In 4th year of waiting ... beginning to question if the wait is worth it

[EVTrucking]

Yep, I think I meant more in concept than in actuality. (Which is fitting because most manufacturers just have concept cars today…) There’s just not much out there.

Kia EV6, Audi e tron, Ford MME, ID.4, Polstar 2, Volvo xc40 Recharge, Hyundai IONIQ 5, Lucid and more are currently shipping and available.

The EV6, which is sold in all 50 States is shipping cars to Kia dealers next week. I have a deposit on a GT-Line due in 2/18/2022.

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[the long way downunder]

Been holding back but now I can't anymore. Someone said, "only worth the wait if you"re young". Well, I'm not young. Should I continue to take years waiting? I have life experience which allows me to set what I think are reasonable expectations which Rivian is not currently meeting.
I was the one who encouraged my husband to put his name on the Tesla wait list for an early (not the first) X editions 5 1/2 years ago. I understood what a wait could be for the R1T. But the more I read and hear about Rivian the more I wonder if it's worth it. Not happy with decisions being made by the company right now.
The thoughtful process that went into choosing Normal, IL for a plant I feel is nullified by choosing Georgia for another plant. (GEORGIA for many reasons) Great that Edmonds and every other exterior evaluation has been made but feel it's a marketing ploy each time Rivian posts the results. Disappointed that
1) the schedule changed and changed again; first it was May, then June, then September
2) the only vehicles delivered were to employees who
3) are restricted from saying anything in public
4) the many deliveries to Amazon instead of R1Ts and R1S to those waiting years for vehicles
5) making Amazon their priority over those of us with deposits
6) not meeting end of year expectations for 2021 (significantly)
7) and what happened to test drives? How many years do I have to be on the list? That's with me being available in 3 cities in the U.S (one Eastcoast, another is Chicago, & one in Southwest)
8) Rivian communications have been TERRIBLE!
My husband was going to reserve an R1S depending on my experience. Now has his name on the list for a Lucid!

I'd suggest checking your place in the queue.
You can get a pretty clear picture here:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/find-your-rivian-order-number-post-it-here.644/

While I've experienced no problem in communication directly with Rivian, perhaps that's because I have Nov '18 pre-order date and I'm "this" close to getting mine built.

I think location is a factor – either very close to Normal or near one of their locations in California seem to be priorities from what I'm told.

Overall, investor communication and I think marketing communications by Rivian have been … patchy. I had drive at a First Mile event, I've been in near weekly contact with a guide assigned to my build. As production ramps up, as people move to the head of the queue, I think communication improves. I think their priority for resource allocation is operations and logistics, employees, owners, then people with pre-orders within 1000 units of their build slot (about 5 weeks) and I think that's what they're doing. But that doesn't excuse the delays from 2020 to '21 to late '21 to '22 and '23.

If you already have a an early Lightning order, or GM, maybe those companies gain control of their dealers and prevent gouging over msrp. While I have "day one" orders with all the upcoming EVs, Tesla isn't building anything and the dealers will probably find a way to gouge and I won't pay over msrp, so I'll miss out.

If a Lucid is an option (I don't know their lead time, but their production volume is very small and I imagine they have a few tens of thousands of pre-orders) but I don't see it as an interesting vehicle and obviously no substitute for the exciting range of possibilities the R1 opens up! : )

FWIW, I expect to hear back from Rivian in the next week or so. If your pre-order number is below 3000, I'll ask my guide to give a holler, though I don't know if that's part of their "policy" (a word I'm tired of hearing from any corporation) but they do seem to run a tight ship, no exceptions … and I think that's crazy when they're build every vehicle by hand, there's plenty of flexibility (and significant benefit in learning from their customers and learning about how their operations hold up to the stresses.)

 

[cc84]

Been holding back but now I can't anymore. Someone said, "only worth the wait if you"re young". Well, I'm not young. Should I continue to take years waiting? I have life experience which allows me to set what I think are reasonable expectations which Rivian is not currently meeting.

I hear you. I'm not young either. It's good to vent your frustrations, even though you'll find what you say here won't go over well with some. Let the anger out. Even though I can't answer whether you should continue waiting, I would recommend having another plan and then set a certain date as the day in which you will quit waiting. It seems to make the wait a little easier. Not much, but some. My waiting time will end "soon". I hope to have my Rivian prior to that time, but it's beginning to look like I won't.

I would be more encouraged, if I knew Rivian is on target to meet our estimated delivery dates, but I don't. Their silence is deafening. I'm not encouraged at all.

There are many on here, (I expect they are what I consider young) that have no problem waiting. They say they have no issue waiting, but they don't say how long they've waited so far, or how much longer they would be willing to wait. Some will say as long as it takes, but I know that's not true. At some point they will give up and go another direction. Some say they had rather wait until all the bugs are gone and the truck is perfected. Then again, there are at least a 1,000 employees that are willing to take that risk. I don't recall being asked if I wanted to take that risk.

The amount of time that's reasonable to wait, IMO, is related somewhat to age. The time I've waited, as of now, is way unreasonable for a person my age. I should've known better, but unfortunately I didn't, but I do now. I hope the OP gets moved to the front of the line. He turned 90 yrs. old back in May. Good luck to you as well.

 

[IlliniRivian]

I am growing deeply concerned that it is Feb. 8 and we have not heard of a single delivery to anyone in the Jan/Feb window. If Rivian can't hit a delivery window 1-3 months out from the Nov. emails then I don't know how they scale in any meaningful way in the first half of 2022.

Just as bad there is nothing on R1S except the transparently stunt PR deliveries to RJ and the CFO right before the earnings call in December.

Sadly, there is nothing else in the BEV space that appeals to like the R1S right now but at a certain point I'll just get another ICE and wait on Generation 2 for Rivian or get something that simply isn't announced yet.

 

[ads75]

The TRX can't tow much, but with equivalent tires instead of 35s it would near as damn it equal to the R1.
Same for the Raptor R.
Those trucks will sell hundreds or a few thousands and then they're old news with terrible resale value (in part because you can't trust the owner of a factory hot rod truck hasn't given it a "rid hard, put up wet" life.)
Electric EV are going to sell a couple of million in the next few years. : )

You obviously have no idea on the history of the Raptors resale value. Just because you aren't willing to pay for a used one doesn't mean others aren't

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Been holding back but now I can't anymore. Someone said, "only worth the wait if you"re young". Well, I'm not young. Should I continue to take years waiting? I have life experience which allows me to set what I think are reasonable expectations which Rivian is not currently meeting.
I was the one who encouraged my husband to put his name on the Tesla wait list for an early (not the first) X editions 5 1/2 years ago. I understood what a wait could be for the R1T. But the more I read and hear about Rivian the more I wonder if it's worth it. Not happy with decisions being made by the company right now.
The thoughtful process that went into choosing Normal, IL for a plant I feel is nullified by choosing Georgia for another plant. (GEORGIA for many reasons) Great that Edmonds and every other exterior evaluation has been made but feel it's a marketing ploy each time Rivian posts the results. Disappointed that
1) the schedule changed and changed again; first it was May, then June, then September
2) the only vehicles delivered were to employees who
3) are restricted from saying anything in public
4) the many deliveries to Amazon instead of R1Ts and R1S to those waiting years for vehicles
5) making Amazon their priority over those of us with deposits
6) not meeting end of year expectations for 2021 (significantly)
7) and what happened to test drives? How many years do I have to be on the list? That's with me being available in 3 cities in the U.S (one Eastcoast, another is Chicago, & one in Southwest)
8) Rivian communications have been TERRIBLE!
My husband was going to reserve an R1S depending on my experience. Now has his name on the list for a Lucid!

1 - Yes, it did. Do you instantly give up on everything in life the moment something unexpected happens?

2 - This is simply not true. 2 months ago it was true. It is not now true. What's the problem/point?

3 - This is standard operating procedure for any internal beta-tested product. Why does the employees lack of communications cause a problem for you? If because of #8 - the comms shouldn't be coming from the employees anyway, and no major corporation works that way.

4 - Many? Care to post some evidence? I don't think we've even heard that Rivian has delivered 5 vans to Amazon, let alone 'many'. Also, they are completely separate production lines and staff, so production on the vans has basically nothing to do with R1T/R1S production.

5 - See #4 - I do not feel in any way that Rivian has made Amazon a priority *at the expense* of the rest of us.

6 - Which expectations? The ones Rivian themselves published during the Q3 earnings call? They missed their goal by ~10%. I don't consider that to be very significant, given the context.

7 - I've had a test drive. Many others have as well. I'm sorry to hear you haven't been able to yet. I guess you've forgotten that at minimum you get a free 7 day test drive when you take delivery and can return the vehicle no questions asked within that time limit. Seems reasonable.

8 - Yes, on this point I have nothing to say. Rivian has done an incredibly poor job at communicating accurately and frequently. Given the world we live in right now, they should have been communicating more, not less. All that said, I understand why they have done what they have. They have to look at a picture that's a lot bigger than just you or me as an individual, and at the end of the day, if either of us takes our 1000$ and goes home, they'll still sell every single vehicle they produce, with a backlog, for years.

Enjoy your Lucid that you probably won't get any sooner, will pay more for, and will be less capable than either the R1T or R1S

 

[Matty J]

FWIW, I expect to hear back from Rivian in the next week or so. If your pre-order number is below 3000, I'll ask my guide to give a holler

If this invitation extends to other community members, I'm an LE R1S 11/27/2018 reservation holder, order #1836 or 836... Thanks!

 

[sierraskier]

Been holding back but now I can't anymore. Someone said, "only worth the wait if you"re young". Well, I'm not young. Should I continue to take years waiting? I have life experience which allows me to set what I think are reasonable expectations which Rivian is not currently meeting.
I was the one who encouraged my husband to put his name on the Tesla wait list for an early (not the first) X editions 5 1/2 years ago. I understood what a wait could be for the R1T. But the more I read and hear about Rivian the more I wonder if it's worth it. Not happy with decisions being made by the company right now.
The thoughtful process that went into choosing Normal, IL for a plant I feel is nullified by choosing Georgia for another plant. (GEORGIA for many reasons) Great that Edmonds and every other exterior evaluation has been made but feel it's a marketing ploy each time Rivian posts the results. Disappointed that
1) the schedule changed and changed again; first it was May, then June, then September
2) the only vehicles delivered were to employees who
3) are restricted from saying anything in public
4) the many deliveries to Amazon instead of R1Ts and R1S to those waiting years for vehicles
5) making Amazon their priority over those of us with deposits
6) not meeting end of year expectations for 2021 (significantly)
7) and what happened to test drives? How many years do I have to be on the list? That's with me being available in 3 cities in the U.S (one Eastcoast, another is Chicago, & one in Southwest)
8) Rivian communications have been TERRIBLE!
My husband was going to reserve an R1S depending on my experience. Now has his name on the list for a Lucid!

Your frustration is completely understandable.

FWIW, coincidentally this last Saturday I was skiing at Kirkwood in South Lake Tahoe area and ran into my first R1T in the wild. In the 3yrs I've been a reservation holder I haven't been to any first drive events or actually seen one in person. The owner is a Rivian employee in the Bay Area. Super cool, super nice guy that didn't mind me stalking him/his truck while he was trying to boot up and get on the mountain, and gave me a full walk through and 15min of conversation geeking out, while our respective crews grew annoyed

At the risk of sounding like a complete fanboy, the fit and finish of the truck and the impression I was left with about the company, exceeded my already high expectations and honestly solidified my confidence in what Rivian is doing. Don't get me wrong, it's no blanket pass to miss customer commitments and suck at communication, but it's pretty interesting how quickly that fades away when you get to walk around one and you're actually sitting in the driver's seat.

 

[mkg3]

I am growing deeply concerned that it is Feb. 8 and we have not heard of a single delivery to anyone in the Jan/Feb window. If Rivian can't hit a delivery window 1-3 months out from the Nov. emails then I don't know how they scale in any meaningful way in the first half of 2022.

Just as bad there is nothing on R1S except the transparently stunt PR deliveries to RJ and the CFO right before the earnings call in December.

Sadly, there is nothing else in the BEV space that appeals to like the R1S right now but at a certain point I'll just get another ICE and wait on Generation 2 for Rivian or get something that simply isn't announced yet.

While I have no idea what the delivery date given to these people, I have posted this below on another thread yesterday:

"Seems like every time I'm out and about driving, I see a Rivian R1T.

Today, I had a mid-day Dr's appointment and there were two that I drove by. One blue and another gray. Yesterday at the shopping center, there was launch green. Friday past, drove by a black/dark gray one on the freeway.

These all had paper plates so they are all recently delivered. They are getting them out to people so just need a little patience and we should start seeing lot more. I have yet to spot a R1S though...."

So don't let frustration get the better of you....

 

[moosetags]

We can settle for waiting to get what we want. We ordered an R1T Explore. Even though our 0rder Number is 2266, we don't expect to have our Rivian until 2023. Most of the R1Ts we are seeing online are Adventure package with the with the off-road option as evidenced by the front tow hooks. I guess that we could opt into an R1T as currently being produced, and get a truck in the near future, but that is not what we want.

We plan to tow our 7,500# Airstream travel trailer with our Rivian. Our Airstream has a 900# tongue weight, passenger weight is 300#, and we travel with a bunch of gear and tools which weigh at least several hundred pounds. An R1T Explore has a maximum payload of 1,760# while the R1Ts being tested by TFL have a payload of 1,419#. For our uses, we need the additional 340# payload capacity.

SuEllyn and Brian

 

[the long way downunder]

If this invitation extends to other community members, I'm an LE R1S 11/27/2018 reservation holder, order #1836 or 836... Thanks!

I'm happy to ask about the S, but I think we know the answer. : )
With such a low number at the deli, you'll be one of the first to get the S.

 

[BPL]

Rivian used to be great but they suck

 

[the long way downunder]

You obviously have no idea on the history of the Raptors resale value. Just because you aren't willing to pay for a used one doesn't mean others aren't

yes, obviously no idea
perhaps you're looking at 2020 and more recently
once the chip shortage is over, secondary markets will contract and the normal 50% / 3 yr drop will return.

 

[ads75]

yes, obviously no idea
perhaps you're looking at 2020 and more recently
once the chip shortage is over, secondary markets will contract and the normal 50% / 3 yr drop will return.

Raptors have always had high resale, well before the chip shortage. I wanted to get one when they first came out for 2010, but didn't want to pay a dealer $2500 mark up. Looking back on it, with their high resale, it would have been well worth it.

 

[harkco]

Raptors have always had high resale, well before the chip shortage. I wanted to get one when they first came out for 2010, but didn't want to pay a dealer $2500 mark up. Looking back on it, with their high resale, it would have been well worth it.

I paid 72K for my 2nd gen Raptor in 2018. I have a standing offer of 68K once my R1T arrives. 1K depreciation per year is pretty good in my opinion.

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