Newbie Ordering Questions

[seththegr8]

Hi forum!

I finally decided to order a R1T but have been struggling to get a hold of customer support for questions before paying the deposit. Endless holding on the phone and unanswered emails. I had someone reach out via a phone call yesterday finally, but I was not available of course. Tried calling the direct number they gave in the VM, but nothing. Not really the experience I was hoping for so far to be honest.

I do want to start the process and found a config in the shop that I want. There are a lot of unknowns like actual price, monthly payment amount, what will my trade offer will be, insurance quote etc. My concern and question is will I be able to make a config change after making the deposit? There are a couple of other configs in the shop that may fit better financially depending on things I mentioned above.

The configs I'm looking at qualify for the tax credit, is that applied to the price of the truck or something that I do with my tax return later?

Been lurking this forum for a while and have found a lot of useful information but have struggled finding answers about this. I really do appreciate the info I have found here and I apologize if I'm just missing a post about this. Thank you!

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[COdogman]

Hi forum!

I finally decided to order a R1T but have been struggling to get a hold of customer support for questions before paying the deposit. Endless holding on the phone and unanswered emails. I had someone reach out via a phone call yesterday finally, but I was not available of course. Tried calling the direct number they gave in the VM, but nothing. Not really the experience I was hoping for so far to be honest.

I do want to start the process and found a config in the shop that I want. There are a lot of unknowns like actual price, monthly payment amount, what will my trade offer will be, insurance quote etc. My concern and question is will I be able to make a config change after making the deposit? There are a couple of other configs in the shop that may fit better financially depending on things I mentioned above.

The configs I'm looking at qualify for the tax credit, is that applied to the price of the truck or something that I do with my tax return later?

Been lurking this forum for a while and have found a lot of useful information but have struggled finding answers about this. I really do appreciate the info I have found here and I apologize if I'm just missing a post about this. Thank you!

The order/ purchase process certainly has lots of room for improvement. That has been the case since day 1, unfortunately. The good news is if you can tolerate that you will end up with a hell of a nice vehicle

I purchased an ordered truck so I can’t speak to the process of buying one from the shop, but the trade in offer comes in the final steps, which is not ideal. If I had not liked the offer and wanted to sell it privately I would have delayed the process significantly while my truck was already at the service center waiting for me. Luckily Rivian’s offer was great and it was a very easy process. I just dropped off my Tacoma at the service center on delivery day and drove home in my R1T.

If you order a truck and put a deposit down they will resist allowing you to make configuration changes, although plenty of folks here have done it. There is a deadline after which Rivian won’t allow it though - such as if your Rivian is already in production.

I used my own insurance so I just had to provide proof of that to my guide during the final steps, but I recall one of the final steps asks if you want a quote from Rivian (Nationwide). I think you can get more info and a quote ahead of time by contacting them directly:

https://rivian.com/support/article/how-can-rivian-insurance-services-help-me

The tax credit will be done by you later on your tax return.

 

[seththegr8]

The order/ purchase process certainly has lots of room for improvement. That has been the case since day 1, unfortunately. The good news is if you can tolerate that you will end up with a hell of a nice vehicle

I purchased an ordered truck so I can’t speak to the process of buying one from the shop, but the trade in offer comes in the final steps, which is not ideal. If I had not liked the offer and wanted to sell it privately I would have delayed the process significantly while my truck was already at the service center waiting for me. Luckily Rivian’s offer was great and it was a very easy process. I just dropped off my Tacoma at the service center on delivery day and drove home in my R1T.

If you order a truck and put a deposit down they will resist allowing you to make configuration changes, although plenty of folks here have done it. There is a deadline after which Rivian won’t allow it though - such as if your Rivian is already in production.

I used my own insurance so I just had to provide proof of that to my guide during the final steps, but I recall one of the final steps asks if you want a quote from Rivian (Nationwide). I think you can get more info and a quote ahead of time by contacting them directly:

https://rivian.com/support/article/how-can-rivian-insurance-services-help-me

The tax credit will be done by you later on your tax return.

Thank you for the info! I was hoping that knowing what to do with my current truck before being "locked in" would free up some cash for more down payment if I worked with Rivian instead of selling after. It's my daily driver, so can't be without it before delivery unfortunately.

I was able to get an insurance quote just now from Rivian on the app poking around. It was surprisingly good, only $30/month more than my Ranger. But need to shop with my current insurance...... Once a VIN is available.

Good to know too about the tax credit. Was also hoping that could be applied to the purchase to free up some cash for the down. May reconsider my config now. Biggest vehicle purchase of my life and even small payment differences are psyching me out! Thanks again!

 

[Kamster]

Check for financing quotes from your current lender, better if you have a credit union and check current car/home insurance company for a quote. Also get a quote on your current truck from Carmax as that will help you decide if Rivian is giving you a good deal or not. I found Rivian financing rates to be above my credit union, I think Chase is the lender they use for financing. If you are picking out of the shop, I don't think you can make any config changes so make sure it is the exact config you want. If you trade in your current truck, Rivian takes that the day you pick up the new one, if you use it as a daily driver they have a limit on the number of miles that can be added to the trade in vehicle once they provide the quote, so I added a week or two of driving to the odometer just to make sure. Best of luck

 

[seththegr8]

Thank you! Have been shopping with financing and insurance. Insurance has been reluctant to give a quote without a VIN, which has been fun. Surprised that my current credit union quoted me an interest rate the same as Rivian on the calculator. Have "excellent" credit and been with them for years.
Have a CarMax and Carvana quote so far. CarMax was the clear winner.
Oh the fun of buying a car.......

Thanks again for the info!

 

[Yossarian]

I'm going through the purchase process right now, but it's a bit different in my case as I'm an early pre-order holder, and have had a deposit in place for years.

Vehicles in the Shop are already built and you can't change their configuration. I believe that usually extends to adding things like cross-bars or a spare, but I have heard stories of folks successfully doing it. I'm not sure if Rivian has opened back up for build orders, but that should be an option for you at some point.

The steps in the purchase process are several and you need to do all of them prior to taking delivery. I'm complete except for insurance and payment. With respect to insurance, Rivian provided a quote through Nationwide, but it was double what my current insurer (USAA) wants. Here's what my Rivian guide sent to me about both of the open items:
"For insurance you'll need to upload an insurance card with your name, the Rivian VIN, and at least 45 days of coverage from the day you get the vehicle.

For payment, it can be made by ACH under the payment step in your portal. You also have the option to pay by wire. I'd like to stress that we cannot accept payment on the day of your pickup so this will need to be completed before then. Wire instructions are below."

Hope this helps. I'm presently scheduled to take delivery next Tuesday, so I've got to hustle to get those last two steps done before the 3rd of June.

 

[defcon888]

We went with our credit union instead. It was a little frustrating dealing with our guide because I don't think they were 100% up to speed on the financing process.

We sold our Volvo XC40 Recharge back to the dealer and used that money as a down payment. The guide told us that we had to finance 100% of the vehicle with the credit union and then let Rivian know. We told the guide that makes no sense to take a loan out for $100k and get locked into a monthly payment and then pay $40k off and then still be stuck with the larger monthly payment.

In the end, we got it all figured out and Rivian was happy, we were happy!

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