Really long Service Issue

[Nacho Rivian]

I wanted to post to talk about my service experience i hopes that others could maybe shed some light on this or maybe just even sympathize I suppose. We have 2023 R1T which we go in March of 2023. Love the truck but the passenger door was poorly aligned from new and so rubbed the paint off the door as it hit the quaterpanel. We made appt to take in and have it fixed along with a clonking from suspension in May 2023. They had truck for a couple of weeks and supposedly fixed both issues. However door was poorly painted and clicking from wheels came right back after half shafts were repaired. So I made an appt to take it back in, howver this was September 2023 and they couldn't get us in until December. I took the truck in December 7 and its still there. We have had a loaner from them this whole time and they just called yesterday to tell us that they needed to switch the loaner because a month is the longest they can let one out. So tomorrow they are delivering a different loaner.

The service center in Gaithersburg MD tells us that they have the engineering team looking at the suspension noise and wind noise from the poorly aligned door and they are replacing things (wont tell us what) but that they have not been able to make the noises disappear. Have others had this issue ? I am almost wondering at this point if we ask them to simply swap out the vehicle as they cannot fix the issue and of the 9 months I have owned the car it has been with them for almost 4 for these issues and other things like center consoles material tearing.

Mine took 49 days for the service. Exactly the same issues with paint issues and door alignment issues. The bodyshop Gaithersburg SC uses does such a terrible job and the bodyshop messed up other parts of my S. I had to set up an another appointment. I really hope the SC finds another bodyshop. I feel your pain 100%

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[Zoidz]

Funny update. They still have the truck but have switched out the loaner and now I have this. Discontinued color and discontinued wheels. Maybe its a loaner because it was a combination most didn't want

This swapping of loaners after a month is truly the definition of insanity. All it does is create more work for Rivian!?!? Why would they do that to themselves, unless there is some legal requirement to do it?

 

[Jomoflymo]

Just a bit of an update. Heard from service center today and said it will be at least another week which will be 60 days. He said they think the noise is coming from some axle sleeve that might have dirt in it. So part is on way to replace. They have also replaced both front axle shafts, entire front subframe and all bolts and all wheel bearings. Crazy

 

[citizen]

Just a bit of an update. Heard from service center today and said it will be at least another week which will be 60 days. He said they think the noise is coming from some axle sleeve that might have dirt in it. So part is on way to replace. They have also replaced both front axle shafts, entire front subframe and all bolts and all wheel bearings. Crazy

For what its worth, at least they are being thorough. Hopefully, this means it's your "final" service visit and that everything will be smooth from here on out.

Re: rental/loaner discussion, I had NO idea we couldn't tow or carry pets with either. I've had a brand new Model X rental and an R1T loaner. Took trips with my dog in both, though we had a pet cover in both. Man... good to know, mistake on my part.

 

[milliemc]

That sounds pretty frustrating. Sorry that has been your experience. I doubt Rivian will swap out your vehicle voluntarily at this point - it’s just been too long. If that is something you are thinking about, you should look into the lemon laws for your state. Most have specific requirements for the amount of time the vehicle has spent being repaired for the same issue.

Who, what have others' experience been with service issues?

 

[Prime]

I will agree that they have very nice the entire time but the amount of time it has spent there is insane

im surprised they arent saying the noise is just within spec, Costa Mesa doesnt touch NVH issues.

 

[Benatar]

I am currently in an R1S loaner. They swapped me to the loaner after a week in an enterprise rental. Regarding pets, my SC said I could take my dog but I should put down a blanket. I use a kennel in the car and that has worked fine. I don’t tow and could see that as a big problem. The issue I have with the loaner is the limit to 200 miles per day. I go skiing every weekend and the round trip is just over 200 miles. My R1S is in for an undiagnosed suspension fault going on 3 weeks now. Can’t image the frustration for you all that have been in loaners for months.

 

[Chewy734]

My first time at the SC took two months. It was to fix a dent in the liftgate trim that was present at delivery, among other smaller things. They ended up replacing the entire liftgate and repainting it. It turned out good. During that time I was offered an Enterprise loaner, but I declined since we had two other cars in our household. Of course I wasn’t expecting it to take 2 months when I declined the rental though!

My second time they had to replace the rear drive unit. That took a month! This time I got a giant, smelly Wagoneer as the rental. It sucked driving it, and Enterprise had no other 3 row vehicles available the entire time my R1S was in the shop.

So, basically my truck was at the SC for 3 total months, while I continued to pay for it, and it really only required maybe 2 weeks of actual work. The rest of the time it was parked outside waiting in queue.

 

[Chewy734]

Oh yeah, and I forgot to add that I have to take it in again next month to fix a dent they added during my last appointment.

 

[Benatar]

I got a call from the SC today. Still trying to diagnose my suspension problem. Sounds like it is a hydraulic leak that they cannot find. They keep replacing parts and then waiting to see if the problem is gone. Unknown on how long until it is fixed, at least another week. I at least got them to fix some panel gaps while it is there.

I did ask about use of my loaner and the 200 mile daily limit and was told if I need to make an occasional longer trip, that is fine. Just try to not drive in hundreds of miles every day. I wish my loaner had roof rails, that would make life easier.

Rivian needs to work out these long service appointments. They are burning money on these problems. Difficult to diagnose errors and putting people in rentals and loaners for months adds up. The 1 week I had a car from Enterprise, the cost of that rental was $800. I needed an AWD and the only thing Enterprise had was a giant Ford Expedition. The Enterprise guy said Rivian always approves vehicle upgrades because they know their customers want trucks, or an EV, or an AWD vehicle while their cars are in service. Overall this seems good for Enterprise and bad for Rivian.

 

[Jomoflymo]

So just by way of an update, its not a good one. Essentially Rivian offered us a buy back and we accepted. 64 days had passed without our vehicle and they were unable to resolve the suspension clunking issues we had. They replaced :

Front Subframes
Wheel bearings
Front half shafts
shaft insulation sleeves

So the vehicle is gone, and we were offered the chance to buy another one using our preorder pricing however a number of options are not available such as Meridan and 12v in front. Also there were no options available in green or blue as we wanted so we have had to part ways which is leaving me with a bunch or accessories that will no doubt show up in the classifieds section.

We love Rivian and will no doubt order the R2 and it breaks our hearts a little that this is how we ended up but it couldn't go on any longer. I know others have mentioned it but I do believe that the quad motor has a fundamental design flaw with its hollow half shafts in such a high torque situation and the weird angles put on it by the high clearance suspension. I personally think the quad motor will be discontinued soon. Anyway just wanted to draw a line under this, the paperwork is signed the truck is gone and we are just waiting on the check.

However we will be back

 

[Hillbilly]

I wanted to post to talk about my service experience i hopes that others could maybe shed some light on this or maybe just even sympathize I suppose. We have 2023 R1T which we go in March of 2023. Love the truck but the passenger door was poorly aligned from new and so rubbed the paint off the door as it hit the quaterpanel. We made appt to take in and have it fixed along with a clonking from suspension in May 2023. They had truck for a couple of weeks and supposedly fixed both issues. However door was poorly painted and clicking from wheels came right back after half shafts were repaired. So I made an appt to take it back in, howver this was September 2023 and they couldn't get us in until December. I took the truck in December 7 and its still there. We have had a loaner from them this whole time and they just called yesterday to tell us that they needed to switch the loaner because a month is the longest they can let one out. So tomorrow they are delivering a different loaner.

The service center in Gaithersburg MD tells us that they have the engineering team looking at the suspension noise and wind noise from the poorly aligned door and they are replacing things (wont tell us what) but that they have not been able to make the noises disappear. Have others had this issue ? I am almost wondering at this point if we ask them to simply swap out the vehicle as they cannot fix the issue and of the 9 months I have owned the car it has been with them for almost 4 for these issues and other things like center consoles material tearing.

So long as they give you loaners, it keeps mileage off your car which is great. Frankly, I'd be happy if my car spent 3 years in the shop and by the time it was fixed I got a working car with no appreciable miles on it (I've had mine in the shop for maybe a couple weeks since getting it in May of 2023 and have over 25k miles on mine already).

 

[Jomoflymo]

I was not happy. The vehicles we had did not have the options I wanted and I couldn't use them to tow our camper or listen to Spotify or access with phone or any of that.

 

[Riv893628]

I have a suspension "issue" on my R1S, when going over any sort of bumps at lower speeds it sounds like a clunk/hollow sound. I have never driven a vehicle with air suspension before so I chalked it up to that until this past week when I had the car in for service and they gave me a loaner R1S and I didn't hear it at all. I had them take a look and I explained what I heard and that I didn't hear it at all in the loaner. They said they drove it with multiple tech and couldn't reproduce it. Maybe I'm just hyper sensitive to it and they aren't, i'm not sure but it's definitely different sounding. In any case, I saw your post and was curious if you had more info on what you were experiencing. It looks like they did a lot and it was still an issue for you which is definitely concerning. Thanks

 

[Taco Corp]

Whoops... I've hauled the dog around in a couple of Enterprise loaners. Not that far just to the vet and back but still good to know.

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