Conversation with my neighbor... Are Rivian's really for rich people?

[stormbreaker]

I wanted to ask if anyone else had this happen. My neighbor up the street who I've always been friendly with got a replacement for a old suby with a 100k mile small SUV. I asked him about it and wasn't he concerned about the high mileage etc. He said that it will last a couple hundred thousand miles etc.

And then he said to me that he isn't "rich" like I am with my Rivian

Holy moly did that take me aback. My neighbor is a recently retired software engineer. Similar line of work. We own similar houses.

I came from a 22 yo diesel Silverado with no AC. LOL There are maybe 4 or so other Rivian's here in my workplace. Are Rivian's really for rich people?

Sponsored

 

[gultin]

No.

 

[Time2Roll]

Rich is relative. Certainly Rivian is not for the poor.

 

[1stPlace]

Tesla had the same image in the early days. Rivian also seems to be most popular among "coastal elites". I am in the Detroit area and visit many of the suburbs for work. It is a little different here because of the big 3 manufacturers, so there are very few Rivians. However, there are plenty of people in Grand Wagoneers and loaded Denalis. And Land Rovers, for some reason.

I think I heard RJ Scaringe recently say their average price was $90k. Considering the average new vehicle is $50k, then yes, this is on the high end and only accessible to individuals making at least maybe $150k in LCOL areas, which is around the 90th percentile for individual (*not household) income.

Hopefully when the R2 comes out and the vehicles look so similar most people don't notice, that this assumption/judgement goes away. I never wanted my vehicle to be flashy, but I can't help that it looks better than every other one on the road.

 

[stormbreaker]

Afaik our Rivians live their lives without middle fingers that the silver trashcans at similar price point. So....win?

 

[Laserboy1054]

There are numerous studies in which people are asked whether they self-identify as "rich." Until net worth gets to truly nosebleed levels, pretty uniformly the answer is "no." Very few people self-identify as "rich." So look at the numbers: out-the-door, a current Rivian is going to cost $100k (give or take). If you finance or lease, that will get spread out over a few years. But that _is_ what it will cost. That breaks down to something like $20k per year until the vehicle is paid off (let's not quibble too much over the details--there are loads of variables). The median US _household_ annual income (not individual--so a household is likely to have multiple vehicles) is about $83k. So buying a Rivian will cost something like 25% of a median household's income. (Not average, median. Average income is ridiculously skewed by the top 1%.) That seems like too big a bite for "just" a truck (things are different if the vehicle is essential to a business). So it is out of reasonable bounds for at least 50% of households to buy a Rivian. How many deciles above the median does a household's income have to be to be "rich"? I dunno. There isn't a rigorous definition of the word. But one is not looking at buying a Rivian (R1--the story will change with R2) unless one's household income is significantly above that of more than half the other households in the US. "Income significantly above that of more than half the other households" might not be a bad definition of "rich"! But I'm sure there are other definitions of "rich" that one could reasonably use that would make Rivian purchasing seem more mundane.

How's that for a non-answer?!

 

[COdogman]

Some people are just dicks.

If Rivian had not honored the early pricing discount I probably would have had to bail on my order, but I made sure I could afford my Rivian payment just like I did with my Tacoma before it... If people judge, that is on them. I can't control that and honestly don't give a crap.

Vehicles are expensive now. A new Tacoma TRD Pro now starts at $65k, which is barely less than I paid for my R1T, except the Tacoma is slow as dogshit with terrible efficiency.

 

[mkg3]

... And then he said to me that he isn't "rich" like I am with my Rivian

It's all relative isn't it? When you think about just how much Rivians cost, there are far fewer percentage of the population that is willing to spend ~$100K for a vehicle. than a $50K (current national average vehicle price).

Regardless of if one can or cannot afford it, the optics are that anyone driving a vehicle in the Rivian price range is well off than not.

People's finance is different and just because two people live in a similar house and did a similar work says nothing about what the financial situation.

 

[McLovin]

Some people are just dicks.

If Rivian had not honored the early pricing discount I probably would have had to bail on my order, but I made sure I could afford my Rivian payment just like I did with my Tacoma before it... If people judge, that is on them. I can't control that and honestly don't give a crap.

Vehicles are expensive now. A new Tacoma TRD Pro now starts at $65k, which is barely less than I paid for my R1T, except the Tacoma is slow as dogshit with terrible efficiency.

Agree. I lucked into an excellent lease deal (no $ down, $620/mo lease for my $82K R1T). New ones are at least 50% more for the same features (which is why I haven't upgraded).

 

[Zoidz]

From a new vehicle cost persepctive, with the neighbor's logic, someone who owns a $95k Platinum/King Ranch F150, etc. is also "rich". But I doubt the neighbor would have said that to an F150 owner.

It's probably more a reflection of the neighbor's bias and ignorance than anything else. Or perhaps even though he is a retired software engineer (presumably he made "decent" income) he is "poor" due to poor planning, mismanagement or misfortune. You shoulda asked him if he is "poor", lol.

 

[madhat]

I wanted to ask if anyone else had this happen. My neighbor up the street who I've always been friendly with got a replacement for a old suby with a 100k mile small SUV. I asked him about it and wasn't he concerned about the high mileage etc. He said that it will last a couple hundred thousand miles etc.

And then he said to me that he isn't "rich" like I am with my Rivian

Holy moly did that take me aback. My neighbor is a recently retired software engineer. Similar line of work. We own similar houses.

I came from a 22 yo diesel Silverado with no AC. LOL There are maybe 4 or so other Rivian's here in my workplace. Are Rivian's really for rich people?

Different priorities. I spend money on cars, dress clothes, home improvements, better quality home cooked food, etc. I demand a comfortable reliable daily. I could spend it on eating out and going to the lake every weekend like they might be, but I'm happy going for a drive or hike.
They can be judgmental if they choose, but who cares? I get not wanting to alienate people, but living to meet other's reflections of yourself is no way to live. It's a losing game because they'll always find something wrong with you.

 

[portdirect]

They are often viewed as ‘Chelsea tractors’ (to use a phase from my homeland). ie very few actually get used as they are marketed/designed. And 99% (stat pulled from le anus) of them are used for mall crawling, rather than any off-roading (including myself - the grass fields I occasionally drive around could be easily handled by a Prius). The initial pricing slipped under this - but now many people round me are cross shopping R1S’s with Range Rovers, GWagons (Gotta love them 179'ers) and Escalades - all off which are strongly associated with being lifestyle vehicles of the affluent.

Lets be honest - the R1 is roughly equivalent in form factor to a Tacoma/4-Runner (with added non-functional benefits: eg refinement, speed etc) - we are all relatively well off here if we are able to choose a (new) Rivian over one of those options.

 

[superfly_snook]

Well is there a different way you could have approached that interaction with your neighbor that would have likely provoked a different response?

 

[stormbreaker]

As far as priorities, my small family would be consider by some as minimalistic. But any home improvements we do are of a higher quality nature.

We save a lot of money by doing what some folks would need to pay others for. So I guess its helpful to have some skills.

 

[2kwik4u]

Vehicles are expensive now. A new Tacoma TRD Pro now starts at $65k, which is barely less than I paid for my R1T, except the Tacoma is slow as dogshit with terrible efficiency.

Just went back and checked my paperwork, mine was $82.4k. Quite a bit more (27+% increase) than a $65k TRD Pro. Not sure I would call that barely less. Base price was $69.9k before options though, and that I would agree is barely more than the Tacoma.

I'm in the same boat though. Without the $7.5k tax credit, $6k employee discount offer, and 0% lease, I wouldn't own one either. I don't have any details, but I suspect my discounts are similar to what the pre-price hike owners got.

Sponsored