Afraid of Repair Costs

[Eric8235]

I was excited to put down a reservation for an R2, which would suit my needs really well, but am now getting scared by what I'm reading about the insane cost of accident repairs on Rivian' vehicles. Is there any reason to believe that the R2 will be more reasonable? If not, I think I need to back out, which would be a big disappointment.

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[shap]

It is - Rivian finally followed the industry standard on having separate panels, etc. R1T is extremely costly to repair, mainly due to design as well as limiting options were you can repair.

This also drives your insurance costs up.

R2 seems to solve #1 problem, but times will show that when R2 becomes available you will have better repair options.

You have more than 1.5 years, so why worry about this now?

 

[jbl911]

This is what we have insurance for, but I agree hopefully EV makers will start making their cars easier to repair and insure.

 

[Eric8235]

I know its a long way off, but I wanted to get a sense for whether or not I should be considering other options, especially since I was really excited about the R2. Thanks for your reply - its very helpful.

 

[Audiotek]

I was excited to put down a reservation for an R2, which would suit my needs really well, but am now getting scared by what I'm reading about the insane cost of accident repairs on Rivian' vehicles. Is there any reason to believe that the R2 will be more reasonable? If not, I think I need to back out, which would be a big disappointment.

This make sense!

I also saw a news report of a hiker being injured on a hiking trail and I also decided not to go hiking anymore.

Also my R1S has about ~20K miles and no issues.

 

[Redline]

I was excited to put down a reservation for an R2, which would suit my needs really well, but am now getting scared by what I'm reading about the insane cost of accident repairs on Rivian' vehicles. Is there any reason to believe that the R2 will be more reasonable? If not, I think I need to back out, which would be a big disappointment.

Why would you need to back out? Are you planning on not having insurance?

 

[lefkonj]

Another reason why repair costs are high is the small number of Rivians on the road. There aren't a ton of parts available nor are their trained shops. As sales increase so will all of this and repair costs will go down.

 

[NY_Rob]

It's not just Rivian that's expensive to repair...

Was at my bro in-law's auto repair shop yesterday, I saw a side view mirror glass (just the actual mirror glass, not the housing, motors, anything else.. just the small piece of mirror glass that sits inside your side view mirror). I was looking at it, he said "be careful, that thing was $550" his cost! $550 for the outside mirror glass. Imagine how much it would have been if the whole housing assembly needed to be replaced? Parts pricing is insane right now!

When I mentioned BMW parts, he told me BMW and Mercedes parts are actually cheaper then some American vehicle (Jeep, GM, Ford) parts in many cases right now.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I wouldn't worry about it, personally. It sounds like Rivian is learning from their issues and addressing some of the "repairability" challenges. Also, we should see more repair shops that are more familiar with these vehicles, as they become more common.

Also, I like to refer to articles from legitimate autobody repair sources that indicate ICE vehicles are just as difficult (as mentioned above) and are "totaled out" more frequently, such as this:

https://www.autobodynews.com/news/evs-totaled-at-lower-rate-than-ice-vehicles

 

[Eric8235]

To the responses that seemed to imply that I was being overly cautious in my question, there is a matter of principle here. Fender benders are inevitable, and I think its irresponsible to design a vehicle that requires massive disassembly to fix what should be a pretty minor problem, as I have read about with the R1T. Even if insurance will pay for it, this is just bad design. Its reassuring to hear that Rivian has corrected this in the R2.

 

[NY_Rob]

It is - Rivian finally followed the industry standard on having separate panels, etc.

Did Rivian specifically address that actual fact somewhere?
Not that I don't believe your statement, but I'd like to see that come from some official Rivian source please, and I apologize if I have missed that somehow.

 

[Redline]

To the responses that seemed to imply that I was being overly cautious in my question, there is a matter of principle here. Fender benders are inevitable, and I think its irresponsible to design a vehicle that requires massive disassembly to fix what should be a pretty minor problem, as I have read about with the R1T. Even if insurance will pay for it, this is just bad design. Its reassuring to hear that Rivian has corrected this in the R2.

Sounds like you're not set on being a beta tester...which is what we all are right now.

 

[240vPlug]

All new vehicles are costly to repair. The Rivian a little more so because it's new and there aren't many places certified to work on them. This means the places that do generally charge much more.

Hopefully the costs come down some but insurance in general is going through the roof. R2 will cost more to repair initially since it will be a brand new vehicle.

I wouldn't back out of buying it because of insurance. Insurance is just one data point. I would rather have something that costs more to insurance and is a blast to drive then to have something that is cheap to insure and is boring and unreliable to keep running.

To each their own of course.

 

[Ralph]

Can you afford to have the $100 outstanding until further, concrete information is available; perhaps two years? If so, what is to loose?

If not, given your trepidation and what you describe as a matter of principle, you might want to wait until a few have been delivered to customers so that you can see what you will actually be getting.

What other vehicles are you considering? If you can afford the refundable $100 deposit it would seem you get the best of all worlds: You are early in line should they address the issues you are concerned about; or during the 2 years another vehicle reveals itself to be the vehicle of your dreams.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

I have good insurance, including collision/comprehensive, from State Farm (who has insured me and family since around 1990) at a reasonable price. That suggests State Farm thinks Rivians are at least a reasonably good bet.

The Rivian's weight and height make it very safe for us, in a rural area where deer can surprise us anywhere and elk can surprise us in many places.

I try to drive responsibly, in order to make the Rivian safe for others as well. If insurance had been too costly, I wouldn't have bought the R1S. We've reserved an R2 and I look forward to a smaller simpler Rivian.

Best wishes, @Eric8235! Whatever you decide, I hope you feel good about your decision!

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