Poll: Would you buy your Rivian again?

[DayTripping]

I have a 2011 Rogue that is not a great car but gets me from point A to point B. I fear the ticking time bomb of my CVT regardless of fluid changes. I'm waiting on my R1S Dune order another month but having second thoughts vs just going with a Dual Motor Large with fewer options because of uncertainty and the Dune is pricey.

I bought a Nissan with the CVT for my son and took great care of it. As expected the CVT died. They wanted more to repair it than the car was worth by far.

If you don't need the power, the DM large might be a good option. Save you quite a bit as well, assuming the range is what you need. As you've probably seen, once you bump up the pack size to a Max, the next thing you know you are at Dune pricing.

A friend found a practically new 2024 dual motor with the large pack. The Gen1 large pack isn't much smaller than the max pack (130 vs 140). I think that really hits the sweet spot. It had only 4k miles and looked brand new. It was a great deal.

I am so cautious now about buying expensive EVs since I got hammered so bad on depreciation on my last expensive EV. I think that was one the main reasons I ultimately went with a barely used one vs new.

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[Donald Stanfield]

Thanks. I've tried the app, Safari and Chrome all on my MacBook. No dice. Cleard cache and restarted still doesn't show. I'll try later from a Windows laptop I have.

Has anyone successfully voted using a MacBook and Safari?

Yes. I’m on a MacBook Air.

 

[KW_88_SS]

I would not buy my exact vehicle, but, I would still buy a Rivian, just a different variant/configuration.

 

[DayTripping]

I would not buy my exact vehicle, but, I would still buy a Rivian, just a different variant/configuration.

Interesting. What would version would you get instead of something like your G1 quad?

 

[MacO512]

Interesting. What would version would you get instead of something like your G1 quad?

If I were buying new I really like the idea of the R1 dual standard. LFP pack is much more durable so it can last a million miles. Much cheaper if it had a fault and needed to be replaced. Quicker on long multi charge road trips as it has a better charging curve. Can charge more often to 100% so the lower range isn't as big of a disadvantage as it would initially seem. My favorite performance feature of the R1 is the suspension - which is the same in all R1s.

There aren't any performance tires for any R1 stock or aftermarket - so the 800 hp is a bit of a waste on my quad. Would be great if the gen2 quad tires ever become available to purchase aftermarket but that's currently unknown. Its also such a big cumbersome vehicle I don't drive it zipping around like I would a sports car. The dual standard still does 0-60 is 4.5s so while its the slowest R1 its by no means a slow SUV.

Bonus that the R1 standard is also the cheapest - while having some disadvantages but also some advantages vs all the other R1 trims.

 

[Milk]

Interesting timing on this thread. Just this weekend, I was infuriatingly locked out of my truck due to tech issues with PAAK and the access card. THEN, received a "how has your first 6mo been" survey from Rivian.

On that survey, there was a question; ranked from 1-10, how likely are you to buy another Rivian? 1 being absolutely not and 10 being definitely yes. I answered 1, then added, only because 0 is not an available option. PAAK, digital vents, and a non-opening sunroof (that part I knew going in) will keep me from buying another one.

Hope someone at Rivian actually gets the feedback, although I doubt any of those 3 features will change in any upcoming model.

I voted no (Gen 2 R1T) as well. I couldn't really have said what you said in your first response any better. I'm beginning to think that the PAAK is a living soul that has a mind of its own and routinely likes to punk me. I won't ever trust the PAAK alone so I always have my key card tucked in my right pocket. 60% of the time when I get in the truck, I go with out issues. The other 40% the truck won't recognize my phone or the key in my pocket so I have to get the key out of my pocket, dab it on the tray and then be on my way. Most of the time when I walk up to the car it unlocks. Sometimes it doesn't so I have to rely on my key card to get in. What do people do when they don't have their keycard?!?!

There are so many amazing things that I love about this truck (I could do without the rattles) but the entry and starting of a vehicle are such basic assumptions that owners shouldn't ever even have to think about and Rivian seems to have whiffed here.

I wonder what the culprit is. Why does it work perfectly some times and other times not at all?

 

[DayTripping]

Have you tried opening the truck from the app, and not just relying on proximity unlocking?

 

[MacO512]

I voted no (Gen 2 R1T) as well. I couldn't really have said what you said in your first response any better. I'm beginning to think that the PAAK is a living soul that has a mind of its own and routinely likes to punk me. I won't ever trust the PAAK alone so I always have my key card tucked in my right pocket. 60% of the time when I get in the truck, I go with out issues. The other 40% the truck won't recognize my phone or the key in my pocket so I have to get the key out of my pocket, dab it on the tray and then be on my way. Most of the time when I walk up to the car it unlocks. Sometimes it doesn't so I have to rely on my key card to get in. What do people do when they don't have their keycard?!?!

There are so many amazing things that I love about this truck (I could do without the rattles) but the entry and starting of a vehicle are such basic assumptions that owners shouldn't ever even have to think about and Rivian seems to have whiffed here.

I wonder what the culprit is. Why does it work perfectly some times and other times not at all?

I can always click unlock on the app if it opens. I have my keycard as a backup but basically never use it.

But the Tesla unlock is MUCH better and works 99% of the time. Rivian probably works 70% of the time for me. I'm not sure why Rivians is so much worse.

 

[Milk]

Have you tried opening the truck from the app, and not just relying on proximity unlocking?

Yeah but I'm not sure why I should have to do that when proximity works most of the time.

This morning at the Gym I get a notification about how the vehicle is unlocked (I'm not parked very close to where I was in the Gym). So I open the app and toggle the lock on. It took about a minute of 'thinking about it' before it locked up.

Just weird behavior with something that I wouldn't have ever thought to worry about. I was probably over reacting when I voted "No" to buying again because I really like so much about it. But the entry/exit points are a real PITA and I'm not sure it's a priority for Rivian to button up.

 

[KW_88_SS]

Interesting. What would version would you get instead of something like your G1 quad?

I was debating between a dual or quad. I really don't need that much power but, I was told that I could not get any of the extra drive modes in anything but the quad.

That seems to have been inaccurate

I think dual would have been more than fine for my needs and I could have saved a ton of cash.

 

[DayTripping]

I think where I appreciate the quad the most (besides the drive modes) is the acceleration above 60 mph and the torque vectoring in the turns. I also like how it is a bit rear wheel biased when in sport mode.

I probably would have been fairly happy with a PDM if it was quicker at higher speeds. Honestly I wish the quad and tri were better at higher speeds.

 

[socaladam]

so far, no I would not buy another Rivian product, nor would I invest in the company.

the next 30 days may change my mind.

what I like:
Styling
Acceleration
Room inside
Drive assist plus

what I dislike:
Quality of build (multiple issues)
Technology isn’t fully baked (system self resets often, 3 times in 9 days of ownership)
Proximity key locks/unlocks vehicle at night often. Had to turn off Bluetooth on phones.

 

[Riv-Razo]

I'm aware those with issues are more vocal on forums than those without.

My family wants a third-row vehicle and we love the concept of an EV. While we can afford to budget around $60k, we can't afford mistakes with big purchases and a lot of the common gripes on this forum do make us nervous.

But the styling, interior comfort, and off-road capabilities keep us coming back to the R1S. If we eventually decided to move forward, it'd be for a used 2022-2023 R1S, hopefully quad-motor.

The biggest issues as I understand them are:
1. Vampire drain/sudden death due to 12v battery that is too small (yes, I see trickle charge solutions, but having to do this for a supposed 'luxury SUV' feels absurd). This seems catastrophic if the 12v suddenly fails while on a camping trip, or stopped for a rest on a road trip in remote area, etc, though it appears the issue affects R1T more than R1S? (true/false?). And that a dead EV shuts down the vehicle entirely (cant access interior, battery compartment, etc).
2. A service network that is less extensive than other major car manufacturers (less of an issue for us as we live in SoCal which has numerous service centers within ~25mi radius). But - you never know where life will take you and perhaps eventually we're in an underserved area.
3. Early model years that hadn't quite ironed out kinks regarding suspension, drivetrain, even simple fit/finish compared to newer 2024-25 models (which are too expensive for us).

And categorically, its always nerve-wracking to be shopping for relatively young new cars from a startup manufacturer. It's hard not to wonder "whats wrong" with a particular car when people are looking to get out of it after just a couple years. Are we overthinking this, or is the due diligence warranted here?


Perhaps the simplest way to assess these concerns is asking owners:
If you could go back in time... Would you buy your Rivian again?

2023 R1S owner here, and I will say the vehicle itself, is amazing! And 25k miles in, and only a handful of issues(all of which just came up in the last 6 months, and have yet to be resolved).
Your #2 concern is the most valid from my experience, the customer service I've received is pretty much non-existent. With the above said, the nearest service center is ~2.5 hrs away. I believe Rivian's #1 concern right now is selling vehicles, not servicing them. The sheer lack of communication is my biggest gripe, if you don't advocate to get the service done, Rivian will put you on a 1 year waitlist. I really do hope they develop some resemblance of a service department.

 

[tbrockhurst]

Would we buy our R1S DPMax again? - Ish.
Now that we’re over the initial novelty, I still feel underwhelmed by the chasm of difference between buying a product from a, ‘tech company,’ (no matter how good it is as a vehicle), compared to a legacy car manufacturer.
Despite how much we both love the car, I’m painfully aware of the price point & how it lacks the creature comforts that I’d expect at that price point.
Last year there was a lot of static about Rivian’s financial viability, then along came the VW deal, & many people were soothsaying that Rivian were done & would be subsumed within VW.
I actually thought that that could be great.
We’d have a Rivian with Audi/Lamborghini/Bentley interiors, creature comforts, styling, buttons for critical functions, actual leather (like Lucid), a HUD & (heaven forbid) a sunroof that actually opens, (amongst many other things), that I’d also expect at $100k. .
My current answer is that maybe by Gen4, the car will justify its’ expense & only when they listen & focus on adding the creature comforts their price point expects.
Despite how fantastic it is as a machine, it is still, (to my mind), lacking in creature comforts, compared to ICE equivalents at a similar price point.
Increasingly there are more YouTubers, bloggers & automotive journalists that suggest the same, that without a doubt it’s an awesome piece of kit, but for $100k +, it‘s lacking on fundamental levels within its’ price bracket.

 

[RandomMcRandomFace]

Voted yes; I have none of the issues people complain about (PAAK is function 99% or more; never have to reset; have had the system randomly reset twice in 2 years and other than confusing me briefly, nothing happened; I’ve had nearly no issues scheduling service for the small problems i have had (tailgate was misaligned - mobile service w/in a week; wiper broker, took in for service within 48 hours of asking; was called for 12v battery replacement, took in a few days later for the replacement). I had a Volvo that I lemon lawed (or actually, threatened to and then they gave me a new car) so I understand how frustrating it can be to have a car not work. But, knock on wood, I’ve been good.

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