Quick note on Rivian body repairs.

[Killer95Stang]

If your Rivian is driveable after a minor accident and you are okay with driving around with a dent in the side, don't drop it off for repairs until every part, nut , screw, sticker, etc is at the bodyshop. Took the R1S in for some body work at a Rivian certified repair shop. Damage was minor, but it was a nice crease across the the rear door and quarter panel. First estimate was 2 weeks, but of course it depended on parts availability from Rivian. I said no big deal, I was using insurance and I had paid for 30 days of rental car insurance through my provider. Welp, day 30 is today, and I'm turning the rental back into Enterprise. We really needed the R1S back before the 4th, because we could have used the 3 row seating for family arriving at the airport. The body shop itself finished the actual bodywork / paint repair 2 weeks ago, but is still waiting for a trim piece to arrive, so they can finish the assembly process. Rivian, has no real parts department / spare parts system, so of course they keep saying it will be here by Monday... of last week.

So... first, don't crash or let your significant other crash... next... don't drop it off until every part is at the bodyshop. I would ask for pictures of the parts for verification. Last... I'm still thinking about it, but since we will be out of town for the next week, I'll have a lot of time to think.

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[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Body shops near me won't let you do that. They don't even order the parts until the vehicle is physically in their possession. They claim it's because they've had too many people schedule repairs, they order the parts, then the person dips out / never shows.

Of course, this is in Manasshole, VA. Obviously Ymmv. ?

 

[Killer95Stang]

Body shops near me won't let you do that. They don't even order the parts until the vehicle is physically in their possession. They claim it's because they've had too many people schedule repairs, they order the parts, then the person dips out / never shows.

Of course, this is in Manasshole, VA. Ymmv. ?

Probably the same here and of course they blow everything apart before they finish the estimate, so probably not even practical.

I guess my biggest gripe here is... Rivian only makes 2 cars and doesn't have mulitiple years to contend with. They should have a parts department where you could pretty much built a complete R1, down to the motors, battery, body panels, screws, etc at each service center. Then a certified bodyshop could drive over to the service center and pick up a part that is needed.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Man that sucks and I'm sorry your going through this. Post COVID repairs take forever it seems. 30 days seems to be the standard that insurance companies offer for rental coverage and it's just not enough. I have read of some repairs taking 3 months or more.

Another post COVID reality is that nobody seems to stock anything anymore. ??‍

 

[Coj]

If your Rivian is driveable after a minor accident and you are okay with driving around with a dent in the side, don't drop it off for repairs until every part, nut , screw, sticker, etc is at the bodyshop. Took the R1S in for some body work at a Rivian certified repair shop. Damage was minor, but it was a nice crease across the the rear door and quarter panel. First estimate was 2 weeks, but of course it depended on parts availability from Rivian. I said no big deal, I was using insurance and I had paid for 30 days of rental car insurance through my provider. Welp, day 30 is today, and I'm turning the rental back into Enterprise. We really needed the R1S back before the 4th, because we could have used the 3 row seating for family arriving at the airport. The body shop itself finished the actual bodywork / paint repair 2 weeks ago, but is still waiting for a trim piece to arrive, so they can finish the assembly process. Rivian, has no real parts department / spare parts system, so of course they keep saying it will be here by Monday... of last week.

So... first, don't crash or let your significant other crash... next... don't drop it off until every part is at the bodyshop. I would ask for pictures of the parts for verification. Last... I'm still thinking about it, but since we will be out of town for the next week, I'll have a lot of time to think.

 

[Coj]

Also seek out Paintless Dent Repair shops as well as certified shops. I had a dent behind the back wheel of my R1T and took it to both. Certified wanted to bondo it for $7000 and PDR ended up being $2600. They repaired the scratch without repainting the entire panel. And I definitely wanted the original metal there.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Man that sucks and I'm sorry your going through this. Post COVID repairs take forever it seems. 30 days seems to be the standard that insurance companies offer for rental coverage and it's just not enough. I have read of some repairs taking 3 months or more.

Another post COVID reality is that nobody seems to stock anything anymore. ??‍

I’ve had repairs for my other cars post Covid. Everything is usually done in a week. It’s not the reality that repairs take 30 days post Covid for other automakers.

A buddy of mine got badly rear ended in his Audi. Lots of damage. Was back on the road in 10 days.

 

[COdogman]

I tried to warn you. You should have just added a matching crease on the other side

Sorry you guys have to deal with this.

 

[Killer95Stang]

I’ve had repairs for my other cars post Covid. Everything is usually done in a week. It’s not the reality that repairs take 30 days post Covid for other automakers.

The body shop has been great and the repairs have been done for two weeks. The main issue is parts. Rivian just doesn't make them available or stock them at the service centers. Also, the hold up for mine is trim pieces, which were ordered over three weeks ago. Teslas can be a pain, but at least their SCs have a parts department and stock a ton of parts for the M3/Y

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

The body shop has been great and the repairs have been done for two weeks. The main issue is parts. Rivian just doesn't make them available or stock them at the service centers. Also, the hold up for mine is trim pieces, which were ordered over three weeks ago. Teslas can be a pain, but at least their SCs have a parts department and stock a ton of parts for the M3/Y

Agree. It’s parts supply. Need to ramp up that supply!

 

[lslick23]

That’s what I did. I refused to leave the truck until they had all the parts. They still had to order parts once they started but had it back in 5 weeks vs the quoted 6 weeks. BUT it took 4 months to get the parts in.

 

[Killer95Stang]

That’s what I did. I refused to leave the truck until they had all the parts. They still had to order parts once they started but had it back in 5 weeks vs the quoted 6 weeks. BUT it took 4 months to get the parts in.

This man gets it.

The bodyshop originally told me two weeks... and I had no reason to not believe them, because it was such a minor repair. Dent/ deep scratch in the door and quarter... and the plastic wheel arch. But of course, "certified " has a different meaning than you or I understand. The bodyshop found 11 parts that they added to their estimate, to bill the insurance. The part we are waiting for is actually a roof trim piece, that is 3 ft from the dent. My guess it is the aluminum trim above the rear side window. Rivian needs to make parts easier to remove for repairs or the bodyshop needs guys that can remove parts without damaging them. I'm not sure which is the case.

As a refresher, this was the Dent.

 

[lslick23]

I was told Rivian has parts that are one use only. Once it’s removed they can’t put it back on and they have to order a new part. One in particular is the plastic piece on top of the truck bed.

 

[chaynes745]

I also had similar experience with a recent PDR job from hail damage. The local PDR shop had all of their work completed within the first few days, with the exception of parts that needed to be replaced (main part was replacement hood that also needed to be painted prior to reinstalling). One downside with not using a certified collision center is that many shops do not have access to a parts catalog or the ability to order parts from Rivian. After about two weeks of back and forth between Rivian and the PDR shop, we ended up agreeing that I would order the necessary parts directly from the SC and pay out of pocket to give the parts to the PDR shop for replacement.

The added stress of having to be a middleman for the PDR shop extended a project from about two weeks to about 5 weeks.

Although the SC was extremely helpful in my case, the lack of a dedicated parts department and the ability for shops to order parts makes things much harder.

 

[ohseedee]

Body shops near me won't let you do that. They don't even order the parts until the vehicle is physically in their possession. They claim it's because they've had too many people schedule repairs, they order the parts, then the person dips out / never shows.

Of course, this is in Manasshole, VA. Obviously Ymmv. ?

Most will if you pre pay. I did that and kept my truck for 6 weeks before parts came in. I got a reimbursement once insurance paid.

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