DEMO R1’s VS. USED

[Hereforthesnacks]

If it’s a 2023, you are going to take a hit a on resale, but I think that’s ok because depreciation on these cars is pretty bad. You can get a 2023 R1S quad with less than 10k miles for about $75k on Carvana. So, you are at a good mileage for that price, plus the warranty. I’d look at the warranty as the main benefit. But it’s not a killer price.

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[Patrick87]

Thanks for letting me know about your experience. How did yours qualify for the 3750?

Laserboy1054 summed it up:

Another advantage of the demo vehicles is that they register as new vehicles. And the discount drives the price below the $80k limit. So they often wind up qualifying for the tax incentive. Mine certainly did! Big caveat: I have no idea how the rules might have shifted, so don't rely on year-old experience on this! But a quick text to your "guide" (I don't think they do guides anymore--your salescritter, whatever they're called) should resolve the question.

The demo vehicles are "new" and below the $80k cap. So unless something has changed for 2025, as long as your income is below the threshold, you should qualify for it. It came right off the purchase price on my sale.

 

[Ngkgb]

Laserboy1054 summed it up:



The demo vehicles are "new" and below the $80k cap. So unless something has changed for 2025, as long as your income is below the threshold, you should qualify for it. It came right off the purchase price on my sale.

would it be the fill 7500?

 

[HaveBlue]

Yea Sounds like a great deal! Rivian would make sure a demo car used for test drives is fully functional. Having potential buyers drive something with issues is not an incentive to buy. Buying an early quad means none of the stupid drive mode settings that reset. You get permanently selectable AWD or conserve.

 

[Patrick87]

would it be the fill 7500?

No, Rivians only qualified for half the full tax credit last year since the battery cells were sourced from China, but assembled in the US. (IIRC, someone correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[MidnightRivian]

Solid pricing on a fresh Rivian Quad motor with screen stickers in place and I like that it's late model build in 2023. If I had to guess I would say Q4 of 2023 is your build date.

VIN#: PN27190

My vin is PN12xxx and that is a June build 2023.

 

[MidnightRivian]

No, Rivians only qualified for half the full tax credit last year since the battery cells were sourced from China, but assembled in the US. (IIRC, someone correct me if I'm wrong)

Only way folks got full credit is if they signed the binding agreement with Rivian and amended their 2022 taxes. The other option is use the lease loophole for brand new vehicles and not demo vehicles.

Most folks probably got half the credit due to battery cell source.

 

[C.R. Rivian]

Looking to buy an R1S Quad. Found a 2023 demo on Rivians website that has only 129 miles. The price is about 78k. Similar low milage ones are going for around 72-75k on the used market. The great thing about the demo is the warranty begins at the time
of delivery so it’ll be five years or 5k miles from that point. Sounds like it was used internally by Rivian only. Have a few questions:

1. Can anyone who’s bought a demo comment on any hidden fees or issues you had to deal w

2. Does this sound like good value?

3. Welcome any other thoughts.


Thanks

Both of my sons bought demos. Both satisfied. Recommend very careful walk around and test drive if you have access. One of the demos had an issue with wind noise...taken care of under warranty.

 

[HaveBlue]

No, Rivians only qualified for half the full tax credit last year since the battery cells were sourced from China, but assembled in the US. (IIRC, someone correct me if I'm wrong)

Rivian R1's have Samsung cells and the R2 will have LG.

 

[DeafPug]

Looking at my purchase agreement from Sep 2024 on a demo 2022 R1T, I see the following items:

Vehicle: (as quoted on the web site)
Destination Fee: $1,800
Documentation Fee/ Dealer Preparation Fee: $347
Sales Tax: (location specific)
License/Registration: (location specific)

I had horrendous trouble with them doing the registration. They overcharged me by about double (and eventually returned the excess months later) on the property tax on the vehicle and also were asking for all kinds of information that wasn't actually necessary to title/register a vehicle with Kansas. I eventually got them to send me the MCO and took care of the registration myself in no time at all at the local tag office. I would suggest requesting a self-registration and avoiding paying Rivian any of the fees related to registering the vehicle. At least in Kansas, they seemed to have major problems with this process. If you go the self-registration route, the sales tax and registration fees would be $0 and you would pay those directly to your local DMV.

 

[HaveBlue]

California should be straight forward for them.

 

[Ngkgb]

I was gonna balk since I wasn’t able to see or drive it before purchasing. They are, however, transferring it to a service center very close to me. They said I can see it but not drive it. Makes no sense. Anyone have any luck in getting a test drive before purchasing? Really don’t want to purchase and then realized there’s wind noise, alignment, half shaft issues etc.

 

[Patrick87]

I was gonna balk since I wasn’t able to see or drive it before purchasing. They are, however, transferring it to a service center very close to me. They said I can see it but not drive it. Makes no sense. Anyone have any luck in getting a test drive before purchasing? Really don’t want to purchase and then realized there’s wind noise, alignment, half shaft issues etc.

I didn't test drive mine. Mostly because I was ready to get back home with a 6.5 hour drive each way.

Would they be willing to let an employee drive the truck with you riding shotgun? At least you could listen for noises in that scenario.

 

[Ngkgb]

I didn't test drive mine. Mostly because I was ready to get back home with a 6.5 hour drive each way.

Would they be willing to let an employee drive the truck with you riding shotgun? At least you could listen for noises in that scenario.

that’s a great idea. I’ll ask them.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I imagine demo use is confined to short drives and with charge maintained properly. Used, god knows what charging practices previous owner observed. From this forum alone you see lessees bragging about full charging all the time because they don’t own it (even though they are just wasting energy to heat).

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