out of my pocket)

Anyone else face this cost and have a suggestion?

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[Dark-Fx]

Remove the seat yourself?

 

[shamoo]

Yep, remove the seat yourself. You probably don't even need to do a lot of work. Probably could remove the bolts and tip it back/forward and retrieve the object.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

There's instructions on the forum how to remove the seats. You may need a breaker bar, and a torque wrench to get them reinstalled, but since you probably only need to move it a few inches you may be able to get by with just loosening the bolts (rather than removing the seat entirely).

Alternatively, plenty of other suggestions ranging from a borescope to jam a leaf blower under there and try to blow it out. Good luck, let us know how it goes!

 

[Nixapatfan]

Were you expecting them to do this for free? That's not their problem.

Get one of these:
NoCry Magnetic Flexible Claw Grabber Pickup Tool with Bright LED Light - 27.7in Long Magnetic Pickup Tool, Retractable Claw Grabbing Tool, Magnetic Grabber Tool with 5lb Pull Strength Pick Up Tool - Amazon.com

 

[shamoo]

Seems like an awful lot of money to mitigate an issue caused by poor design (and something falling out of my pocket)

Were you expecting them to do this for free? That's not their problem.

Also an important point. Car companies/dealers are in the business of making money. Everything is labor hours. You can ask them to wipe a spot of bird poop off your window. They would also charge you, probably 1 hour of labor at $150/hr or something.

Unfortunate fact of life, which means for more simple issues like this, it is better to learn how to do basic vehicle work (e.g.: plugging tires, rotating tires, changing oil, up to mild suspension work, etc).

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

 

[Shakes1906]

There's instructions on the forum how to remove the seats. You may need a breaker bar, and a torque wrench to get them reinstalled, but since you probably only need to move it a few inches you may be able to get by with just loosening the bolts (rather than removing the seat entirely).

Alternatively, plenty of other suggestions ranging from a borescope to jam a leaf blower under there and try to blow it out. Good luck, let us know how it goes!

There's instructions on the forum how to remove the seats. You may need a breaker bar, and a torque wrench to get them reinstalled, but since you probably only need to move it a few inches you may be able to get by with just loosening the bolts (rather than removing the seat entirely).

Alternatively, plenty of other suggestions ranging from a borescope to jam a leaf blower under there and try to blow it out. Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Thanks! I was concerned about messing up the seat or something else under there. I’ll do some more research reconsider tackling that myself. Thanks!

 

[Shakes1906]

Also an important point. Car companies/dealers are in the business of making money. Everything is labor hours. You can ask them to wipe a spot of bird poop off your window. They would also charge you, probably 1 hour of labor at $150/hr or something.

Unfortunate fact of life, which means for more simple issues like this, it is better to learn how to do basic vehicle work (e.g.: plugging tires, rotating tires, changing oil, up to mild suspension work, etc).

No, I did not expect them to do it for free nor did I intend to suggest as much with my question. Just wondering what others did with similar issues. I tried the gripper tool, but just can’t seem to snag the item from under there.

 

[Zoidz]

One more possible solution - if the object is ferrous/magnetic, a "super strong" rare earth magnet on the outside of the carpet might allow you to capture it and slide it out.

And if you have not, install "Drop Stop Seat Gap FIller". They work.
https://www.target.com/p/drop-stop-...gap-filler-as-seen-on-shark-tank/-/A-84228463

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Rivian mobile service wants to charge me $320 to remove an item which fell between the driver seat and console and is now stuck under the seat. Work entails unbolting the seat, retrieving the item, and bolting the seat back on. The item is worthless, but is annoyingly sliding around down there.

Seems like an awful lot of money to mitigate an issue caused by poor design (and something falling out of my pocket)

Anyone else face this cost and have a suggestion?

Couple hours of labor. Does not sound unreasonable. If you can turn a screw driver or wrench, no reason you couldn't do it yourself. Only thing missing is knowledge of what tools/sockets to use and what torque spec to put everything back to.

Many cellphone or USB bore scopes are available on Amazon. You could use one to have an exploratory look before you take anything apart.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Aliens: Earth on Hulu is excellent BTW.

 

[Shakes1906]

One more possible solution - if the object is ferrous/magnetic, a "super strong" rare earth magnet on the outside of the carpet might allow you to capture it and slide it out.

And if you have not, install "Drop Stop Seat Gap FIller". They work.
https://www.target.com/p/drop-stop-...gap-filler-as-seen-on-shark-tank/-/A-84228463

Great idea! It’s not magnetic so it won’t stick. I didn’t try tape or sticky stuff yet, so that’ll be next. Thanks for giving me that idea!

And yes the gap filler is installed, albeit too late. That’s kept other stuff from slipping down there, so it is a Must Have.

Thanks again!

 

[ndmiller]

What's the item? A piece of flypaper can grab just about anything......

 

[rhumbliner]

I dropped my house key (sans key ring) down there and had to remove the driver’s seat to retrieve it. Took 45 min tops.

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