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Possible paint/clear coat defect issue - anyone else encountered?

mecrider82

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I took delivery of my LE Red Canyon R1T about 6 weeks ago and I brought it in this week to get a full front PPF application. The truck was dusty due to local road construction so I did not notice this, but the shop contacted me to say that there was a significant amount of spots on the roof and hood that have been etched into the paint and (at least at that point, after an hour of effort) were not able to be buffed out. I went there to see for myself and they look like water spots, or possibly bird dropping spots, however it seems like after such a short period of time spots of these nature should not be able to etch into the paint, isn't that the purpose of clear coat? Also, I live in northern California so we haven't had any rain or moisture other than morning dew (and there are no trees nearby as its a brand new subdivision with very immature foliage, so it's definitely not sap). Has anyone else encountered something similar? I have a service appointment scheduled next week for unrelated issues and I am debating whether I should try to get the truck detailed to see if they can get the spots out or wait and show the SC to see if its a paint defect or defect with the clear coat. Just curious if anyone else is in the same boat, and if so what did you find out/what did Rivian do for you?
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mecrider82

mecrider82

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It's probably worth mentioning that my previous truck was a very similar color and in the 6 years I owned it, I never had a similar spot on the paint, including in the year and a half we had that truck here at this house where I currently park the R1T....part of what makes this so strange and leads me to think it might be R1T specific!
 

DaveA

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You have any pics?
 
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mecrider82

mecrider82

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You have any pics?
No, I wasn’t able to get any pictures at the shop yesterday but I’ll try to get some when I pick it up this afternoon. The PPF shop brought it to a detailer this morning to try to better buff out the spots on the hood before they cover it, so I’ll probably only be able to snap shots of the roof if they didn’t get to that.
 

Ladiver

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Yep, I have it too. I have at least a dozen places that have "water spots" (like you mentioned). I have said in other posts, that the paint and clear coat is absolute crap. I think Rivian knows this and that is why they partnered with Xpel. I suspect a hard push to Stealth to cover up the flaws.

I will probably get a professional detail and wax. If the spots don't clear up, I will open a new ticket and see what they say. Probably "Normal and within spec".

Not that I am really too upset, they couldn't have painted more than a few thousand R1Ts before mine. This is all part of early adopter fun. I say beat the crap out of it, then repaint! :cool:
 

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My R1T was delivered to me in a school parking lot and was absolutely filthy. I drove 70 miles from Tampa to Orlando plus I was overly excited just to get my hands on one, so I wasn’t refusing it. Turns out that it was love bug season here in Florida and they had etched themselves into the clear coat after getting all over the hood from the carrier transporting from Normal. In my case, the love bug remnants did come out of the clear coat with wet sanding during my first service visit. By the time it got to my PPF installer they were able to correct the few remaining spots missed by Rivian. It is back in service currently for an overspray issue on the windows and trim that I found while applying a ceramic coating, along with some other items.
 

Rivian_Hugh_III

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I wonder if the clear coat needs a certain period of time to cure? Maybe they’re pushing them to people too quickly? Or they just need to put on thicker clear coat
 
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mecrider82

mecrider82

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My R1T was delivered to me in a school parking lot and was absolutely filthy. I drove 70 miles from Tampa to Orlando plus I was overly excited just to get my hands on one, so I wasn’t refusing it. Turns out that it was love bug season here in Florida and they had etched themselves into the clear coat after getting all over the hood from the carrier transporting from Normal. In my case, the love bug remnants did come out of the clear coat with wet sanding during my first service visit. By the time it got to my PPF installer they were able to correct the few remaining spots missed by Rivian. It is back in service currently for an overspray issue on the windows and trim that I found while applying a ceramic coating, along with some other items.
That is good to know, I think I will hold off on doing anything else with it until I take it in for the service appointment next week and see what they say. I am sure I will have to submit a separate ticket and probably bring it back, but I'd much rather do that then spend however many hundreds/thousands of dollars to try and remedy it myself! Thanks for the insight, glad to hear they addressed it for you....hopefully the other issues get fixed quickly!
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