Purchasing frustration

[Druidspirit]

Why do companies like Rivian and Tesla absolutely refuse to negotiate on trade in value. I was going to buy a R1S today but Rivian offered thousands less for my trade in than Tesla, Carvana, and Carmax. Their solution was to sell to them and then buy a Rivian. It irks the hell out of me when companies feel like you should feel privileged to buy their product that they make you jump throw hoops to do it.

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[dj200]

Rivian offers trade-in service as a courtesy to those who wish to use it, but you’re under no obligation to do so and you can always sell your vehicle elsewhere.
And keep in mind that Rivian is not a used car dealer. They quickly resell your trade-in to a wholesaler who then sells the vehicle to someone else, most likely at auction. So there are multiple middlemen involved each getting a cut.

I personally used their trade-in service and it was the easiest trade-in I’ve ever done. No they didn’t offer “top dollar“, but it was within the Blue Book wholesale range and certainly fair.

 

[Druidspirit]

Yeah, I’m not expecting top dollar. Just to match what everyone else is offering. I don’t care what they do with the trade in, but if they expect a normal person to consider their product it shouldn’t be so blatantly undervalued. They’re still selling a 100k+ vehicle and refusing to negotiate on less than 4k difference in valuation. It makes a prospective buyer second think.

 

[Seano]

Since they just dump it and aren’t in the used car business, that leaves very little margin.

I had Rivian deliver my R1S and Carvana pick up a car - everything done online and super, super easy, FWIW

 

[GKel]

The ol' bait and switch. Thank you RJ Scaringe, for promising a product, taking a large deposit for a custom configuration of said product, and then never delivering. I was an early adopter of the R1S and configured a quad motor version with just about every option. Then I waited.....and waited......and then got a nice rendering in the mail with a letter and all the niceties of a company doing their best to woo more customers.......and then continued to wait. And THEN!!!!!.....No, I didn't get my vehicle. What I got was "here are some other cars you can choose from and use your credit towards. Sorry, we know they're not the quad motor you ordered, or even the right color, and don't have the right interior, but if you don't select one of them before the end of September 2024 we're going to cancel your initial pricing.....OH, and we're going to keep your initial $1,000 deposit until you actually fight us to have it returned.........OH, and when you persist and try to explain that that's not what you signed up for we'll just tell you that due to the lease pricing and the changes in the production blah blah blah, our promise to you is no longer valid." Crappy, crappy company. I had really high hopes and really believed in their product but after that experience I will be turning as many people away from Rivian as possible.

 

[Druidspirit]

Since they just dump it and aren’t in the used car business, that leaves very little margin.

I had Rivian deliver my R1S and Carvana pick up a car - everything done online and super, super easy, FWIW

In PA the sales tax is reduced by the cost of the vehicle you’re trading in. So selling to a 3rd party of the transaction would cost an additional 3k in taxes. So it’s a lose lose situation for the consumer if they don’t at least offer what everyone else is offering.

 

[ndmiller]

In my experience Rivian is just an auction delivery vehicle for trades, not more no less as a convenience as someone else above said.

The vehicle I traded could have been filled with silly string or completely destroyed inside. They took the keys and delivered my vehicle never looking around or inside my trade for one second. That's when I realized they all just go to auction as they have no infrastructure to deal with trades.

You're barking up the wrong tree making assumptions based on a business trying to make additional money on your trade which they are not. I would bet they lose money on most if not all the trades that go to auction another lone under P&L losses.

 

[Rivdog]

The ol' bait and switch. Thank you RJ Scaringe, for promising a product, taking a large deposit for a custom configuration of said product, and then never delivering. I was an early adopter of the R1S and configured a quad motor version with just about every option. Then I waited.....and waited......and then got a nice rendering in the mail with a letter and all the niceties of a company doing their best to woo more customers.......and then continued to wait. And THEN!!!!!.....No, I didn't get my vehicle. What I got was "here are some other cars you can choose from and use your credit towards. Sorry, we know they're not the quad motor you ordered, or even the right color, and don't have the right interior, but if you don't select one of them before the end of September 2024 we're going to cancel your initial pricing.....OH, and we're going to keep your initial $1,000 deposit until you actually fight us to have it returned.........OH, and when you persist and try to explain that that's not what you signed up for we'll just tell you that due to the lease pricing and the changes in the production blah blah blah, our promise to you is no longer valid." Crappy, crappy company. I had really high hopes and really believed in their product but after that experience I will be turning as many people away from Rivian as possible.

Signed up 36 minutes ago and this is your first post eh? Interesting.

 

[SolartoEV]

Maybe they think we are Rivian.

 

[CANCERDOC]

The ol' bait and switch. Thank you RJ Scaringe, for promising a product, taking a large deposit for a custom configuration of said product, and then never delivering. I was an early adopter of the R1S and configured a quad motor version with just about every option. Then I waited.....and waited......and then got a nice rendering in the mail with a letter and all the niceties of a company doing their best to woo more customers.......and then continued to wait. And THEN!!!!!.....No, I didn't get my vehicle. What I got was "here are some other cars you can choose from and use your credit towards. Sorry, we know they're not the quad motor you ordered, or even the right color, and don't have the right interior, but if you don't select one of them before the end of September 2024 we're going to cancel your initial pricing.....OH, and we're going to keep your initial $1,000 deposit until you actually fight us to have it returned.........OH, and when you persist and try to explain that that's not what you signed up for we'll just tell you that due to the lease pricing and the changes in the production blah blah blah, our promise to you is no longer valid." Crappy, crappy company. I had really high hopes and really believed in their product but after that experience I will be turning as many people away from Rivian as possible.

This guy had two years minimum to his preorder pricing credit and blames Rivian for not selling a vehicle to him for a huge discount. Not Rivian’s fault you waited too long and lost out. What a nonsense post. First post too!

 

[Dave Cundiff]

The ol' bait and switch. Thank you RJ Scaringe, for promising a product, taking a large deposit for a custom configuration of said product, and then never delivering. I was an early adopter of the R1S and configured a quad motor version with just about every option. Then I waited.....and waited......and then got a nice rendering in the mail with a letter and all the niceties of a company doing their best to woo more customers.......and then continued to wait. And THEN!!!!!.....No, I didn't get my vehicle. What I got was "here are some other cars you can choose from and use your credit towards. Sorry, we know they're not the quad motor you ordered, or even the right color, and don't have the right interior, but if you don't select one of them before the end of September 2024 we're going to cancel your initial pricing.....OH, and we're going to keep your initial $1,000 deposit until you actually fight us to have it returned.........OH, and when you persist and try to explain that that's not what you signed up for we'll just tell you that due to the lease pricing and the changes in the production blah blah blah, our promise to you is no longer valid." Crappy, crappy company. I had really high hopes and really believed in their product but after that experience I will be turning as many people away from Rivian as possible.

As I recall, Rivian gave the early preorder holders a LOT of notice that the preorder window was closing. I wasn't one of those -- we paid full price for our R1S in early 2024 -- but I recall a LOT of discussion through much of 2024.

As I recall, this forum's consensus at the time was that Rivian gave everyone enough time and notice to select SOMETHING reasonable to buy with their pre-order discount. As a community, we weren't unanimous -- but most people here thought Rivian had acted with reasonable integrity.

I'm sorry you were disappointed by not getting what you wanted at the discount you expected, @GKel. (I presume you got your deposit back -- that seems to have been a very reasonable request on your part.). My wife and I paid full price for what was available in early 2024, and we are very pleased. Everyone is different....

Best wishes!

 

[Donald Stanfield]

The ol' bait and switch. Thank you RJ Scaringe, for promising a product, taking a large deposit for a custom configuration of said product, and then never delivering. I was an early adopter of the R1S and configured a quad motor version with just about every option. Then I waited.....and waited......and then got a nice rendering in the mail with a letter and all the niceties of a company doing their best to woo more customers.......and then continued to wait. And THEN!!!!!.....No, I didn't get my vehicle. What I got was "here are some other cars you can choose from and use your credit towards. Sorry, we know they're not the quad motor you ordered, or even the right color, and don't have the right interior, but if you don't select one of them before the end of September 2024 we're going to cancel your initial pricing.....OH, and we're going to keep your initial $1,000 deposit until you actually fight us to have it returned.........OH, and when you persist and try to explain that that's not what you signed up for we'll just tell you that due to the lease pricing and the changes in the production blah blah blah, our promise to you is no longer valid." Crappy, crappy company. I had really high hopes and really believed in their product but after that experience I will be turning as many people away from Rivian as possible.

Everyone knew when the preorder window was closing, and they even gave vouchers for duals for a while. If you missed it, you were either buried under a rock for 3 years or an idiot. Neither of which is Rivian's fault.

 

[Schroederhc]

Rivian is in business to make money. At this point, it's survival.

 

[eddysales001]

Rivian offers trade-in service as a courtesy to those who wish to use it, but you’re under no obligation to do so and you can always sell your vehicle elsewhere.
And keep in mind that Rivian is not a used car dealer. They quickly resell your trade-in to a wholesaler who then sells the vehicle to someone else, most likely at auction. So there are multiple middlemen involved each getting a cut.

I personally used their trade-in service and it was the easiest trade-in I’ve ever done. No they didn’t offer “top dollar“, but it was within the Blue Book wholesale range and certainly fair.

I agree. Was one of my deciding factors when going to rivian. I’m not convinced my ford dealer would have done any better if trading in my expedition for a new expedition ( mostly because they know the warts on the 2019 model year)

 

[captainjp]

The ol' bait and switch. Thank you RJ Scaringe, for promising a product, taking a large deposit for a custom configuration of said product, and then never delivering. I was an early adopter of the R1S and configured a quad motor version with just about every option. Then I waited.....and waited......and then got a nice rendering in the mail with a letter and all the niceties of a company doing their best to woo more customers.......and then continued to wait. And THEN!!!!!.....No, I didn't get my vehicle. What I got was "here are some other cars you can choose from and use your credit towards. Sorry, we know they're not the quad motor you ordered, or even the right color, and don't have the right interior, but if you don't select one of them before the end of September 2024 we're going to cancel your initial pricing.....OH, and we're going to keep your initial $1,000 deposit until you actually fight us to have it returned.........OH, and when you persist and try to explain that that's not what you signed up for we'll just tell you that due to the lease pricing and the changes in the production blah blah blah, our promise to you is no longer valid." Crappy, crappy company. I had really high hopes and really believed in their product but after that experience I will be turning as many people away from Rivian as possible.

You poor baby. Why don’t you go call a waaambulance
And my god, the amount of periods used here…

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