Help a prospective buyer pull the trigger (or not)

[COdogman]

My R1T is the best overall vehicle I have ever owned. But when I traded in my super reliable Tacoma for it I knew there was a chance the decision could blow up in my face, switching to a new company with barely any service presence. I am one of the lucky ones - I have only had 1 service visit in 18k miles. Others have not been that lucky. Rivian is very much still struggling to master the service experience.

Given what you are accustomed to driving for the last 17 years, if you aren’t prepared for that change, then I would go with either the Ioniq 5, which is an amazing EV, or the Prologue which is a little underwhelming but still a good EV. If you are ready to make the leap with a new company still figuring things out, you will be very happy with the product, even if they still have a lot to improve on…

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[Rade]

We own a home. Many times a year, we need to haul crap. Big crap that just does not fit in an SUV. So, for the past 20-some years, we had one truck in the corral of vehicles. Sometimes it was the third vehicle, but as we are aging, I am finding a truck as my preferred daily driver; so we have one SUV (Nissan Rogue) and one truck.

Going into retirement 4 years ago, I/we decided no more ICE vehicles - and we are moving into EV's. Been watching the manufacturers; we have a miserable history with Fords and GM's. Will NEVER consider Stelanits for anything, not interested in driving a Musk ego science project. No one else has anything truck-like near ready for market, and we wanted to take advantage of the EV tax breaks before the next administration wipes them out. That pretty much left Rivian. Looked at our regional excursions and wanted something with sufficient range that we would not have to scout out a charging center to complete the trip. Rivian offered the "Best of Breed" as far as technology, range and financing. Into our second month of owning an R1T-Large; built solid, great range for an EV even in the depths of winter, and got GREAT lease through Rivian that brought the price well into our budget (they gave me a butt load of equity as trade for my Nissan Frontier).

Glad we waited for the Gen2 - very happy.

 

[mkg3]

is this a marketing study?

 

[Rade]

is this a marketing study?

You're probably right, but as I mentioned, I have become a true retiree - ask me the time and I will tell you how to build the clock. I could go on for hours before I realize that the person I'm talking to had a medical emergency. Hell, Telemarketers no longer call me...

So writing a missive on this thread was well in my wheelhouse.

There was that time I was stuck in a wheelhouse... sailing from Newport to Bermuda... it was in 1987....

 

[HaveBlue]

I live in Pasadena. In the summer heat my r1s gets a sunshade for the roof. It's been a great vehicle though not perfect. Going to be a really different choice from the ioniq. Either way I hope you get an EV. They are fun!

 

[schlosrat]

I'll echo what others have said about the value of having a truck in your garage.

I went for a while without a truck and my only options were SUVs - it's just too limiting. The Ionic does have the virtue of being lower cost, and may be more reliable - I wouldn't know, I'm another one of the lucky ones who've had no issues with my R1T; but at the end of the day, the Ionic simply can't do what an R1T can. There are so many things that just come up where having a truck is incredibly useful. If you had an old reliable ICE truck in your garage, then get the Ionic and you're good. Since you don't, and since the R1T is just a fantastic vehicle, get that and don't look back.

Full disclosure, I've got a 2024 Gen 1 Dual Large. I live in Florida, where it does get hot, but not as hot as it got back when I lived in Tucson - so I do understand what it's like to park a vehicle in 110+ full sun. Get a good ceramic coating for your windows that will reject 95% UV (and don't omit your windshield!), then get a simple effective roof shade ($60?) for use in the summer. I haven't felt the need for one of those here in Florida, and I've had my truck since July of last year, but in AZ you might. As a side benefit, you can easily pull that shade out in the winter and get some free solar heating when you're parked in the colder months.

I do not feel the need for the performance option, or for the max battery. My dual large gets plenty of range and is easily the quickest vehicle I've ever driven. It's a ton of fun to drive - way better than an Ionic could possibly be, and I did test drive one of those so I'm quite confident about that.

Alternatively, if reliability ranks higher than fun for you, then get the Ionic and a reliable used ICE truck, but don't go truckless, and do understand that the Ionic is not likely to be something you fall in love with.

 

[Jdcorbitt3]

Do yourself a favor and research Lucid. In my opinion, they have the best drivetrain. It even looks like they are becoming a Tier 1 supplier for other manufacturers. I am not fond of the looks of the Air, but it is an amazing sedan to drive. My next new vehicle will probably be the Lucid Gravity.

 

[Zoidz]

+1

And thank you for correctly calling Rivian a Premium vehicle, not a Luxury vehicle.

1) Has the heat pump been really loud or vibration inducing in hot weather? I have seen multiple videos of the heat pump noise and that seems objectionably/veto worthy loud. These were mainly in cold weather climates it seems.

Regarding OP's question about heat pump noise level, the heat pump compressor is going to make the same amount of noise in summer or winter. The basic difference is just a valve position for heat vs. cooling. The heat pump compressor doesn't really care what season it is. I suppose the compressor might sound a bit louder from far away in the winter due to denser air carrying sound further, but that's minimal.

 

[HaveBlue]

Ac is loud for the first few minutes in the heat.

 

[ndmiller]

I've never thought about having a pickup, yet bought a Gen1 R1T over a year ago and it's really a fantastic vehicle. Finished a 500 mile roadtrip for daughters soccer last weekend and it was a pleasure (space, ride) albeit requiring a 15-30 minute plan of charging for the trip and destination (charger across the street from hotel). Recommend R1T.

Fast forward to daughter driving this month and I took advantage of Y special lease $299 (3 years 10K/year). Wanted the least expensive safe, heavy vehicle and was leaning towards used Lexus GX/LX's as they are tanks. Y was the lease expensive safe vehicle, so bought it on a sunday, picked it up the following Tuesday. From a budget standpoint along with the technology it's a pretty great choice for the $. Also recommend Y

I drove the Hyundai Ionic 5 & 6, also very nice, but more expensive that the Y.....But not a bad choice.

I don't think any of the vehicles mentioned in this thread are bad choices, which is a first world problem considering your $150K budget. You don't mention proximity to Rivian/Hyundai/other dealers/SC, so I'd go with what speaks to you.

 

[ads75]

I would definitely consider how far you are from service centers. You may get lucky and get one that doesn't need any service. Also consider how much it may cost you if it needs to be towed to a service center. For a while, my closest service center was about 140 miles away, and would've been close to $1000 for it to be towed one way from my house to the service center, if I had to pay out of pocket. If you are far from service centers, or in a remote area, remote service may take awhile to fix a problem in your driveway. When my 12v batteries died in my driveway, it took almost 3 weeks to get an appointment. Remote service may be better in your area or expanded since then.

 

[Fmc]

@slippingsloth send pics in your new R1T

 

[moosetags]

We are very early adopters and two year owners of an R1T. This is our first EV. We have found the R1T to be an effective truck that is fun to drive. A pick-up truck is always a good thing to have.

Brian

 

[dleepnw]

The HVAC on gen2 is as loud as gen1. The difference is that inside the cabin you hear a lot less in the gen2 because they moved the compressor towards the front of the vehicle away from the cabin.

If you're mainly commuting and don't need to haul stuff, even sporadically, I'd get the Ioniq 5 or 5 N. Its also probably a better road tripper since it has 350kWh max charge speeds where Rivian tops off at 20-220 kWh and is more efficient.

The glass roof does get warm in very hot climates but the new photochromatic roof makes a big difference but honestly even without that a simple sun shade is enough. Large pack is sufficient, especially if most of your driving is local with the occasional road trips. If you road trip a lot, I'd get the Max Pack.

And in terms of motors, dual is great. No need for Performance or Tri/Quad, unless you want the slightly nicer interior options or want that extra ridiculous acceleration which is cool but not worth the extra price imo.

I'd say spend the money on getting the Premium audio system, especially if you love music. On that note, if you really like music, I'd consider looking at a used R1T with the Meridian system. Way better than any of the in house systems Rivian created and one of the best audio systems I've ever had in a vehicle (compared to Levinson, Bose, B&O, and Harmon Kardon that I've had)

The R1T is the best vehicle I've ever owned. Its a swiss army knife: fast, powerful, luxurious, utilitarian, capable, fun, comfortable, tech. Its an amazing package and you'll be overall satisfied with whichever trim you get.

I will say service can be a challenge depending on where you live. I haven't had any major issues but in the PNW the service wait time can extend to months before you can get an appointment. That tells you its a popular vehicle and Rivian hasn't been able to keep up with the growth. Hopefully they continue to prioritize service expansion but you should know up front it the situation. But they are different than any other company I've had to deal with and always try to do the right thing and stand by their product.

Hit me up if you have any more questions.

 

[portdirect]

The HVAC on gen2 is as loud as gen1. The difference is that inside the cabin you hear a lot less in the gen2 because they moved the compressor towards the front of the vehicle away from the cabin.

I can't comment for cooling (yet) - but out Gen2 is *much* louder externally when preconditioning - to the point where when parked on our parking pad, we can hear it inside our house; and (absolutely no exaggeration) I've been worried about the neighbors complaining; it's louder than a typical ICE idling.

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