7500 mile service worth doing?

[COdogman]

I did see that, but others have reported being charged for it I believe. Maybe someone challenged that legally or they just figured it out and now all the inspections are free of charge?

Yeah, that is weird. Unless there were other items on the estimate I can’t think of an explanation for that?‍

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[R1Thor]

I believe for this to be the case it would either need to be a no charge service or they have to publish all the requirements so that a third party provider can perform the work.

It isn't legal for Rivian to require a service that only Rivian can perform at whatever price Rivian wants to charge...to maintain warranty status.

TO BE CLEAR: I have no idea how Rivian will handle this or what their expectations are.

But my rebuttal to you is simple: You ever own a gas car? Did you get free oil changes for life?

[Hell, I had special 'turbocharger' maintenance on my Volvo, and that milestone set me back over $600, and I was VERY SPECIFICALLY told they'd honor NO warranty had I not gotten to that on time.]

If you decided to STOP changing the oil, would your manufacturer honor the warranty when your engine no longer wanted to remain functional?

I'm playing devil's' advocate.

Obviously Rivian couldn't force you to have maintenance done AT RIVIAN costs due to (I don't know, I'm not a legal scholar, but to your point, this seems like an obvious clause).

But they can, absolutely, tell you that if you fail to perform preventive maintenance, they wouldn't otherwise honor a warranty on something that failed due to that negligence. We could argue semantics back and forth for hours about 'who' would be qualified to do it otherwise, and 'does' Rivian have a monopoly on the service if they MUST perform it, etc. But end of the day, it's a risk (to ignore a maintenance milestone and expect warranty for anything that could've otherwise been found during that period)--I was simply pointing that out.

Is it a relatively low risk? Probably. I doubt anything's slowly imploding in 99% of our vehicles. But, it's not a zero sum game! I think time will ultimately tell us what we don't currently know

 

[TexasBob]

But they can, absolutely, tell you that if you fail to perform preventive maintenance, they wouldn't otherwise honor a warranty on something that failed due to that negligence. We could argue semantics back and forth for hours about 'who' would be qualified to do it otherwise, and 'does' Rivian have a monopoly on the service if they MUST perform it, etc. But end of the day, it's a risk (to ignore a maintenance milestone and expect warranty for anything that could've otherwise been found during that period)--I was simply pointing that out.

Is it a relatively low risk? Probably. I doubt anything's slowly imploding in 99% of our vehicles. But, it's not a zero sum game! I think time will ultimately tell us what we don't currently know

Just to be clear - and I believe this is consistent with what you are saying ("failed due to that negligence"), but to avoid any confusion - the manufacturer absolutely may not void or refuse to honor a warranty just because you failed to perform some recommended maintenance much less because you failed to perform it at their facility. If the manufacturer can demonstrate that the item failed as a result of you failing to complete the recommended maintenance, then they do not need to warranty it. If, the cause of the item failing was unrelated to the recommended maintenance then the manufacturer must honor the warranty. So saith the Magnusson-Moss Act.

 

[R1Tom]

TO BE CLEAR: I have no idea how Rivian will handle this or what their expectations are.

But my rebuttal to you is simple: You ever own a gas car? Did you get free oil changes for life?

[Hell, I had special 'turbocharger' maintenance on my Volvo, and that milestone set me back over $600, and I was VERY SPECIFICALLY told they'd honor NO warranty had I not gotten to that on time.]

If you decided to STOP changing the oil, would your manufacturer honor the warranty when your engine no longer wanted to remain functional?

I'm playing devil's' advocate.

Obviously Rivian couldn't force you to have maintenance done AT RIVIAN costs due to (I don't know, I'm not a legal scholar, but to your point, this seems like an obvious clause).

But they can, absolutely, tell you that if you fail to perform preventive maintenance, they wouldn't otherwise honor a warranty on something that failed due to that negligence. We could argue semantics back and forth for hours about 'who' would be qualified to do it otherwise, and 'does' Rivian have a monopoly on the service if they MUST perform it, etc. But end of the day, it's a risk (to ignore a maintenance milestone and expect warranty for anything that could've otherwise been found during that period)--I was simply pointing that out.

Is it a relatively low risk? Probably. I doubt anything's slowly imploding in 99% of our vehicles. But, it's not a zero sum game! I think time will ultimately tell us what we don't currently know

I agree with the premise they can require it done....like exactly in your example of an oil change. And why I keep receipts for the oil and filters I buy as well as a log.

I currently have 4 ICE cars all of which I do oil changes on. I have a 2 post lift and do almost all my own vehicle work that isn't warranty or beyond my skill.

All of which I can look up the oil requirements, filter requirements, capacity, and interval for every ICE vehicle I have ever owned.

But I can't and no independent shop can look up chassis fastner torque values, drive unit oil specification, what they want inspected on the air suspension, the kinetic anti-roll system, etc...for my Rivian.

So they have a monopoly unless they are performing free of charge or publishing all of what is required to eliminate the monopoly.

 

[R1Thor]

Just to be clear - and I believe this is consistent with what you are saying ("failed due to that negligence"), but to avoid any confusion - the manufacturer absolutely may not void or refuse to honor a warranty just because you failed to perform some recommended maintenance much less because you failed to perform it at their facility. If the manufacturer can demonstrate that the item failed as a result of you failing to complete the recommended maintenance, then they do not need to warranty it. If, the cause of the item failing was unrelated to the recommended maintenance then the manufacturer must honor the warranty. So saith the Magnusson-Moss Act.

...I'm honestly not here to argue.

But maintenance is absolutely something that can cause warranty denial.

Magnusson-Moss Act has to do with installing aftermarket parts on your vehicle--it doesn't protect you because you decided not to change your oil for 50,000 miles on your ICE vehicle and decided your engine should be covered because you have a 100,000 mile warranty... It WOULD cover you if you purchased Delta brake pads from Autozone, and installed them properly, and later your brake caliper siezed.

In this instance, let's say Rivian wanted to inspect your half shafts. And you showed up 20,000 miles later and your half shafts showed an ABNORMAL/EXCESSIVE amount of wear (maybe where the splines interface with the wheel hub, for example) (and they can absolutely demonstrate 'normal wear'). I DO NOT KNOW what the response will be, but you'd be hard pressed to argue that you did your 'due diligence' if your response is "I don't know what a half shaft is--no one's ever looked at it before; why would they?") If Rivian's Senior Tech came back with "if we would've oiled this joint at 7500 interval, this probably would've been perfectly fine," now I bet you're on the hook for replacing whatever damage was done by neglecting to perform that maintenance interval.

Your risk tolerance should dictate whether or not these are RECOMMENDED service intervals or REQUIRED service intervals. THAT is all I'm saying.

 

[R1Tom]

...I'm honestly not here to argue.

But maintenance is absolutely something that can cause warranty denial.

Magnusson-Moss Act has to do with installing aftermarket parts on your vehicle--it doesn't protect you because you decided not to change your oil for 50,000 miles on your ICE vehicle and decided your engine should be covered because you have a 100,000 mile warranty... It WOULD cover you if you purchased Delta brake pads from Autozone, and installed them properly, and later your brake caliper siezed.

In this instance, let's say Rivian wanted to inspect your half shafts. And you showed up 20,000 miles later and your half shafts showed an ABNORMAL/EXCESSIVE amount of wear (maybe where the splines interface with the wheel hub, for example) (and they can absolutely demonstrate 'normal wear'). I DO NOT KNOW what the response will be, but you'd be hard pressed to argue that you did your 'due diligence' if your response is "I don't know what a half shaft is--no one's ever looked at it before; why would they?") If Rivian's Senior Tech came back with "if we would've oiled this joint at 7500 interval, this probably would've been perfectly fine," now I bet you're on the hook for replacing whatever damage was done by neglecting to perform that maintenance interval.

Your risk tolerance should dictate whether or not these are RECOMMENDED service intervals or REQUIRED service intervals. THAT is all I'm saying.

But back to the oil change example....do any of the ICE vehicles you have or have had, require the oil change be performed by the manufacturer dealer to maintain warranty coverage of the engine?

 

[PappaBolt]

As someone else mentioned, follow the maintenance schedule. Document it if you do it yourself. You want to keep your warranty in good standing.

 

[R1Tom]

...I'm honestly not here to argue.

But maintenance is absolutely something that can cause warranty denial.

Magnusson-Moss Act has to do with installing aftermarket parts on your vehicle--it doesn't protect you because you decided not to change your oil for 50,000 miles on your ICE vehicle and decided your engine should be covered because you have a 100,000 mile warranty... It WOULD cover you if you purchased Delta brake pads from Autozone, and installed them properly, and later your brake caliper siezed.

In this instance, let's say Rivian wanted to inspect your half shafts. And you showed up 20,000 miles later and your half shafts showed an ABNORMAL/EXCESSIVE amount of wear (maybe where the splines interface with the wheel hub, for example) (and they can absolutely demonstrate 'normal wear'). I DO NOT KNOW what the response will be, but you'd be hard pressed to argue that you did your 'due diligence' if your response is "I don't know what a half shaft is--no one's ever looked at it before; why would they?") If Rivian's Senior Tech came back with "if we would've oiled this joint at 7500 interval, this probably would've been perfectly fine," now I bet you're on the hook for replacing whatever damage was done by neglecting to perform that maintenance interval.

Your risk tolerance should dictate whether or not these are RECOMMENDED service intervals or REQUIRED service intervals. THAT is all I'm saying.

The half shaft example is good. But if Rivian decided to charge $2k for half shaft inspection every 22500 miles with no options....is that still good?

 

[R1Tom]

As someone else mentioned, follow the maintenance schedule. Document it if you do it yourself. You want to keep your warranty in good standing.

I want to do it myself....but Rivian doesn't tell us what almost anything that is described in the 22500 miles actually is. Just generic explanation....check this...check that....

And I don't want to make 4 hour round trips (and many others alot farther than me) every 7500 or 22500 miles, for the work.

If this has to be done by Rivian....potential customers really should know they need to figure those trips to a service center into the ownership experience.

If Rivian builds a service center closer to me....then I am all in....all though very late...since I blew thru all the intervals below 35k before they even published these recommendations.

 

[Eric9610]

Let's call this as it is... you cannot be denied warranty because you miss a multi-point inspection. Much different than an oil or fluid change... A multi-point inspection if done by mobile service will warrant no more info that you or I looking at the car as it won't be on a lift.

 

[PappaBolt]

Let's call this as it is... you cannot be denied warranty because you miss a multi-point inspection. Much different than an oil or fluid change... A multi-point inspection if done by mobile service will warrant no more info that you or I looking at the car as it won't be on a lift.

Will mobile service remove the RUS to inspect the half shafts? Probably the only way to check for leaks. That’s how mine was caught. They removed the rear shield to get to the lights in the bumper (safety recall) and found a leak.

 

[Eric9610]

Will mobile service remove the RUS to inspect the half shafts? Probably the only way to check for leaks. That’s how mine was caught. They removed the rear shield to get to the lights in the bumper (safety recall) and found a leak.

My guess is no but I have not had a 7,500 mile service done as I am only at 4k.

 

[PappaBolt]

My guess is no but I have not had a 7,500 mile service done as I am only at 4k.

Maybe they have a fancy scope they can run inside the shield. I mean they should be thinking about how to inspect in there right?

 

[R1Thor]

But back to the oil change example....do any of the ICE vehicles you have or have had, require the oil change be performed by the manufacturer dealer to maintain warranty coverage of the engine?

I think you know the answer to that, and we do agree on this point ?

 

[R1Thor]

The half shaft example is good. But if Rivian decided to charge $2k for half shaft inspection every 22500 miles with no options....is that still good?

For my money? Nope! I'm not in disagreement with you on this point, for sure!

You should read about what guys with Bugattis and Koeneggsegg pay for their oil change and multi point inspections though (more than I've paid for MULTIPLE cars)...that's nuts.

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