How has your paint held up?

[webfootdawg]

I'm two years into owning my R1S. We ski, and being concerned about gravel hitting the flat front during ski season I opted for a full wrap shortly after purchase. For those didn't go with any kind of PPF or wrap, I'm curious how your paint has held up after a couple years of ownership. My quick search didn't show any threads asking about this.

The 2012 Q5 I came from seemed to have very durable paint. Very minimal rock chips or insults after nearly 14 years. About half of those living outside.

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[beatle]

Mine is pretty good for just over a year and 12k miles. It has some swirls and a door ding that went all the way through to the primer. The former could probably have been avoided if I were more careful, and the latter if someone else were more careful. Rock chips are minimal - maybe one or two.

 

[Mathme]

I think this is the softest paint I've ever had on a vehicle. I've managed to scratch the clear coat with a dish sponge removing tree sap, and then there's the spot where a bird crapped this purple stuff onto the paint. The crap wasn't there for even 90 minutes, and even buffing it out with a microfiber, paint cleaner, and wax, that spot is still there. There's also a couple of rock chips on the front hood.

Surprisingly, that big flat panel between the headlights doesn't have (knock on wood) any rock, debris marks on the paint.

 

[mkg3]

....For those didn't go with any kind of PPF or wrap, I'm curious how your paint has held up after a couple years of ownership....

2023 R1S, two years old and 28K+ miles. No PPF.

One small (less than 1/16") chip on the front facia near one of the headlights.

No scratches or swirls.

Key is to increase the following distance on the freeways and don't follow semi trucks or definitely no gravel trucks.

 

[COdogman]

I never got around to adding PPF and mine still looks pretty good. Although I don't know that I have ever gotten ALL the bugs off the front to fully check

 

[Great Gatsby]

No issues so far. I do roadtrips, car washes (I know, the horror) and collect a fair share of bugs and road debris just driving on the local highways. For the most part, paints looks good. Nothing a wet cloth can't usually fix. Compared to vehicles I've had in the past, I really can't complain. I look at my BMW the wrong way and a piece of the paint just flies off.

 

[Muir]

9k miles on my R1T, a big long road trips (CO to CA and back), lots of roof top tent camping/use, plenty of dog paws, and several car washes (yeah.. I know), and a bit of getting dirty and the paint looks really good compared to my previous car - tesla model 3. I picked up the pen from Rivian but I haven't use it yet. Anyone else? I hate the way PPF looks after a few years so I went without and just do the DIY Graphene applications and wax to keep it shiny. It's a truck though so my expectation is to use the truck, get it dirty and accept a few scratches along the way.

 

[hammick]

8k miles and 6 months in and our paint is fine other than the a chip from the passenger door rubbing on the quarter panel. Taking it in next week to get the fixed.

We have a full front XPEL and it's crazy the bugs are harder to get off. I also top coated the XPEL with some inexpensive ceramic coat and it didn't help. Oh well, I'd rather have to work harder removing bugs than have chips.

 

[iamnid]

I'll second the complaint of it being soft and generally poor paint. I got my R1S in October of last year and now, barely 9 months in, it's covered in swirls, it has imperfections. Under most lighting conditions, it looks ok but, when the light hits it right, it looks really bad. I've only ever hand washed it and haven't done anything different than I've done with my last 5 cars -- it's significantly more swirled.

I have minimal rock chipping after 8,000 miles.

 

[ironpig]

I'd say my paint (launch green) is in pretty good shape. I wrapped the front of my truck a few weeks after I got it - I wish I would have done the whole thing - but I have the ability to see what my paint looks like on the rear as it ages.

We have a white Toyota 4Runner with the worst pain Toyota has ever put on a car. It's thin and impossible to keep looking nice. the Rivian is way better than that, but has some swirl.

I would consider Rivian paint to be sort of middle of the pack in terms of quality. I'm pleased so far.

 

[ShockaKhan]

Not great here, but it's been through a lot. The front end and side mirrors got blasted in an interstate debris storm - pending what to do with that (quoted at $3.5k). Other than that, a good amount of trail rash. I take mine though tighter trails and even pine bristle digs into the clear coat.
I've considered lower cost ceramic to making it easier to clean and prettier, but don't ascribe to PPF. I could just enjoy the car and if in the end the paint matters or gets too bad, I could have it buffed down or go with a PPF at that point.

 

[superfly_snook]

2 years and 26K miles of mostly road trips to the snow and dirt and the paint still looks great (glacier white R1S). I wash it at home but I live dangerously and use just one bucket and mitt! I will spray on some bug remover a few minutes before washing if the front looks really bad as we all know bugs just can’t get out of our way fast enough.

 

[Jeff B.]

My early VIN 2022 R1T's paint is holding up better than most other vehicles I have owned. I opted to not install PPF on the truck and after 39,000 miles, I am still very happy with the finish. Sure it has some imperfections when you study it under a light up close looking for flaws, but nothing I would consider unusual or poor quality. I have a few rock dings on the front and a few small dings on the bed, but no notable scratches, chips, peeling, or other paint issues at all.

I treat it like a truck and it has held up really well. My only complaint about the body and paint is that the body panels dent easily, so I have learned to be careful when doing things around the bed of the truck.

 

[ndmiller]

Fine at 22k, wash it once or twice a month, looks fine.

 

[madhat]

My early VIN 2022 R1T's paint is holding up better than most other vehicles I have owned. I opted to not install PPF on the truck and after 39,000 miles, I am still very happy with the finish. Sure it has some imperfections when you study it under a light up close looking for flaws, but nothing I would consider unusual or poor quality. I have a few rock dings on the front and a few small dings on the bed, but no notable scratches, chips, peeling, or other paint issues at all.

I treat it like a truck and it has held up really well. My only complaint about the body and paint is that the body panels dent easily, so I have learned to be careful when doing things around the bed of the truck.

My experience is similar at 36k miles (8XXX Vin), minus the denting. Mine gets run through the car wash *gasp* every other week on average.

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