Rivian software is (still) an embarrassment and needs to get better fast before R2

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Incredible thread.

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[Hawkjody]

I don't doubt that you have these concerns and that your vehicle doesn't behave the way you'd like it to in these seven areas.

I can honestly say, however, that I have none of these seven concerns, in many cases because I don't use the "features" (Gear Guard, Apple Music, FM radio, kneel when park, proximity lock). I bought the vehicle to drive, and none of these things affects how it drives (for me).

With respect to trusting arrival SoC estimates, my experience is that the vehicle's estimates are conservative, and experience driving the vehicle goes a long way toward understanding (and building trust).

But, as with any consumer product, if it doesn't work for you, by all means get rid of it. For me, whether--or for how long--I keep it will be based on the apparent reliability of things that actually make the car drive.

GEN 1 R1S DUAL MOTOR PERFORMANCE (RIVIAN MOTORS NOT THE BOSCH)
Agree - issues seem to be very “ FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS” - I too bought the car to drive - and have nearly 30,000 miles in two years on Gen 1 R1s. Road trips in CAlifornia, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico -

Sharing settings with another is a problem I don’t have - my wife of over 40 years and i have never driven each others car. I would never set up her phone to be able to drive the Rivian (granted i was fortunate enough to get a key fob with my purchase when others do drive - they can manually set their seat and mirrors

My radio works fine (only listen to one station our local NPR station - i use Sirius XM for my music source - works great - interface functional (10 favorites on the screen at one time.

Trip planning is still interesting - i plan. All my trip with ABRP then in the Rivian then go to the next stop one at a time - works well and is accurate (ABRP take into account weather, wind, temperature and elevation changes - Plus i am conservation in that i choose to arrive ant next charge 10-15% - not lower - i hope in 3-5 mone year there will be a GEN3 Ris available

 

[ATLRivvy]

GEN 1 R1S DUAL MOTOR PERFORMANCE (RIVIAN MOTORS NOT THE BOSCH)
Agree - issues seem to be very “ FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS” - I too bought the car to drive - and have nearly 30,000 miles in two years on Gen 1 R1s. Road trips in CAlifornia, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico -

Sharing settings with another is a problem I don’t have - my wife of over 40 years and i have never driven each others car. I would never set up her phone to be able to drive the Rivian (granted i was fortunate enough to get a key fob with my purchase when others do drive - they can manually set their seat and mirrors

My radio works fine (only listen to one station our local NPR station - i use Sirius XM for my music source - works great - interface functional (10 favorites on the screen at one time.

Trip planning is still interesting - i plan. All my trip with ABRP then in the Rivian then go to the next stop one at a time - works well and is accurate (ABRP take into account weather, wind, temperature and elevation changes - Plus i am conservation in that i choose to arrive ant next charge 10-15% - not lower - i hope in 3-5 mone year there will be a GEN3 Ris available

I don’t understand why people believe they are making a relevant point with this “it’s a first world problem” nonsense. It’s a $80K+ luxury SUV. The car itself is a “first world” car.

This “I bought it to drive” nonsense is also drivel. The car is promoted, advertised, marketed and funded as software-defined. The company itself puts the software front and center. If you don’t care about the software then don’t comment - you are the unusual edge case, not the other way around. It’s like commenting on an iPhone review that you bought an iPhone to make phone calls - it’s an irrelevant comment at best and at worst shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what the car is being sold as

 

[Curtis Novak]

I've had my Rivian for less than 2 weeks, and I already almost can't take it anymore because of the software issues.

Disclaimer/context: I'm a big Rivian fan and have been rooting for them for years. I want them to succeed. I'm also a software architect, recovering developer, and CTO...I am fully aware of how hard it is to build and deliver complex software (not for embedded systems in a vehicle specifically, but I have some similar experience) for your current customers while also building for the future.

I just had to step back and take off the rose-colored glasses we sometimes have as fans of Rivian, because after experiencing the below I don't think I can look a normal person (non-early-adopter type) in the eye and recommend a Rivian.

All of the below issues have persisted after multiple resets of both vehicle and phone, and deletion/reinstallation of the Rivian iOS app.

1. About 70% of the time, the vehicle will not proximity unlock via phone key unless I pull out my phone (iPhone 17) and open the Rivian app. Yes, all the background permissions/Bluetooth settings etc are enabled. Insane that simply unlocking the car is still a problem in 2025. "UWB is supposed to make this better" -- yeah that would be great, if I could actually get the setup prompt. I can't. Besides, Tesla's been doing reliable unlocking via Bluetooth for years.
2. Apple Music stops after every 2-3 songs. It just stops playing until I tap Play again. Sometimes it just refuses to play that song and I have to keep skipping until one will start. Today, I got in the car and it just outright refused to start anything from Apple Music. Frustrating/annoying.
3. FM radio hasn't worked properly a single time. Oh it plays...but the UI is completely broken; we can't control it. It shows the radio as "off" when it's really on, or it stays locked on a single station regardless of what other buttons you push to change it, or sometimes it will change the station but the UI still shows that it's on a different station. Ridiculous.
4. Kneel when Parked only works about half of the time.
5. I can't get it to prefer my profile over my wife's when we both approach the car at the same time.
6. When I do select my profile, half the time it doesn't return my seat to my position. So then I have to re-setup my seat position.
7. Gear Guard setup just...won't. I have what is supposedly a proven compatible storage device, but when it tells me to plug it in, I do, and then nothing happens. No error message, no feedback, no additional information. The setup screen just closes.

There are yet more serious bugs that I (thankfully) have not experienced, like the slow level 2 charging or -- worse -- the wildly inaccurate arrival SoC estimates people have been reporting with the most recent update (2025.46.0). But those bugs are still indirectly affecting me even though I haven't experienced them, because we're leaving on a roadtrip soon, and I'm worried that these bugs might hit me — I'm afraid I won't be able to trust the arrival SoC, for example. Not a relaxing way to start a trip.

And that's the crux of it -- trust. I don't trust that the software in this $100k vehicle is going to work at any given moment, even for basic stuff like unlocking the car. Conversely, in three years, I haven't had any of the above issues in our Tesla, except for one time it wouldn't unlock until I opened the app on my phone. One. Single. Time. Everything else has been absolutely flawless in that vehicle -- audio, driver profile selection, the dashcam system, charging management, all of it. Based on that contrasting experience, I probably won't use my day one R2 reservation to replace our Model Y, and we'll be keeping the Model Y primarily because it's just reliable, and the Rivian isn't.

"It'll get better in the next update" or "it's come so far!" isn't acceptable after five years when we're talking about basic functionality that has been working fine in cars for decades — proximity unlock and FM radio, for example. "It's buggy because it's better tech and still new," again, isn't acceptable after this much time and for how expensive this vehicle is.

I know it's hard. I know it's new. Not an excuse anymore.

As a Rivian investor, I'm honestly more worried about next year now that I own a Rivian. If the mass market R2 experiences these types and volume of bugs, the Rivian brand will be tarnished and the R2 launch will be compromised. (Ironically, studies have shown that people who buy mid-market cars tend to have even less patience for reliability issues than people who buy $100k+ cars, due to lifestyle factors and a few other things.)

I don't post this to sh!t on Rivian, quite the opposite...I'm still rooting for them. But being honest about where things stand is important. They probably know all this, I'm surely not revealing anything that's new to anyone, but just as a reality check of where the overall current customer experience stands (for some people)...it's not great.

Let's hope for a better 2026 with software!

#5 I expirenced myself and it was frustrating. With my wife being shorter and thinner, it was a real pain. I had visions of getting crushed between the seat and the stering wheel like in the movie Christine. Like me, you did this to yourself when you removed and added your profile and / or Uninstalled the app. I too am a computer sciencetist, and using my trouble shooting skills, I realized this all started after I removed and added myself back as driver. Apparently Rivian assumes the oldest driver profile is the primary driver and when you both approach the car tie goes to the oldest profile, which is your wife since you deleted yours. To fix this simply remove you wife as a driver and add her back.

Yes it would be best if rivian would allow you to select who the primary driver is or if it could better guess by which phone is closer to the drivers door, but as a computer scientist I know with a relatively new product compared to tesla they have larger issues to address but I would assume you know that too rather being so critical of them and discouragingpotentialcustomers away. From your intro I gather at a dinner party your profession comes up pretty quick in any conversation to add weight to your opinion. Sometimes it is better to use our training and knowledge help a new emerging product rather than sway people from it because it is not perfect in our eyes. I had an early tesla and it too had issues and growing pains. I prefer my rivian over my tesla EVERY day.
Curtis

 

[Hawkjody]

I don’t understand why people believe they are making a relevant point with this “it’s a first world problem” nonsense. It’s a $80K+ luxury SUV. The car itself is a “first world” car.

This “I bought it to drive” nonsense is also drivel. The car is promoted, advertised, marketed and funded as software-defined. The company itself puts the software front and center. If you don’t care about the software then don’t comment - you are the unusual edge case, not the other way around. It’s like commenting on an iPhone review that you bought an iPhone to make phone calls - it’s an irrelevant comment at best and at worst shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what the car is being sold as

I am not saying your concerns and issues are not relevant - i have been fortunate that my Rivian has worked well and my use case has not uncovered significant issues - and it does speak. To quality control when some do and some don't - If rivian elects to include a feature it should work 99+%

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

I don’t understand why people believe they are making a relevant point with this “it’s a first world problem” nonsense. It’s a $80K+ luxury SUV. The car itself is a “first world” car.

This “I bought it to drive” nonsense is also drivel. The car is promoted, advertised, marketed and funded as software-defined. The company itself puts the software front and center. If you don’t care about the software then don’t comment - you are the unusual edge case, not the other way around. It’s like commenting on an iPhone review that you bought an iPhone to make phone calls - it’s an irrelevant comment at best and at worst shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what the car is being sold as

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I don’t understand why people believe they are making a relevant point with this “it’s a first world problem” nonsense. It’s a $80K+ luxury SUV. The car itself is a “first world” car.

This “I bought it to drive” nonsense is also drivel. The car is promoted, advertised, marketed and funded as software-defined. The company itself puts the software front and center. If you don’t care about the software then don’t comment - you are the unusual edge case, not the other way around. It’s like commenting on an iPhone review that you bought an iPhone to make phone calls - it’s an irrelevant comment at best and at worst shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what the car is being sold as

Okay, well how about the “there’s more important shit to worry about than these minor software issues” crowd? You people sound like you’ve never had to deal with any problems before and have absolutely perfect lives so these trivial things stand out.

None of the things mentioned here are beyond trivial annoyances. As I said before, I have more problems with Windows than I do with Rivian and that seems to be a pretty widespread software platform. I care about the software, but I’ve used enough different software to know that none of them work 100% of the time.

The first world problems argument IS relevant to anyone who has healthy priorities and doesn’t want to spend their time being a whiner.

 

[ATLRivvy]

Okay, well how about the “there’s more important shit to worry about than these minor software issues” crowd? You people sound like you’ve never had to deal with any problems before and have absolutely perfect lives so these trivial things stand out.

None of the things mentioned here are beyond trivial annoyances. As I said before, I have more problems with Windows than I do with Rivian and that seems to be a pretty widespread software platform. I care about the software, but I’ve used enough different software to know that none of them work 100% of the time.

The first world problems argument IS relevant to anyone who has healthy priorities and doesn’t want to spend their time being a whiner.

No offense - but are you really this dense? It’s a forum ABOUT THE CAR. People come here to discuss the car - not where issues with it fit within the scope of the ills of the world. You can complain about a car struggling with basic access issues, software consistency, etc. without it reflecting on the state of your life. An elementary school child understands this level of nuance.

I don’t see what your level of issues with windows (a notoriously unstable OS itself largely due to lack of software-hardware vertical integration. The exact opposite of the Rivian strategy mind you) has to do with Rivian software. Many of us have other cars so we can compare directly to an experience that routinely gets many of these same things right consistently.

No one is expecting 100% - but there is a world of difference between that and at least being comparably consistent. I’ve personally had more sensor alerts, software bugs, service appointments, etc. with my Rivian that I have all other cars I’ve owned COMBINED (that includes other EVs). Nothing super major but to OPs point at a certain point you can’t trust the thing and annoyances compound to ruin the experience

 

[Donald Stanfield]

No offense - but are you really this dense? It’s a forum ABOUT THE CAR. People come here to discuss the car - not where issues with it fit within the scope of the ills of the world. You can complain about a car struggling with basic access issues, software consistency, etc. without it reflecting on the state of your life. An elementary school child understands this level of nuance.

I don’t see what your level of issues with windows (a notoriously unstable OS itself largely due to lack of software-hardware vertical integration. The exact opposite of the Rivian strategy mind you) has to do with Rivian software. Many of us have other cars so we can compare directly to an experience that routinely gets many of these same things right consistently.

No one is expecting 100% - but there is a world of difference between that and at least being comparably consistent. I’ve personally had more sensor alerts, software bugs, service appointments, etc. with my Rivian that I have all other cars I’ve owned COMBINED (that includes other EVs). Nothing super major but to OPs point at a certain point you can’t trust the thing and annoyances compound to ruin the experience

There’s a difference between discussing the car and whining about nonsense. I too have had many cars, and they either had less functionality or worked less well than my Rivian does. There comes a point when you are just looking for things to complain about.

What other vehicle manufacturer has kept a monthly update cadence adding features every month and kept their software functioning as well as Rivian has? Which one even does a monthly update? Since you’ve had so many cars, these should be easy questions to answer.

 

[captainjp]

“No offense”…
Lol

 

[Ldiggs910]

I could’ve written this post myself.
As a former 2016 tesla model x 90D and 2022 Model X plaid owner, I dumped the plaid after Musk created crushing depreciation and lowered the cost of my vehicle by over $30k. I wasn’t going back to an ICE vehicle and I wanted 3 rows and the level of exclusivity I’d enjoyed in 2016 when people didn’t even know what a Tesla was.


I LOVE the way it looks (like an electric Range Rover). I love the interior appointments that look like Scandinavian furniture and would’ve be out of place in a Volvo.
i love that people don’t flag me down in NYC streets because they think my $140k Tesla is their ubiquitous uber.


but I hate that my grandmother can’t get in or out even in kneel mode. I hate that there’s no factory automated popout running boards option that fold up and don’t ruin the beautiful side profile of the vehicle.

I hate that there’s not even self parking available that plebeian 10 year old fords can manage.
I hate that my Bluetooth switches on as soon as a door is opened rather than when my butt is actually in the drivers seat but if I’m not squarely with said butt in the drivers seat, I can’t even put the car in gear.


Is a smart summon or true auto pilot feature too really too much to ask for at this price point from this tech company? I don’t really think so and especially not since 2012 Tesla has offered freely the playbook.
Just copy what the market says they like and enjoy and paste and make it better.

also rooting for Rivian as I’m stuck in mine for another two years but I’ve also been disappointed in my owner’s experience as well as I’m also back from Rivian service for the fourth time in exactly 12mos with my 2025 Max Pack Performance R1S.

Also, altho it’s reasonably quick in a straight line, the ride and handling is TERRIBLE no matter what setting you have it on!!

I don’t wish to return to Tesla now for entirely different I’m not supporting certain companies reasons but I don’t see a ton of attractive three row options either (those caddy EVs are already uberblackalicious within nyc and the Kia Corp twins aren’t attractive to me).

hoping Rivian reads these forums and thank you OP for opening this dialogue. You were dead on point. Don’t mind these blindly dedicated fanboys, they exist for every single brand.

 

[ATLRivvy]

Okay, well how about the “there’s more important shit to worry about than these minor software issues” crowd? You people sound like you’ve never had to deal with any problems before and have absolutely perfect lives so these trivial things stand out.

None of the things mentioned here are beyond trivial annoyances. As I said before, I have more problems with Windows than I do with Rivian and that seems to be a pretty widespread software platform. I care about the software, but I’ve used enough different software to know that none of them work 100% of the time.

The first world problems argument IS relevant to anyone who has healthy priorities and doesn’t want to spend their time being a whiner.

There’s a difference between discussing the car and whining about nonsense. I too have had many cars, and they either had less functionality or worked less well than my Rivian does. There comes a point when you are just looking for things to complain about.

What other vehicle manufacturer has kept a monthly update cadence adding features every month and kept their software functioning as well as Rivian has? Which one even does a monthly update? Since you’ve had so many cars, these should be easy questions to answer.

None of my other cars have a monthly update cadence. My other EV gets updates once a year lately. So what?

It also has the exact same basic functionality of my Gen R1S and all the basic functionality works reliably despite fewer updates. The old, Mobileye based ADAS actually works better than my Rivian plus has fewer sensor issues, the Bluetooth based PAAK has been more reliable than my Rivian (although maybe UWB will match that) and it’s never needed a single service appointment beyond routine maintenance.

You don’t get credit for the attempt. Updates routinely breaking basic functionality is like the very definition of bad software.

I appreciate Rivian adding functionality over time and the car is certainly getting better. But to pretend it hasn’t been riddled with software inconsistency and known bugs is just gaslighting. You don’t get a pass on getting the core right just because you endeavor to add more

 

[Donald Stanfield]

None of my other cars have a monthly update cadence. My other EV gets updates once a year lately. So what?

So you see no correlation between update frequency, the number of features added, and software stability? Here's the problem: if Rivian does what they are doing now, someone like you will whine that the software isn't stable and that they don't care if they only get updates once a year, so long as they always work. If they switch to a once a year cadence, someone else will whine that they no longer get monthly updates.

There is nothing Rivian can do to prevent someone from whining, so the real solution is to stop whining.

 

[ATLRivvy]

So you see no correlation between update frequency, the number of features added, and software stability? Here's the problem: if Rivian does what they are doing now, someone like you will whine that the software isn't stable and that they don't care if they only get updates once a year, so long as they always work. If they switch to a once a year cadence, someone else will whine that they no longer get monthly updates.

There is nothing Rivian can do to prevent someone from whining, so the real solution is to stop whining.

Or how about the “solution” is to provide your review of your experience in the specific section focused on updates and software experiences on the forum specifically dedicated to the car. You know the basic act of providing community sourced feedback that this entire website exists to support. And then not buy/lease another one if stability doesn’t improve. That sounds like an extremely obvious approach and the one OP is taking. This is again - elementary school stuff.

You seem to be a fanatic so I don’t really know how to explain this to you. I’m a paying customer. I don’t work for Rivian. I do not care about how hard it is to provide stable monthly updates. I care that the lack of stability impacts my user experience. Instability renders bad experience. Bad experience results in bad feedback and creates a detractor.

I’m a tech operator / investor for a living. I know very well that there are tradeoffs between size, speed, frequency and quality of roadmap delivery. It’s up to the company to navigate those tradeoffs, not the customer to accept them. Hopefully Rivian figures it out as they approach R2 launch, they certainly haven’t quite yet

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Or how about the “solution” is to provide your review of your experience in the specific section focused on updates and software experiences on the forum specifically dedicated to the car. You know the basic act of providing community sourced feedback that this entire website exists to support. And then not buy/lease another one if stability doesn’t improve. That sounds like an extremely obvious approach and the one OP is taking. This is again - elementary school stuff.

You seem to be a fanatic so I don’t really know how to explain this to you. I’m a paying customer. I don’t work for Rivian. I do not care about how hard it is to provide stable monthly updates. I care that the lack of stability impacts my user experience. Instability renders bad experience. Bad experience results in bad feedback and creates a detractor.

I’m a tech operator / investor for a living. I know very well that there are tradeoffs between size, speed, frequency and quality of roadmap delivery. It’s up to the company to navigate those tradeoffs, not the customer to accept them. Hopefully Rivian figures it out as they approach R2 launch, they certainly haven’t quite yet

Apparently you don't know about the tradeoffs because you're whining while admitting no one else touches the cadence and complexity of Rivian's software updates. I don't care what you do for a living, but it doesn't seem like you understand what you were buying with your Rivian, when there are hundreds of threads you could have read before making your purchase. If you had, you wouldn't be in your current situation and the rest of us who had the correct expectations wouldn't be bothered with you making mountains out of mole hills.

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