My first week

[CXAXPX]

I took delivery last week of my quad motor, large, stealth wrapped over El Cap, R1s.

I’ve done small interior and exterior accessories so far with rock sliders, full tint, and chrome delete on the way over the next month.

We took a road trip to Wilmington this past week that went fairly smooth but I’m looking forward to getting the SC adapter (whenever that happens). Charging was easy, not seamless but there were no big surprises, only small inconveniences, some due to user error/negligence and some due to charging infrastructure.

I do have a lengthy “testimonial” regarding locating and purchasing my vehicle as well - specifically dealing with certain individuals at Rivian and how that process “unfolded”. There’s good and frustration but overall Rivian (specifically certain employees) were and continue to be stellar to work with.

Overall I’m loving the vehicle so far and would love to connect and network with other owners. Located in Winston Salem, NC.
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[BLG]

Greetings! I’m in Lexington, NC. Got my Gen 2 2025 R1S last month. Love it! Send me a PM if you’d like to connect. Thanks.

 

[CBRacerX]

I do have a lengthy “testimonial” regarding locating and purchasing my vehicle as well - specifically dealing with certain individuals at Rivian and how that process “unfolded”. There’s good and frustration but overall Rivian (specifically certain employees) were and continue to be stellar to work with.

Enjoy! Love to hear more about your experience.

 

[2 Out of the Box]

Greetings! I’m in Lexington, NC. Got my Gen 2 2025 R1S last month. Love it! Send me a PM if you’d like to connect. Thanks.

Congrats! Assuming you purchased from the Shop and it's not a custom build? Did you have it delivered? If picked up, ATL or Richmond? Curious to hear your experiences.

I have a custom build on order—purchased on Jun 6, 30 mins after the Gen2 was announced. ? Supposed to be ready for Aug-Sep. Looking forward to it.

 

[BLG]

Congrats! Assuming you purchased from the Shop and it's not a custom build? Did you have it delivered? If picked up, ATL or Richmond? Curious to hear your experiences.

I have a custom build on order—purchased on Jun 6, 30 mins after the Gen2 was announced. ? Supposed to be ready for Aug-Sep. Looking forward to it.

Yes, I bought one from the shop. Picked it up in Richmond - very easy and quick.

 

[CXAXPX]

Enjoy! Love to hear more about your experience.

Happy to share ... here we go ...

So I'll start out by saying the route I took was pretty unconventional but Rivian was extremely helpful and worked super hard to get me the vehicle I wanted. I've been a fan of Rivian for a long time and have followed the progress of the company for years. I almost purchased back in 2022 but held off.

I decided to purchase a 2024 R1S in early May of 2024 however I couldn't find the configuration I wanted nearby - I was looking for an El Cap or Black exterior, no interior preference, Quad motor, Large battery, with stealth wrap. I had reached out to sales a few times with not much traction and I was minutes away from "pulling the trigger" on a different configuration when I decided to reach out to Rivian's VP of Sales, Gary Gaines. I explained my enthusiasm to purchase and my belief in the company and Gary immediately (within minutes) replied to me and put me in touch with a Rivian guide named Armin.

Armin was great to work with and very knowledgeable, prompt to return calls, and always kept his word - I could tell he was working super hard to help me out. Armin let me know they had an El Cap in the configuration I wanted in Illinois that had to finalize the wrap process and would then be sent top Richmond for delivery or pickup. I placed my deposit on the vehicle and was told it would be 2-3 weeks until I heard from Richmond. To my surprise, 3 days later I heard from Richmond regarding scheduling my delivery/pickup. I scheduled a date but was apprehensive and began asking questions, as I didn't see the wrap included on the build within my Rivian account. My assumption was accurate and when Rivian assigned the VIN it triggered the vehicle being shipped rather than proceeding to be wrapped.

At this point Armin and his supervisor, Noah, helped me locate a 2nd vehicle that they were going to send to be wrapped. When that vehicle arrived at the Xpel install location, they rejected the vehicle due to too many imperfections and the R1S was returned to Rivian for bodywork and panel alignment issues. Noah then was able to locate 2 additional vehicles (El Cap in Miami, and black in Minnesota) that were the configuration I desired. We decided on the one in Miami and it was sent to Xpel to be wrapped. This took about 2-3 additional weeks, plus another week to get to Richmond and then another couple weeks for delivery.

During the 3rd phase where I was working with Noah, admittedly there was some communication breakdown and Rivian wasn't as open and clear with me regarding a timeline or what to expect. I've ended up piecing the story together after speaking with numerous individuals. That said, I've spoken with Gary multiple times and he also put me in touch with his Director of Field Sales, Cristina Conway, and I cannot say enough about how well she took care of the situation.

During a frustrating period of the transaction, Gary had Cristina reach out to me and she legitimately called me while on a date night with her husband (amazing and should never be expected, but greatly appreciated). Cristina took half a day and had me a clear timeline, transparent expectations, and most of all she made it known they would fully take care of me. Cristina comped my delivery charge, gave me a choice of wheels for free, and again really made me feel comfortable. Plus Gary never had to get a vehicle wrapped for me in the first place.

While I'll can't say I didn't have days where I was ready to be done with the whole process, I'm glad I held out. Rivian customer service in sales has been above and beyond amazing and while I normally wouldn't included individuals names, I believe they should be recognized for all they did. Honestly, I'm a nobody to them and no other company (that I'm aware of) would work as hard as they did to make sure I was happy.

The kicker is ..... Xpel of Miami didn't do a great job on the edges of the vehicle so I sent pictures to Xpel warranty and they want to have my local Xpel store rewrap the entire SUV. Again, not ideal but Xpel is renting me a car during this time and has been extremely helpful as well.

Overall I'm very pleased with the vehicle so far and I'm also very pleased with the individuals I've mentioned by name in this post and in Rivian in general. Keep up the great work & keep hiring great people!

Happy to discuss, answer any questions, or fill in any gaps.

 

[CBRacerX]

Wow - that’s quite a process. Sure seems like the company treated you as best as they could and the people there are making things happen.

 

[Robin]

Happy to share ... here we go ...

So I'll start out by saying the route I took was pretty unconventional but Rivian was extremely helpful and worked super hard to get me the vehicle I wanted. I've been a fan of Rivian for a long time and have followed the progress of the company for years. I almost purchased back in 2022 but held off.

I decided to purchase a 2024 R1S in early May of 2024 however I couldn't find the configuration I wanted nearby - I was looking for an El Cap or Black exterior, no interior preference, Quad motor, Large battery, with stealth wrap. I had reached out to sales a few times with not much traction and I was minutes away from "pulling the trigger" on a different configuration when I decided to reach out to Rivian's VP of Sales, Gary Gaines. I explained my enthusiasm to purchase and my belief in the company and Gary immediately (within minutes) replied to me and put me in touch with a Rivian guide named Armin.

Armin was great to work with and very knowledgeable, prompt to return calls, and always kept his word - I could tell he was working super hard to help me out. Armin let me know they had an El Cap in the configuration I wanted in Illinois that had to finalize the wrap process and would then be sent top Richmond for delivery or pickup. I placed my deposit on the vehicle and was told it would be 2-3 weeks until I heard from Richmond. To my surprise, 3 days later I heard from Richmond regarding scheduling my delivery/pickup. I scheduled a date but was apprehensive and began asking questions, as I didn't see the wrap included on the build within my Rivian account. My assumption was accurate and when Rivian assigned the VIN it triggered the vehicle being shipped rather than proceeding to be wrapped.

At this point Armin and his supervisor, Noah, helped me locate a 2nd vehicle that they were going to send to be wrapped. When that vehicle arrived at the Xpel install location, they rejected the vehicle due to too many imperfections and the R1S was returned to Rivian for bodywork and panel alignment issues. Noah then was able to locate 2 additional vehicles (El Cap in Miami, and black in Minnesota) that were the configuration I desired. We decided on the one in Miami and it was sent to Xpel to be wrapped. This took about 2-3 additional weeks, plus another week to get to Richmond and then another couple weeks for delivery.

During the 3rd phase where I was working with Noah, admittedly there was some communication breakdown and Rivian wasn't as open and clear with me regarding a timeline or what to expect. I've ended up piecing the story together after speaking with numerous individuals. That said, I've spoken with Gary multiple times and he also put me in touch with his Director of Field Sales, Cristina Conway, and I cannot say enough about how well she took care of the situation.

During a frustrating period of the transaction, Gary had Cristina reach out to me and she legitimately called me while on a date night with her husband (amazing and should never be expected, but greatly appreciated). Cristina took half a day and had me a clear timeline, transparent expectations, and most of all she made it known they would fully take care of me. Cristina comped my delivery charge, gave me a choice of wheels for free, and again really made me feel comfortable. Plus Gary never had to get a vehicle wrapped for me in the first place.

While I'll can't say I didn't have days where I was ready to be done with the whole process, I'm glad I held out. Rivian customer service in sales has been above and beyond amazing and while I normally wouldn't included individuals names, I believe they should be recognized for all they did. Honestly, I'm a nobody to them and no other company (that I'm aware of) would work as hard as they did to make sure I was happy.

The kicker is ..... Xpel of Miami didn't do a great job on the edges of the vehicle so I sent pictures to Xpel warranty and they want to have my local Xpel store rewrap the entire SUV. Again, not ideal but Xpel is renting me a car during this time and has been extremely helpful as well.

Overall I'm very pleased with the vehicle so far and I'm also very pleased with the individuals I've mentioned by name in this post and in Rivian in general. Keep up the great work & keep hiring great people!

Happy to discuss, answer any questions, or fill in any gaps.

Awesome, glad it worked out for you?

 

[2 Out of the Box]

That is a bonkers story. Thank you for sharing. Cool to hear about real humans going above and beyond. So glad it all worked out and you’re enjoying the vehicle.

Is Rivian also paying for your therapy? Because I would’ve gone crazy! ?

(I have a similar story with my current Polestar and it didn’t end happily. Won’t bore with details but suffice it to say unlikely I will ever buy a Polestar again.)

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