Four years, four R1Ts. An adventure and a bitter-sweet cautionary tale.

[onesoil]

Important context here. Different suspension designs and time will tell on what they did for the HVAC.

As do I (have higher hopes for R2, and have reason to believe it will be a significantly more reliable vehicle). My concerns are two fold: though I've basically only come accross well intentioned people at all levels of engagement with Rivian, their service apparatus (and sales, when I went through that four times) are both, frankly, pretty disorganized messes with immense ineficiencies and room for mistakes due to poorly devised systems that require far too many people along the way. My second concern is that while the design may be improved, there are some issues with R1 that speak to a fundamental lack of design consideration for real-lives lived by many owners. I'll give one R2 example that I haven't heard anyone mention (yet): The frunk button is now a capacitive touch button on the front light bar. It resides on the chamfered top just under the logo. This area will likely be a shelf that will ice up based on my (and many others') experiences with R1 nose/headlight icing concerns. I almost guarantee this will be an issue this coming winter for early R2 owners in climates like mine. I think Rivian needs to design and engineer in a broader context than they currently are.

On the service point, this is all to say that while I very much hope they can figure it all out, I'm skeptical based on how much insight I now have into "how the sausage is made" (due to the requisite communication surrounding the sheer quantity of work orders we've needed to have completed). I'm worried that with the ramp to meaningful volume, they don't have systems in place that will scale well to deal with issues, which even if they are fewer and easier to repair, will undoubtedly exist—and if the vehicles are selling at 10x rate of R1, then I am fairly confident tha the service infrastructure won't be adequate unless they majorly change how they are organized (in short order). We shall see... I'd like to be pleasantly surprised, since I am still rooting for them to succeed and like so many things about their product.

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[onesoil]

Your article made me glad that I traded my Gen 1 R1S Launch Edition for a 2025 Gen 2 R1S Tri-Motor. My wife and I took the vehicle on a cross-country camping trip from Virginia to California and back between December 2024 and January 2025. So far, we've had four warranty service visits, but none of the issues were critical or left the vehicle undrivable.
I've already paid for the autonomy package, so the plan is to keep the vehicle for the long haul. Based on your ownership experience, I'll definitely consider extending the warranty.
Speaking of your experience, I'd like to think that if Rivian corporate leadership were aware of both your commitment to the brand and the issues you've experienced, they would make things right and perhaps even use your story as an example of their own commitment to customers and the product.
One more thought I'd like to share. On July 2, during my commute home from work, I was using Driver+ as I normally do when a car in the lane to my right abruptly merged into my lane without enough speed or space. I steered aggressively to avoid a collision but still ended up hitting the other vehicle's rear quarter panel.
I'm still trying to understand what should be expected of the ADAS in that situation and whether it performed as designed. I may post more details about the incident later. For now, the part that stuck with me came when I took the vehicle to a Rivian-certified collision shop. After examining the damage and listening to my description of the warnings I received, the manager told me that EVs are essentially showroom cars and aren't meant for real-world use.
I don't believe that's true.

I really hope Gen 2 is more reliable—maybe even to the point that I may try to move into one for myself too. And I'm sorry to hear about your Driver+ mishap. Driver+ on Gen 2 has been really amazing in my experience (accross a few months in a handful of Gen 2 loaners), it even works on dirt roads in Vermont, which blows my mind! Your story is a good cautionary, as I have gotten more complacent with Gen 2 Driver+ at times, given how well it's performed for me, and probably should stay more vigilant. Gen 1 Driver+ is sketchy enough that I am a lot more engaged than I've found myself being with Gen 2 autonomy.

As to the part about your thinking Rivian leadership should be open to hearing from me—you and me both! I have mentioned this many times to various Service Managers and most recently to the Northeastern Regional Service Manager, but I haven't gotten any indication that my story has been kicked up the chain. I've been a bit dissapointed in how hard it has seemed to get any meaningful attention. I don't think I should receive exceptional treatment, but with 11 referals (and no influencer status/sofial media channels), and an edge use-case (the mini fleet of vehicles purchased for employees as mixed for mixed work/lifestyle vehicles), I would like to think that someone at Rivian would at least be open to gaining some experiential anecdote from our perspective. My energy to engage with them comes and goes, especially because I've mostly hit a wall when I've tried... Make with that what you will.

 

[justinkitswa]

I think your points are absolutely correct on the operational management at Rivian. Everyone throws a lot of attention at Wassym Bensaid, but to be honest the person "leading from the front" at Rivian should be Javier Varela.

How many folks know of him? How many YouTube and podcast interviews of him are out there?

Why does he matter? As the Chief Operating Officer, the quality of the products they sell, the service experiences, the purchase experience, the customer feedback loop - all resides within his wheelhouse. And yet, I had a hard time finding anything he's said or written since he joined August last year. His LinkedIn profile is full of reposts of stuff other people have written. And yet, nothing from him.

The fact that the software lead at Rivian has the most to say is part of the problem and part of what's holding Rivian up from manufacturing greatness. Most people (I'd presume) care a whole lot more about reliability and amazing service compared to the latest incremental software update - but that's the face of the enterprise at Rivian and it shows how wrong their focus is.

 

[Husky]

I agree. This type of user feedback and information should be invaluable to a company that is at all concerned about their quality and reputation.
I was a EE who worked as a designer at an aerospace company for 20 years, and it frustrated me to no end when we actually got feedback from the field (which was rare) that pointed to an obvious design flaw or weakness and I couldn't get my boss or his boss interested in trying to fix it.
Once I became an IC designer for a silicon valley-based company, that all changed. When you're making hundreds of thousands (or millions) of something, and have to compete and have huge customers that take a dim view of failures, everything changes, and reliability has to be like 0.99999.
I always thought it was ironic that something commercial, that sells for $2 is/has to be far more reliable than something built for the aerospace industry that costs $100k-$1M.

 

[strykerwsu]

The "rode hard, put away wet" thing is what various SC managers have leaned on, but this actually isn't really the case for at least two of our three trucks. My truck gets washed frequently and drives most of its miles on blacktop. I am actually pretty careful with my vehicle and try very hard not to abuse it. I don't slow to a crawl over washboards or potholes (which are numerous in our area), but I don't think I should have to with this vehicle. I am director of operations in our business, so my truck ends up mostly performing as a mobile "office," people carryer, and tool box for me. I probably put it through more "abuse" while doing personal things than while at work.

Our builder occasionally uses his to haul lumber, but other than that it's primarily commuter transport for him and he lives on blacktop. VT has a lot of salt in the winter, muddy roads in the saddle seasons, and our sites have well maintained gravel roads (we have to be able to receive triaxle dump trucks and live-bottom tractor trailers throughout the year to fairly remote areas of our site, so roads have to be well maintained and capable of carrying way more weight than these trucks).

My father is pretty rough on his since he has increasingly limited mobility and uses it like a UTV sometimes, but it's mostly cosmetics that have suffered at his hands—the mechanical stuff seems to fail due to defective quality/poor design, not how it's used. I can say that the exterior is surprisingly fragile and poorly designed for wear and tear of work or off-road use—the trim panels and bumpers are very fragile, the underbelly and wheel wells aren't designed to shed mud/debris well, and the bed liner retains whatever you put in it if not tarped. I never haul dirt in mine, but we load compost and potting soil into all sorts of pickup trucks (occasionally other people's Rivian's). I always tell anyone with a Rivian that they better tarp their bed first, or they will never get all of what we put in out...

I think one of the things that frustrates me is actually the disparity between how these trucks are marketed and how fragile the have proven to be—sure, they aren't marketed as a "work truck," but the kind of "work" we subject them to is very light duty compared to how genuine "work truck" pickups are often used by contractors or on job sites and mainly involves transportation of ourselves and some light tools. A so called "adventure" vehicle that is designed to go off-road and do all the things Rivian markets their vehicles to do shouldn't have so many fail points in basic day-to-day operation as a primarily on-road commuter vehicle.

I brought this up to the Hudson Service Manager on one of our many return trips for some failed item and he had the nerve to explain that "these trucks aren't really intended to live in an environment like you have up in Vermont—they're intended to go on an adventure in a place like where you live and then come back again" (not verbatim, but very close). I couldn't believe that response! My reply was, "So I guess we just live the adventure then because of where we live? That's ridiculous... Especially for a company who frequently uses the slogan 'Keep the world adventurous forever' "..Our heavy equipment service manager has a service truck with a crane, compressor, welder, and all his tools for any real field mechanic work.

I'm glad that some (maybe most, even) have not experienced the levels of component failure and reliability issues that we have, but I don't think it should be explained away as "well, you just live in too rough an environment to expect your vehicle not to be falling apart in the first couple years of use." I'm not saying that's what you're implying, but I have heard some imply as much when I've brought up my experiences. All sorts of other brands can have reliability issues, likely tested more in our context, but we've never seen anything close to this level of consistent unreliabiliity—and as a group we have experience in Vermont with a wide variety of other manufacturers to compare.

I do have to wonder if the people who have no issues with their Rivians are mostly just using them as grocery-getters in the suburbs—which is fine, and no judgment on those who's reality that describes, but given how Rivian markets their vehicles, it would be dissapointing if this is the extent of use-case that allows them to remain reliable.

Definitely just giving my own experiences. I interpreted from original post you used as wrok trucks and often not treated the same as owner vehicles, appreciate the clarity. Ours definitely have been suburban use but have been to trips offroad in Colorado and Ozarks so not always babied.

Air suspension will always go out, no matter mfg, that is pretty well proven through history and why I bought extended warranty when still "relatively inexpensive" for 6 additional years of coverage once factory warranty expires. I always own vehicles for about 10 to 15 years if truly enjoy. The shafts are definitely a Rivian issue. Mostly surprised on brakes.

You have 4 data sets so quite a bit. Fortunately for me my 2 have been worry free and have gotten well past infant mortality. Will be interesting to see how the next 10 years go. Keep everyone posted as such threads come about.

 

[Audiotek]

@onesoil Thanks for the detailed write-up and revelations.

Living and driving in the South, Midwest and New England I've experienced a lot in my R1S and prior vehicles. My R1S has been reliable and I had my damper replaced during 60K mile service

I will share a simple military maintenance tip "keep your weapon clean."

God blessed America and America blessed us!

Definitely just giving my own experiences. I interpreted from original post you used as wrok trucks and often not treated the same as owner vehicles, appreciate the clarity. Ours definitely have been suburban use but have been to trips offroad in Colorado and Ozarks so not always babied.

Air suspension will always go out, no matter mfg, that is pretty well proven through history and why I bought extended warranty when still "relatively inexpensive" for 6 additional years of coverage once factory warranty expires. I always own vehicles for about 10 to 15 years if truly enjoy. The shafts are definitely a Rivian issue. Mostly surprised on brakes.

You have 4 data sets so quite a bit. Fortunately for me my 2 have been worry free and have gotten well past infant mortality. Will be interesting to see how the next 10 years go. Keep everyone posted as such threads come about.

@strykerwsu thanks for posting and giving me a lane to reply on. Over the years I've avoided commenting on this site under duress.

I'm a active member of NERC North East Rivian Club and we do a lot with our Rivians off roading and to our Rivians accessorizing them.

My ownership experiences align with yours versus @onesoil . He has his truth and we have ours.

I will continue to look forward to my R2 (2X) deliveries.

 

[onesoil]

Definitely just giving my own experiences. I interpreted from original post you used as wrok trucks and often not treated the same as owner vehicles, appreciate the clarity. Ours definitely have been suburban use but have been to trips offroad in Colorado and Ozarks so not always babied.

Air suspension will always go out, no matter mfg, that is pretty well proven through history and why I bought extended warranty when still "relatively inexpensive" for 6 additional years of coverage once factory warranty expires. I always own vehicles for about 10 to 15 years if truly enjoy. The shafts are definitely a Rivian issue. Mostly surprised on brakes.

You have 4 data sets so quite a bit. Fortunately for me my 2 have been worry free and have gotten well past infant mortality. Will be interesting to see how the next 10 years go. Keep everyone posted as such threads come about.

Yes, that makes sense. I didn't mean to be prickly about the sentiment, I just wanted to clarify that while yes, they are owned by a business and do some "work" for us, they are not used in the ways people often associate when they hear "Work Truck" (or picture that trim level with a rack or tool body or whatever).

I've gotten into this in more detail on other threads where this has come up, so I'll try to be brief, but I don't really think pickup trucks are ideal for just about any kind of specialty "work" at the highest level—they are inherently a jack of all, master of none, and mostly either a tradesperson's starter vehicle or how they get to and from their jobsites where they may have more specialized trucks—plumbers and electricians in our area mostly work out of vans; heavy equipment service mechanics (such as our own) work out of dedicated service trucks on fullsize truck chasis typically, or at least with dedicated tool bodies; serious carpenters in our area usually have trailers owned by their company, or dedicated vans for a lot of what they do (though each carpenter usually has their own pickup truck with a rack that they commute in and can grab supplies with); the mark of an arborist outfit in our area "making it" into the big leagues is that they usually end up graduating from their own pickup/pickup+trailer combo to owning a larger ton+ dump truck with large capacity bodies and towing a chipper on a trailer and/or a truck with a graple (and a crane truck if they're really doing well!).

My point being that the pickup as a work vehicle is more often not what marketers often portray. The fact is that most pickup trucks in America are used for commuter/shopping/school run duties and may occasionally be used to haul bulkier items now and then. There is nothing wrong with this, and I hold no judgment, I just bring it up becuase in fact our vehicles have share more in common this "normal" use-case than whatever someone might imagine when they think these are being treated like a "work truck" from a wear and tear perspective. I actually think our climate and road conditions are more relevant: Vermont, and many other parts of the North East in general are known to be very hard on vehicles generally; there's a reason people go south or west from here to buy used cars if they can.

 

[2kwik4u]

Who did you first reach out to kick off the negotiation?

I have been thinking of going this route, but frankly dreading the process. I've been through a lemon law negotiation that resulted in a buyback with another manufacturer and it was a very long drawn out process, but ultimately worth it.

Would you be willing to discuss this in a little more detail? (off-the forum). If so, DM me and I can give you my number.

Be glad to discuss in person. I'll DM you a phone number.

I told me immediate service manager at the service center. They put in a request to escalate, and within a week or so I got a call from a regional something or the other. I'll have to pull the details from email to find actual title and such.

 

[onesoil]

@onesoil Thanks for the detailed write-up and revelations.

Living and driving in the South, Midwest and New England I've experienced a lot in my R1S and prior vehicles. My R1S has been reliable and I had my damper replaced during 60K mile service

I will share a simple military maintenance tip "keep your weapon clean."

God blessed America and America blessed us!

@strykerwsu thanks for posting and giving me a lane to reply on. Over the years I've avoided commenting on this site under duress.

I'm a active member of NERC North East Rivian Club and we do a lot with our Rivians off roading and to our Rivians accessorizing them.

My ownership experiences align with yours versus @onesoil . He has his truth and we have ours.

I will continue to look forward to my R2 (2X) deliveries.

I'm very open to the alternative experience; I hope our trucks are outliers! I'm glad to hear you've had a reliable experience. What I don't appreciate though and will push back on is any assertion that we are somehow abusing our trucks and therefore our experience isn't valid or representative of potentially concerning quality and service issues that others might run the risk of incurring if they choose to buy a Rivian (especially an older one out of warranty!).

I only suggest that you might be thinking this way because of your "I will share a simple military maintenance tip 'keep your weapon clean.'” line; that seems to imply that we are at fault—I assure you, I "keep my weapon(s)" clean (I also like to keep them sharp and oiled if that's what the tool calls for). That includes my own truck. Each of the other three are slightly differently used/treated, but I don't think that the frequency of failures can be attributed to "abuse" or "misuse" (hence why almost everything has been covered under warranty).

But whatever—maybe I'm taking your comments the wrong way. I am happy for the people who have had a reliable experience with their R1s... that, however, shouldn't disallow your consideration of the possibility that those of us who haven't aren't just some overly vocal minority of people who "aren't doing it right."

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

@onesoil

This is probably one of the best posts I've seen on this forum. Thank you for taking the time to put all the info together, including the helpful summary graphic.

Do you have a "buy me a coffee" link?

 

[onesoil]

@onesoil

This is probably one of the best posts I've seen on this forum. Thank you for taking the time to put all the info together, including the helpful summary graphic.

Do you have a "buy me a coffee" link?

Aw, shucks. I appreciate it the kind words—especially since I have found some very helpful threads/posts on here over the years so that would put me in good company. Your username looks familiar, so I assume I've read some useful things of your own that you've written/posted. Also, as a fellow FG/FE owner—I think we are doing it right

I don't have a "buy me a coffee" link, but if you're buying a (new) Rivian and want to use my referral code, feel free! Just knowing that all the work of collating our past work orders and putting this thread together is useful to others who might find themselves in a precarious off-warranty situation, or in the throws of dealing with unreliability and Rivian service is enough of a payoff for me. I have also gotten a decent number of referrals and therefore have directly benefited from posting on this forum with the free charging, camp kitchen, roof bars, etc. that I've gotten for "free."

I realize that even suggesting one buy a new Rivian and plugging my referral code may appear to contradict the general gist of this thread and my posts on it, at least on the face of it, but I actually am still on the fence as to weather I can recommend a Rivian to people or not and am trying my best to accurately describe this nuance. In the past, when asked, I used to just recommend them to anyone if I thought it would fit their needs (being a full EV, expensive, etc.). Now I have to give several caveates when people ask if I would recommend a Rivian.

For a little while, I almost felt guilty knowing that 11 people (my referral count) have bought these vehicles in whatever small part due to my endorsement or sharing of experience—especially because I only know of two peronally (and not close, only one following an in-person conversation, and two total who reached out to me after they used my code), the others were completely anonymous (having read something I posted here, I'm guessing), so I don't know what their experiences have been. It's not that I per se feel guilty if they too are struggling, since I doubt I tipped the scales too heavily for anyone with such a large purchase, but it is something I consider sometimes. The one referral used by someone I had an in person conversation with (a random stranger asking about my truck) did indicate that it was the conversation with me specifically that tipped them over the edge from just considering buying to actually buying their R1S. My hope is that they and others buying them now don't have to lean anywhere near as heavily on Rivian's service infrastructure and warranty and are able to enjoy their vehicles reletively trouble free (as some on this thread clearly are).

 

[2kwik4u]

but that's the face of the enterprise at Rivian and it shows how wrong their focus is.

Honestly, company focus is very clear, and a big reason I don't want to stick with the brand. I love the product, but it's abundantly clear that they are more focused on tech than manufacturing. They' started as a "Make a great vehicle" company and are quickly turning into a "Make great tech, and sometimes vehicles" company. Tesla started and remains a tech company that happens to build cars. Rivian is moving the same way.

To be clear, that might not be bad for them as a publicly held company that needs to be profitable. Lots of companies shift focus over time to respond to market conditions/forces. I'm simply stating I'm not sure it aligns with what I'm looking for from my preferred vehicle manufacturer.

 

[onesoil]

I think your points are absolutely correct on the operational management at Rivian. Everyone throws a lot of attention at Wassym Bensaid, but to be honest the person "leading from the front" at Rivian should be Javier Varela.

How many folks know of him? How many YouTube and podcast interviews of him are out there?

Why does he matter? As the Chief Operating Officer, the quality of the products they sell, the service experiences, the purchase experience, the customer feedback loop - all resides within his wheelhouse. And yet, I had a hard time finding anything he's said or written since he joined August last year. His LinkedIn profile is full of reposts of stuff other people have written. And yet, nothing from him.

The fact that the software lead at Rivian has the most to say is part of the problem and part of what's holding Rivian up from manufacturing greatness. Most people (I'd presume) care a whole lot more about reliability and amazing service compared to the latest incremental software update - but that's the face of the enterprise at Rivian and it shows how wrong their focus is.

This is a great take—and thank you for sharing the sentiment. Javier Varela rings a bell only because I think I read that he was taking over someone else's position as COO sometime back. I agree that his name should be a household one like Wassym's. Yes, software is something customers on software defined vehicles interact with every time they sit in their vehicle, so it's great that he has made himself so available (though I still have multiple software feature requests that I feel ignored about, even when I've tried to share them directly with Wassym... but it seems that Reddit is the only platform to get his attention on, and I haven't really spent as much time on the Rivian subreddit tbh). But, I completely agree that a COO should be in tune with and actively courting customer experience.

As a Director of Operations (though at a much smaller scale), I find it very important that I speak with customers frequently to inform myself about how our products are used and in which ways operational decisions may or may not impact the end user experience and product. I wish Javier were more customer-facing, because I think it could improve the UX of service and support operations for the better. It often seems to me car companies fail to realize that they should treat themselves as spanning both both manufacturing and service industries; they sell product and end user experience—both have to work in tandem if they want to retain customers (which they should want to do, given the generally consumable nature of vehicles—unfortunately).

There seems to be so much reinvention of various respective wheels going on and a lot of babies being thrown out with the bathwater... at risk of abusively mixing metaphores. At any rate, I wish that there were more people at Rivian who took it upon themselves to make themselves as accecible to the consumer base as Wassym; I think this would help better inform operational, systemic, and managerial structuring decisions that impact product design and development as well as overal user and service experiences.

 

[Audiotek]

I'm very open to the alternative experience; I hope our trucks are outliers! I'm glad to hear you've had a reliable experience. What I don't appreciate though and will push back on is any assertion that we are somehow abusing our trucks and therefore our experience isn't valid or representative of potentially concerning quality and service issues that others might run the risk of incurring if they choose to buy a Rivian (especially an older one out of warranty!).

I only suggest that you might be thinking this way because of your "I will share a simple military maintenance tip 'keep your weapon clean.' line; that seems to imply that we are at fault—I assure you, I "keep my weapon(s)" clean (I also like to keep them sharp and oiled if that's what the tool calls for). That includes my own truck. Each of the other three are slightly differently used/treated, but I don't think that the frequency of failures can be attributed to "abuse" or "misuse" (hence why almost everything has been covered under warranty).

But whatever—maybe I'm taking your comments the wrong way. I am happy for the people who have had a reliable experience with their R1s... that, however, shouldn't disallow your consideration of the possibility that those of us who haven't aren't just some overly vocal minority of people who "aren't doing it right."

I agree that everyone has a different take on the Rivian experience. I believe you experienced all that was documented.

I do not think Rivian dampers should be failing as much as they do so when our vehicle are out of warranty the owners are now paying for a unreliable part not able to last 60K miles or end of comprehensive warranty.

The dampers were not good enough to last 60K miles.

 

[onesoil]

I agree. This type of user feedback and information should be invaluable to a company that is at all concerned about their quality and reputation.
I was a EE who worked as a designer at an aerospace company for 20 years, and it frustrated me to no end when we actually got feedback from the field (which was rare) that pointed to an obvious design flaw or weakness and I couldn't get my boss or his boss interested in trying to fix it.
Once I became an IC designer for a silicon valley-based company, that all changed. When you're making hundreds of thousands (or millions) of something, and have to compete and have huge customers that take a dim view of failures, everything changes, and reliability has to be like 0.99999.
I always thought it was ironic that something commercial, that sells for $2 is/has to be far more reliable than something built for the aerospace industry that costs $100k-$1M.

This has been my point made several times to various Service Managers—someone up the chain should want to have a conversation with me about our experience, even if it's an outlier, if for no other reason than to gain some insight into what the user experience is from someone (such as myself) with as much experience dealing with there customer relations/service communications apparatus. But I don't feel like this has been passed along in meaningful way—or at least not to the right person, since my requests to speak with anybody higher up than a regional service manager have been brushed aside.

I just sent an email to our Northeast Regional Service manager today (thanks to this thread and @2kwik4u's encouragement) asking to put me in contact with the right people to discuss both what allowance for buyback's (or trading for Gen 2s) might be possible, as well as provide some outlets to share my feedback and ownership experience, which I would reallyl like to land somewhere further up the chain than a regional service manager. We shall see where I get, but I'm hoping based on prior conversations with this individual that she at least makes an effort to put me in contact with the right people.

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