Rivian Service policy - no alternative transportation unless vehicle kept for 48 hrs

[coasties]

I'm a fan of my R1T (2023, 68k miles). But the service continues to be unacceptable. Long wait times, even when I lived in the SF Bay Area. Up in Oregon, it is worse.

And now, they don't provide alternative transportation unless they keep the vehicle for 48 hrs. (Loaner or Rental car).

I live 2+ hours' drive, over 100 miles from the nearest service center. Tualatin, outside of Portland, Oregon. I've been waiting months for this appointment (April 16).

I owned a Tesla for 6 years. They got service sorted in a couple of years. And always provided transportation.

FYI from service tech "

I referenced the Rivian app message thread and it looks like the Mobile team is not available till long after your currently scheduled appointment. Regarding the tailgate repair and your current afternoon appointment, we do not provide alternate transportation for visits less than 48 hours in duration and it would be an overnight timeline for repair.

"

This is not acceptable. I won't be buying the R2. The R2 will make service delays worse.

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[beatle]

Wow, that's pretty notable. I have an appointment on 4/16 for them to unbreak my auto wipers that they broke when they replaced my windshield last month. It could be something simple, or it could be something is broken and needs to be ordered. I'm not sure how they determine this. I've never gotten my truck back in less than 2 days anyway.

 

[Ralph]

That might make R2s a casualty for us also. I can *maybe* see this within X distance (50mi?) of a service center.

But we are 3.5-4 hours from any service center.

We've had relatively good luck as far as the need for service goes, but if this turns out to be actual policy I'll not be able to in good conscience recommend a Rivian to anyone in this area.

A totally un-workable policy actually that incentivizes Rivian to under-estimate the time to repair and shift expense to owners.

Rivian desperately needs to find someone to be in charge of vehicle service/scheduling who views the job as keeping the most vehicles possible on the road. This person is un-likely to come from the traditional dealer environment where virtually every customer is local.

I'd recommend hiring someone from a company that utilizes their vehicles to provide a service. Perhaps a very large trucking company. Those vehicles are expensive and as such need to be kept on the road. The balance of parts inventory, personnel, shop capacity and variable loads are well understood and appreciated.

I believe Rivian has touted their use of AI tools to help solve this problem. And very clearly, aggregate customer history will be an insight into solving this problem. But historical and the resulting predictive data is only so useful.

As with running a company such as Rivian as a CEO, running a subset of the business (service) is largely an informed art.

 

[Darkneo]

And it begins...

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Tesla @ 6 years was better? Rivian didn't start official customer deliveries until '22. Today is first quarter of 2026. It needs time and income to continue to grow and expand in all areas, including service. This isn't a biased defense or excuse. It's just reality of business and time. And the loaner fleet size is not infinite. No brand has an infinite loaner fleet. When I owned a BMW, I didn't always get a loaner. More than half of the time it was Enterprise rental. Did you not realize what you were getting yourself into when you bought from a marque with no local service footprint? Be reasonable.

As for R2, I think Rivian has learned many lessons from R1. And will probably not open config to reservations with no service access.

 

[the.phd]

shitty move if this is a new policy. I completely get not providing for out of warranty or non-warranty covered repairs, but if its a warranty repair that means its a Rivian "failure" and transportation should be covered.

Before anyone starts arguing semantics, I use failure only because something is broken under warranty when Rivian is responsible for repairs.

 

[ndmiller]

I doubt this is widespread other than your SC. Service Techs don't make policy and believe this just got instituted wholesale with zero notice.

I've had nothing but easy drop off and service for years and recently got uber credits just like every time to take me back and forth from the office.

 

[zefram47]

Wow, that's pretty notable. I have an appointment on 4/16 for them to unbreak my auto wipers that they broke when they replaced my windshield last month. It could be something simple, or it could be something is broken and needs to be ordered. I'm not sure how they determine this. I've never gotten my truck back in less than 2 days anyway.

Look at the cluster of cameras and such top-center of your windshield (from the outside). If the round one is bubbled like this instead of looking totally clear, then it's likely they didn't reinstall the rain sensor properly. It's probably a 30 min repair. I had mine done in late 2024 after it peeled away from the window because one of the latches wasn't properly connected.

 

[CrazyOne]

If they are not gonna provide loaners, they should reduce service prices to something less than $235 - $300 per hour.

 

[10BladeDad]

shitty move if this is a new policy. I completely get not providing for out of warranty or non-warranty covered repairs, but if its a warranty repair that means its a Rivian "failure" and transportation should be covered.

Before anyone starts arguing semantics, I use failure only because something is broken under warranty when Rivian is responsible for repairs.

Wow, I recently had my R1S in for service (covered under warranty) in Dallas SC & was provided Uber credits. However, warranty or no warranty, shouldn't matter. I had an 08 H2 (bought in 2010 from a MB dealer) from the 1st time I ever had it serviced, the Cadillac dealer ALWAYS provided me a loaner vehicle whenever the truck was in their shop for service (oil change, tune-up didn't matter). It's called 'Customer Service'.

Big fan but shame on Rivian if this is their new policy.

 

[the.phd]

Wow, I recently had my R1S in for service (covered under warranty) in Dallas SC & was provided Uber credits. However, warranty or no warranty, shouldn't matter. I had an 08 H2 (bought in 2010 from a MB dealer) from the 1st time I ever had it serviced, the Cadillac dealer ALWAYS provided me a loaner vehicle whenever the truck was in their shop for service (oil change, tune-up didn't matter). It's called 'Customer Service'.

Big fan but shame on Rivian if this is their new policy.

Customer service also has a $ amount attached, and when a $50k vehicle is their main business in the near future, they can’t provide all the amenities they did for a $100k vehicle.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Wow, maybe this is why I was given such a hassle when I asked for a loaner car. This is unacceptable. I also live 3.5 hours from the closest service center, so this is not something I would tolerate. If this is the way service is going to be, it might be time to consider another vehicle.

 

[CharonPDX]

Tesla @ 6 years was better? Rivian didn't start official customer deliveries until '22. Today is first quarter of 2026. It needs time and income to continue to grow and expand in all areas, including service. This isn't a biased defense or excuse. It's just reality of business and time. And the loaner fleet size is not infinite. No brand has an infinite loaner fleet. When I owned a BMW, I didn't always get a loaner. More than half of the time it was Enterprise rental. Did you not realize what you were getting yourself into when you bought from a marque with no local service footprint? Be reasonable.

As for R2, I think Rivian has learned many lessons from R1. And will probably not open config to reservations with no service access.

Tesla also shipped significantly fewer vehicles in their first four years than Rivian.

In the fourth year of production, they delivered 50,580 vehicles (Mostly Model S, just beginning Model X deliveries.) With a total of 107,362 vehicles delivered.

By contrast, in Rivian's *THIRD* year of delivering vehicles, they delivered 51,579. With the ramp-up being faster, too. (Total vehicles built 174,295 by the end of year four.)

And Rivian has been building three vehicles nearly the whole time. Tesla only built the Model S for the first three years. (Delivery Van started deliveries basically the same time as R1T, R1S started deliveries less than a year after R1T. Model X started deliveries almost precisely four years after first Model S delivery.)

 

[Billyk24]

With a 4.5 hour drive to a "nearest" service center, it makes me wonder if Rivian is expanding such locations?

 

[DuoRivians]

My local bmw dealer provided me with loaners every single time, when I had service—under warranty or not. I thought this was the goal, not fewer transportation options.

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