Frustrated 2018 preorder holder

[Sully151]

This is not true at all unless you made the mistake when making the change on the website. Source: me, a former R1S LE reservation and current R1T LE Owner.

I also switched from LE R1T to LE R1S. The website flat out said you could make the switch.

something is fishy with what CS told the OP.

Sponsored

 

[moosetags]

I understand your frustration, but what can Rivian do to change things quickly?

The situation we have today for people who live, say, 2 hours from a service center, seems impractical from a cost perspective. That’s 4 hours out and back or half a work day just in travel to dispatch Rivian mobile service from a service center. If they need to bring a truck in for service then that’s a full 8-hour work day devoted to transporting a vehicle that they don’t have to spend on someone who lives within 30 minutes of their SC. We’ve seen people here complain that either they have to travel long distances to get to a Rivian SC if their truck is safe to drive or they are unhappy that they have to hand their vehicle over to an independent hauler. The independent who lowers transportation costs to Rivian isn’t as invested in protecting their truck, and Rivian’s reputation, as we‘d want.

I thought Rivian’s plan for trucks needing service far from a service center was to use third-party mobile service like Cox Automotive in the U.S. but that hasn’t happened yet as far as I know. It could be that is coming once some condition is met or that it wasn’t as practical to do that as originally thought.

It seems like delivering first to people close to an operational SC is the most rational strategy to contain costs and manage reputation. Even then, there are potential issues when those geographically desirable delivery owners take road trips far off the beaten path and something breaks. Given Rivian’s adventure vehicle marketing they can’t do much about this.

As a new manufacturer building out their new service organization, they probably never should’ve set the expectation that vehicles would be delivered in the order reservations were received.

What you say is true, but is still a raw deal for early adopters who don't happen live in or near a big city. This has been a deceptive practice on the part of Rivian. They are giving priority to "Johnny Come Latelys" who happen to live is the right places.

If they had let me know two or three years ago that this was their intention, I could have reassessed my options accordingly. At that point I could have been one of the very early adopters for the Electric Silverado or the Ford Lightning.

Regardless of the points that you made, I still feel betrayed by Rivian. Since Rivian has been deceptive on this delivery issue, will my price be honored three or four years from now when they open a service center in the Florida Panhandle.

Brian

 

[SoCal Rob]

What you say is true, but is still a raw deal for early adopters who don't happen live in or near a big city. This has been a deceptive practice on the part of Rivian. They are giving priority to "Johnny Come Latelys" who happen to live is the right places.

If they had let me know two or three years ago that this was their intention, I could have reassessed my options accordingly. At that point I could have been one of the very early adopters for the Electric Silverado or the Ford Lightning.

Regardless of the points that you made, I still feel betrayed by Rivian. Since Rivian has been deceptive on this delivery issue, will my price be honored three or four years from now when they open a service center in the Florida Panhandle.

Brian

Brian,

I’d like think that if Rivian execs knew then what they know now that they would’ve done things differently. For a company which had a stated philosophy of under promise and overdeliver, they gave a lot of people the impression that things were going to be better than the reality which unfolded. They couldn’t have predicted the pandemic, but they could have at least used it as a legitimate reason for changing their delivery priorities to focus more on proximity to service and telling people how and why those priorities changed.

One thing I hope they do differently for future product launches: make a Launch Edition with a single configuration for each new vehicle. I love the choices they’ve given us, but I think they shot themselves in the foot by taking on too much complexity too soon.

Every single Launch Edition R1T and R1S should’ve been identical: like LG, BM, underbody shield, 20” AT, or whatever they thought would make the most sense. Then they could build them until demand was satisfied in all areas they could legally deliver them. It would’ve simplified procurement, manufacturing, and distribution. No R1 Store would’ve been required for LE buyers to get a config close to what they wanted because if someone bailed on an LE purchase the vehicle could’ve gone to the next oldest LE reservation in that geographic location who would’ve gotten exactly what they ordered. Vehicles might've been delivered slightly out of order but not radically out of order.

I think a lot of people who wanted a true Launch Edition (start of production special edition) vehicle would’ve been okay okay making a trade off of choice for LE early delivery. I’ve seen other established car manufacturers do this with special edition vehicles so this isn’t a ground-breaking concept.

Anyway, none of that helps you but hopefully you can see that some of us understand your perspective as much as we can understand why Rivian did what they did.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Your point here makes a lot of sense but in reality Rivian seems to be implementing this inconsistently. My LE R1T with FE interior order date 02/2020 was delivered 4+ hours from the Brooklyn service center back in May. I offered factory or Brooklyn pick up and my guide said they preferred to deliver to my driveway so they could improve their process. It is seeming like I may be a fairly lucky outlier since I've chatted with a few others in far upstate/ Western NY and they are still waiting. One thing is for sure service centers will need to scale massively by this time next year if they are to deliver 50K consumer R1's in 2023... I believe that is still the plan. Another thing Rivian should be considering is that these are "adventure vehicles" so a delivery out of Bellevue Wa. won't only be used in the Seattle metro area. My point to that is that there are not a ton of 2018/ 2019 preorders so if a configuration is being built matching a 2018 order holder in Idaho my opinion is Rivian should deliver as it's not like there is no possibility that the Bellevue delivery won't break down near Nampa Id.
As far as the OP case in this thread I would say It has been fairly clear since the configurator bank opened (November 2020) that LE orders would come before adventure trims so it shouldn't be shocking that you don't have your Adventure trim R1S. I would however expect an invitation to the R1 shop. Either way I would say to anyone in a similar situation hang in there and do NOT cancel the hype is real, the product is amazing. Had mine for almost 10K miles now have not needed service and it has only gotten better with OTA updates.

I don’t know why they’re inconsistent but it could simply be that their strategy is evolving as they get more info about what works and what doesn’t.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Your point here makes a lot of sense but in reality Rivian seems to be implementing this inconsistently. My LE R1T with FE interior order date 02/2020 was delivered 4+ hours from the Brooklyn service center back in May. I offered factory or Brooklyn pick up and my guide said they preferred to deliver to my driveway so they could improve their process. It is seeming like I may be a fairly lucky outlier since I've chatted with a few others in far upstate/ Western NY and they are still waiting. One thing is for sure service centers will need to scale massively by this time next year if they are to deliver 50K consumer R1's in 2023... I believe that is still the plan. Another thing Rivian should be considering is that these are "adventure vehicles" so a delivery out of Bellevue Wa. won't only be used in the Seattle metro area. My point to that is that there are not a ton of 2018/ 2019 preorders so if a configuration is being built matching a 2018 order holder in Idaho my opinion is Rivian should deliver as it's not like there is no possibility that the Bellevue delivery won't break down near Nampa Id.
As far as the OP case in this thread I would say It has been fairly clear since the configurator bank opened (November 2020) that LE orders would come before adventure trims so it shouldn't be shocking that you don't have your Adventure trim R1S. I would however expect an invitation to the R1 shop. Either way I would say to anyone in a similar situation hang in there and do NOT cancel the hype is real, the product is amazing. Had mine for almost 10K miles now have not needed service and it has only gotten better with OTA updates.

Speaking of inconsistent... https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/rivian-lottery-is-real.8711/#post-213212

 

[Tsunami]

THE WAIT IS OVER! All of my constant whining and countdown calendar paid off - JK.

I have completed 6 of 8 steps - will wait on payment until I get a delivery date estimate.

Also received the email from Tony indicating to expect a delivery date estimate in my account by end of October, but I am hoping now that I am unlocked that I get an update well before the end of Oct.

So mark it down, last day of September and my Oct.-Dec. window is now closed. Looks like I will get my R1S WAY before the 4-year deposit anniversary.

 

[SASSquatch]

Kyle got his months ago and didn't even have a reservation!

That's how CutTheLineKyle rolls baby! You're just a sucker for putting down your deposit, helping Rivian get to a certain reservation threshold to have a huge IPO payday, and patiently waiting in line like everyone else while the Kyles just go get a truck (a Launch Edition with pre-March 1 pricing even though they didn't even reserve) because they "just want to make videos" and use the excitement around Rivian to double their subscriber base.

It pays to be a 'Tuber.

 

[cjust2006]

There's a limited number of LEs for both vehicles, right? You changed the config, looked right at the options you configured, and then clicked confirm, right?

Sounds like you caused your own problem.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Every single Launch Edition R1T and R1S should’ve been identical: like LG, BM, underbody shield, 20” AT, or whatever they thought would make the most sense.

I agree with the theory of this, but it's part of the reason I sold the Hummer. It's not the vehicle I would have built if they gave me choices.

 

[Mike TDM]

That's how CutTheLineKyle rolls baby! You're just a sucker for putting down your deposit, helping Rivian get to a certain reservation threshold to have a huge IPO payday, and patiently waiting in line like everyone else while the Kyles just go get a truck (a Launch Edition with pre-March 1 pricing even though they didn't even reserve) because they "just want to make videos" and use the excitement around Rivian to double their subscriber base.

It pays to be a 'Tuber.

maybe for some.

 

[ads75]

One thing I hope they do differently for future product launches: make a Launch Edition with a single configuration for each new vehicle. I love the choices they’ve given us, but I think they shot themselves in the foot by taking on too much complexity too soon.

It isn't that much complexity in the variances. The differences in R1Ts or R1Ss is exterior color, which Rivian said they can change after every truck, wheels which are bolt on, and interior colors, which are all the same patterns. And a bunch of stuff they mail you if you select them (cross bars/racks/floor mats). It's not like Rivian is doing different trims anymore, its just Adventure or Launch Edition, the only physical difference for them that I could tell is a tiny dashboard badge.

A few years ago when Jeep launched the Gladiators, if I remember right, the First Editions had a First Edition package that included common options, "badging", but was limited to a few exterior colors. And the First Editions weren't the first ones shipped either. People who ordered First Editions ended up buying non-First Editions because those got to the dealers first.

 

[R1Sky Business]

I don’t know why they’re inconsistent but it could simply be that their strategy is evolving as they get more info about what works and what doesn’t.

Has to be this...

 

[SoCal Rob]

It isn't that much complexity in the variances. The differences in R1Ts or R1Ss is exterior color, which Rivian said they can change after every truck, wheels which are bolt on, and interior colors, which are all the same patterns. And a bunch of stuff they mail you if you select them (cross bars/racks/floor mats). It's not like Rivian is doing different trims anymore, its just Adventure or Launch Edition, the only physical difference for them that I could tell is a tiny dashboard badge.

A few years ago when Jeep launched the Gladiators, if I remember right, the First Editions had a First Edition package that included common options, "badging", but was limited to a few exterior colors. And the First Editions weren't the first ones shipped either. People who ordered First Editions ended up buying non-First Editions because those got to the dealers first.

The complexity isn’t simply making them; the real complexity is getting the finished custom-config vehicle into the hands of a buyer who wants that config. I think comparing a Jeep product launch (established manufacturer with a dealer network to buy and stock inventory which later gets matched to buyers) is apples and oranges compared to Rivian (new manufacturer with a direct sales model where the manufacturer is responsible for stocking finished vehicles then matching those vehicles with buyers and delivering directly to them).

Having all LE R1S and R1T vehicles the same should’ve prevented the effect of vehicles getting shipped to a region then going to a much later reservation holder who was a good config match by location. Complaints about that seemed to spur the R1 Store which allowed LE buyers to get a config close to what they wanted. With all LEs the same, if someone bailed on an LE purchase the vehicle could’ve gone to the next oldest LE reservation in that geographic location who would’ve gotten exactly what they ordered. Vehicles might've been delivered slightly out of order but not radically out of order.

I think all of this would’ve made Rivian seem better organized and made more long-term reservation holders satisfied.

 

[SoCal Rob]

I agree with the theory of this, but it's part of the reason I sold the Hummer. It's not the vehicle I would have built if they gave me choices.

I get that, and my thinking was that people who wanted an R1 as quickly as possible and weren't too picky about details would get the single-config LE and people who wanted something specific would get an Adventure (or Explore when that was possible) configured as they wanted it, knowing up front that it would take longer.

I think giving people an up-front choice of single-config “quick ship” LE or custom config “build to order” regular trim would’ve helped set expectations from the outset.

 

[ads75]

Having all LE R1S and R1T vehicles the same should’ve prevented the effect of vehicles getting shipped to a region then going to a much later reservation holder who was a good config match by location.

Sure, but what if a lot of people didn't like the only LE configuration? The LE Launch Green is pretty polarizing to some people. A lot of people want the range of the 21s, or the capability of the 20s or the look of the 22s. Some climates want the snow capability of the 20s, while people in SoCal or Florida could care less. With only one launch configurations, a lot of people would just wait for what they wanted. Even now, LE order holders were holding out for what they wanted.

Sponsored