Kim Java’s posing shatters glass pano roof…

[PAFDenver]

You think the worst thing is Rivian blaming the driver? When someone literally sat on a glass roof that isn’t made to be sat on? This wasn’t a spontaneous break.

And her sitting on top of a Model X isn’t comparable. The Model X doesn’t have an uninterrupted glass roof like the R1T.

While the roof may not be as strong as it could be (yet to be determined), I think it’s a little ridiculous to be upset with Rivian for blaming the driver when user misjudgment absolutely played a role.

Well, it IS a roof not a chair... So while the break does look to indicate a flaw, it is not REALLY meant to be sat on.
And yes, I do thinks thats the worst thing about this. Mistakes are made, designs need to be revised and products leave the factory with imperfections. But a brand new company building a product as complex as a car (and SUV and delivery van) that is looking to blame the customer and dodge responsibility is a HUGE red flag to me.
I was also very early with my model S and they were fantastic about fixing stuff that went wrong. I was a huge advocate for them in the beginning and spread the word about their tech and attitude. But after recent experiences with them I specifically did NOT want a Tesla this time around because of their service. Their tech is certainly beyond Rivian's and I have zero doubts about the survivability of Tesla, but getting service is a nightmare. Don't forget, unlike ICEs there are nearly zero options for repairs except the manufacturer. I had a drive unit fail and it took 3 weeks just to get into service. Then a few more to get the repair done at my cost even though the car had under 35K mi on it. Sure, they gave me some Uber credits, but if I had a schedule like most people, I would have burned through them in less than a week.
Rivian is brand new and still struggling to become a lasting car company. It is far from certain whether they will be the next Tesla or the next Fisker. I hope it's Tesla (without the attitude) but such an early tendency to blame the customer when there are other obvious signs of flaws on their side IS very negative to me.

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[Surferdude]

And her sitting on top of a Model X isn’t comparable. The Model X doesn’t have an uninterrupted glass roof like the R1T.

While the roof may not be as strong as it could be (yet to be determined), I think it’s a little ridiculous to be upset with Rivian for blaming the driver when user misjudgment absolutely played a role.

Ummm the roof should be much stronger/thicker/tempered than the Tesla roof because it's a larger panel. It's ridiculous to say one roof is fine to sit on because it's smaller and one is not because it's larger. They should all be made to handle the same pressure/impact being applied at any point on the surface of the glass. If they can't, glass shouldn't be used at all.

 

[bd5400]

Where is it documented that the glass roof wasn't made to be sat on? Or leaned on? Or touched? What is the limit of reasonable expectation here? Couldn't find that anywhere in the owner's guide. It is documented that you should pour hot water in cold weather but I don't see anything about load expectations for glass surfaces.

I’d argue that it’s common sense that you shouldn’t sit on a large piece of flat glass that wasn’t specifically designed as a glass floor or walkway. Just like you wouldn’t sit or stand on a moonroof. We had a Model 3 before our X and there is absolutely no way I’d ever think to sit on top of its glass roof (to the extent it’s relevant, the glass roof on that car did crack for unexplained reasons).

If you are standing on top of a car with a metal roof, and then use the front windshield to step down onto the hood and the windshield cracks, I think it’s very hard to argue that’s a design flaw and the user shouldn’t be blamed for the damage. But maybe that’s just me ?‍.

 

[koersontap]

I can’t tell ya how many times I’ve caught women posing on top of my vehicles in the Walmart parking lot. I’m going to have to put a Kibosh to this activity and start shopping at Target.

Send them my way, I'll gladly let them pose on mine.

 

[hugebob]

With all the issues reported here and other places, Rivian will have a ton of recall campaigns to deal with. They should be proactive and implement fixes right away.

As long as they're improvements and I'm not paying anything out of pocket for them, I'm good!

 

[KeithPleas]

Yea no.
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/cracked-roof-glass.6609/post-178853
First post on thread is about a crack when user had no interaction with it and the post linked shows the owner leaning on the edge to wash it down.
What is ridiculous is seeing this occurring more and people still saying "yet to be determined" while owners are paying $1800+ for putting their hand on it to wash.

"putting their hand on it" isn't really accurate either - he stood on the crossbars <smh> and leaned on it. And he was not...let's go with "svelte"

 

[lefkonj]

Wow didn't realize there are 120lb hail balls dropping from the sky. This is the dumbest thing I have seen. If the glass is weak ok hopefully it gets fixed but to say it is weak because someone stood on it and it broke is just ridiculous. 'I walked across a frozen pond and the ice broke, the ice is at fault'

 

[dduffey]

I think the forum member that had to pay $1600 for his replacement should be looking to get his money back. I am seeing this way too much and it definitely seems to be a Rivian issue.

Edit: This may seem like a dumb question, but is there any way to "make the glass stronger" for instances like hail? I don't plan to sit on my roof but hail is a concern.

I was thinking to do something like this for external UV protection (vs. internal) and maybe at minimum it would help keep some structure during a hail storm if it did break

https://www.ezautowrap.com/products/paint-protection-film-secuirty

 

[Dark-Fx]

After seeing these issues, one of the first things I though about is the risk of using the crossbars. Let's face it, when loading something on the crossbars, it's not unrealistic that people are going to possibly put a hand on the glass, or something may drop on the glass from a few inches while loading the crossbars. That should not cause a failure.

I had thought about carrying my kayak on the roof when I get the R1S. Having second thoughts about that...

This glass is starting to look like Rivian's "Tonneau Cover 2.0" design flaw. I want a Carbon Fiber replacement option!

It's not that difficult to not put weight on the glass. You can stand entirely on the crossbars, just don't expect the glass to hold your weight.

 

[electruck]

I’d argue that it’s common sense that you shouldn’t sit on a large piece of flat glass that wasn’t specifically designed as a glass floor or walkway. Just like you wouldn’t sit or stand on a moonroof. We had a Model 3 before our X and there is absolutely no way I’d ever think to sit on top of its glass roof (to the extent it’s relevant, the glass roof on that car did crack for unexplained reasons).

If you are standing on top of a car with a metal roof, and then use the front windshield to step down onto the hood and the windshield cracks, I think it’s very hard to argue that’s a design flaw and the user shouldn’t be blamed for the damage. But maybe that’s just me ?‍.

What you would do and what is documented are not the same thing. We would not be having this discussion if Rivian had "Do Not Sit, Stand, or Lean" warnings on the glass or in the owner's guide. Perhaps sitting on glass roofs is something you would never do but obviously Kim has done this many time without issue and so had no reason to expect anything different from Rivian.

Regardless, my comment wasn't purely about sitting/standing on the glass it was more about where we should draw the line. We already have reports of people breaking the glass by simply leaning against it with one hand, far from full body weight, to support themselves while they wash/dry the roof (or, hypothetically at this point, to load cargo onto the roof). Should they expect the glass to support that or no? What about accumulating ice and snow in the winter? Will this glass support 12-24" of frozen precip (thankfully not something I personally have to worry about)? What about setting a small item on the roof? What about a cat or squirrel jumping onto the roof of a Rivian? Or a walnut falling out of a tree?

 

[MountainBikeDude]

What you would do and what is documented are not the same thing. We would not be having this discussion if Rivian had "Do Not Sit, Stand, or Lean" warnings on the glass or in the owner's guide. Perhaps sitting on glass roofs is something you would never do but obviously Kim has done this many time without issue and so had no reason to expect anything different from Rivian.

Regardless, my comment wasn't purely about sitting/standing on the glass it was more about where we should draw the line. We already have reports of people breaking the glass by simply leaning against it with one hand, far from full body weight, to support themselves while they wash/dry the roof (or, hypothetically at this point, to load cargo onto the roof). Should they expect the glass to support that or no? What about accumulating ice and snow in the winter? Will this glass support 12-24" of frozen precip (thankfully not something I personally have to worry about)? What about setting a small item on the roof? What about a cat or squirrel jumping onto the roof of a Rivian? Or a walnut falling out of a tree?

There aren't warnings in the manual or on the side wall of the tires telling you not to stab them with a knife or screw driver because they'll deflate, its common sense.

When washing your windshield at a gas station, do you approach the task from the side of the vehicle, or climb on the hood, clean it head on with a squeegee and expect the hood not to dent?

While I would expect a certain level of resiliency to the glass roof, I'm not expecting it to hold me up while I sit on it, nor am I expecting it to hold half of my body weight while I try to reach the middle/front of the roof from the back. Would it startle me if doing either one of those and it cracked, you bet! But it also wouldn't surprise me.

 

[AllInev]

You being serious? You've had this happen?

Happens to me all the time. Men AND women just see the R1T and hop right on up and start posing.

Rivian should have known this was going to happen. Bad on them for not designing for this.

 

[jjswan33]

Very good summary of dealing with Rivian service, the owners experience is very accurate in my experience as well.

 

[DJG]

With all the issues reported here and other places, Rivian will have a ton of recall campaigns to deal with. They should be proactive and implement fixes right away.

The roof falls far short of the threshold for a recall. That's quite a stretch. At best it might be a customer service campaign or whatever you call them, which are essentially goodwill gestures, but a glass roof supporting less weight than some owners would expect does not meet the qualifications for a recall. There is no apparent safety concern, or impact to the usability of the vehicle. If a body panel dented upon leaning against it, it would similarly not be a recall, even if deemed silly and under engineered by some owners. I haven't seen any glass that has shattered and created safety issues to occupants, right? The glass is tempered and therefore cracks but does not shatter or splinter?

It's just semantics, but somewhat key distinction. The tonneau would also not be a recall, it would be a customer service campaign. And those would only be at the discretion of Rivian deciding it's worth doing, but they don't create any possible liability by not doing it.


A recall is issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA determines that a vehicle, equipment, car seat, or tire creates an unreasonable safety risk or fails to meet minimum safety standards.

 

[ads75]

How difficult would it be for Rivian to make/offer a solid roof option that could be easily dropped right into the current roof opening? At one time weren’t they going to offer a removable roof panel? I would be all in for ditching the glass roof, altogether.

I would like a solid roof also. I thought I read somewhere one reason manufacturers were going towards glass roofs was it was actually cheaper/easier, because less welds were involved. I didn’t believe it then, but that’s what I read somewhere. It is possible if it’s all glass compared to metal+sunroof, since a sunroof has more moving parts. But I agree, I would just rather have a metal roof, no glass, no sunroof.

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