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s0ysauce
Well-Known Member
That's scary. I got the thermal fault last week and the CSR had me go through the three restarts. I was able to snap a picture of the warning and capture the diagnostic log through the main screen. When I was on the phone with them, the appointment was 2 months away, but they were able to expedite and I'm dropping it off tomorrow.
TheWoo
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It's definitely not helpful to hear this, but all vehicles have some very small percentage of failures right out of the gate. Someone's brand new ICE F-150 right off the lot this year is going to have an engine component fail, or a transmission go out, or the infotainment system brick. Or the 12 volt fail for that matter!
Rivian's likely have a slightly higher rate of issues (though I don't know that for sure) and they definitely have more unfamiliar issues and service providers (like a towing company) who are less familiar and less confident with how to deal with them.
It's super unfortunate for you, and I'm sorry. It sucks. But I wouldn't get too worried about it being a problem beyond whatever the bad component ends up being. Just really bad luck for you.
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Chrisy
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It sounds like a HV battery issue. Such a major zero-mile issue should have never left the factory.
Let's hope Rivian gets this sorted out internally with some preventive actions.
(which might take time given they are focusing on getting the manufacturing lines retrofitted/updated first)
@irvineboy: it sux big time what happened to you. The only positive thing I can say that when you finally get back your S fixed (or a new one) it will probably be trouble free for a long time.
It seems to be the case for most of us (including me with a RDU swap not long after my delivery) that when the issues are fixed with your Rivian they are quite trouble-free.
And yes Rivian should deliver vehicles already being fixed instead of waiting until the problem rises its head in the customer's hand... It was discussed on this forum a few times already. I am baffled why Rivian still runs this way when at most other areas they show great competence (not looking at you tonneau cover or phone charger).
Let's hope Rivian gets this sorted out internally with some preventive actions.
(which might take time given they are focusing on getting the manufacturing lines retrofitted/updated first)
@irvineboy: it sux big time what happened to you. The only positive thing I can say that when you finally get back your S fixed (or a new one) it will probably be trouble free for a long time.
It seems to be the case for most of us (including me with a RDU swap not long after my delivery) that when the issues are fixed with your Rivian they are quite trouble-free.
And yes Rivian should deliver vehicles already being fixed instead of waiting until the problem rises its head in the customer's hand... It was discussed on this forum a few times already. I am baffled why Rivian still runs this way when at most other areas they show great competence (not looking at you tonneau cover or phone charger).
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Chrisy
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RDU: read drive unit -> not related to the HV battery
It is a 2023 R1T
irvineboy
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #24
Alright folks. Rivian had to order a new cabin heater. They said that the one in the vehicle was faulty and when this goes bad, it shuts down the vehicle. That would explain the thermal warning.
I don’t know how it works. But the next time something like this goes bad, R1S will automatically shut down so I cannot drive the vehicle? What if I am on a road trip in the middle of nowhere? Doesn’t give me confidence in the stability of Rivian to go far if that’s the case. Incompetent tow company that Rivian called took 7 hours to get there which is unacceptable.
I don’t know how it works. But the next time something like this goes bad, R1S will automatically shut down so I cannot drive the vehicle? What if I am on a road trip in the middle of nowhere? Doesn’t give me confidence in the stability of Rivian to go far if that’s the case. Incompetent tow company that Rivian called took 7 hours to get there which is unacceptable.
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mikehmb
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Good news that they got it diagnosed so quickly. This is the first I’ve heard of the heater module failing but it does make a lot of sense given the symptoms you described.
fwiw catastrophic failures are rare - surprisingly so for a new OEM and new vehicle. That said, it happed to you which sucks big time.
I’ve had other new cars fail for various reasons, all ICE. Even got stranded in my new tundra for an enormously stupid and preventable problem. Tow took 6 hours to show up. In the Bay Area. Next to a freeway. Tow companies suck.
fwiw catastrophic failures are rare - surprisingly so for a new OEM and new vehicle. That said, it happed to you which sucks big time.
I’ve had other new cars fail for various reasons, all ICE. Even got stranded in my new tundra for an enormously stupid and preventable problem. Tow took 6 hours to show up. In the Bay Area. Next to a freeway. Tow companies suck.
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adrianR1T
New Member
Thanks for sharing your experience. A disabled vehicle on account of a bad heater is disconcerting. One would think that only the heater would get disabled. Let's hope that other non-critical electrical subsystems don't disable the vehicle when they fail. I take delivery on my R1T in 2 weeks. Wish me luck.
irvineboy
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #27
Rivian replaced the heater module due to a short. Told me that bad heater module in any EV will shut off the vehicle and prevent it from driving. Happens in all EVs. Nothing we can do to prevent it but this doesn’t happen often. At least it wasn’t the HV battery.
But what they could have at least done was wash the car. This is a level of service Rivian owners expect.
But what they could have at least done was wash the car. This is a level of service Rivian owners expect.
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s0ysauce
Well-Known Member
Just to circle back here and update on my specific issue. I received a thermal fault warning and the AC was not blowing cold air. CS on the phone said, I can still drive my car home while walking me through the 3 resets they wanted me to perform (infotainment, hard and sleep). The error persisted for 2 more days and I continued to use it to run errands around town (still no AC). On the third morning, the error went away without any prompting from me, the AC worked just not as well as before. I kept my appointment and their estimate to keeping the vehicle was 7-10 days. Thankfully they were able to diagnose and repair within 4 days. They reported it was a bad AC unit which they replaced and performed a flush and refill.
It's been 2 weeks since I've gotten it back. This is my daily driver and there hasn't been an issue since. My two complaints with them are: not having enough loaners even when your appointment is first thing in the morning. The Lyft provided ride to Enterprise took close to 25 minutes and their selection of vehicles with similar capacity (3 rows or non-compact SUV) was shockingly bad. And the second one, they weren't able to work on any of my other active issues. For example, something as simple as having another key fob paired to the vehicle.
It's been 2 weeks since I've gotten it back. This is my daily driver and there hasn't been an issue since. My two complaints with them are: not having enough loaners even when your appointment is first thing in the morning. The Lyft provided ride to Enterprise took close to 25 minutes and their selection of vehicles with similar capacity (3 rows or non-compact SUV) was shockingly bad. And the second one, they weren't able to work on any of my other active issues. For example, something as simple as having another key fob paired to the vehicle.
