[Resolved again!] Why am I doing this to myself - long time Rivian customer close to giving up.

[portdirect]

It sucks they couldn't do the alignment. I'm glad the rest of it is ironed out.

Just back home - left here at 6am in a loaner and back now at 3:30 in the same R1T. It’s kinda comical at this point - got an update that the alignment is fine, but it had been aligned with the steering wheel off center… they also offered to look into driving the truck down to STL once they have done the alignment again to save another lost day.

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[Donald Stanfield]

Just back home - left here at 6am in a loaner and back now at 3:30 in the same R1T. It’s kinda comical at this point - got an update that the alignment is fine, but it had been aligned with the steering wheel off center… they also offered to look into driving the truck down to STL once they have done the alignment again to save another lost day.

Hopefully they can deliver it for the inconvienance.

 

[portdirect]

I decided to drive up to Normal today—even though they offered to deliver the truck tomorrow. Based on past experiences, I was reluctant to have the truck delivered without the opportunity to inspect it firsthand. I’m glad I made the trip—not because I discovered new issues in Normal, but because I had the chance to drive it back:

• Quiet Ride: Apart from some wind noise which really kicks in around 65'ish, the truck was remarkably quiet. The wind noise itself is inline with all the other R1Ts I've driven have been (regardless of generation). The AC is quiter than gen1. The motors are super quiet.
• Efficiency: I made it back to STL with 24% battery left, after HOOFING it down from Normal - I'm finally impressed with the range!
• Performance Upgrade: I experienced, for the first time, the performance of a Gen2 tri-motor setup. It’s a significant improvement in refinement over the Gen1 model—a difference I had previously questioned. The region though still softer than a gen1, actually is noticeable now - and I was not constantly on the brake at traffic lights etc.
• ADAS Calibration: With a properly calibrated ADAS system, I was truly impressed. Back-to-back with a gen1 on the same >150 mile midwest interstate route, it's a massive step up - my wife will be jealous.

Had this been the truck I received in December, I doubt you would have endured the extended saga to get here. In full disclosure, I did need to reset the truck once on the return trip: After a while it displayed only the lead car and flashed “adaptive cruise control disabled – system fault detected” for a second. For now, I’m attributing this to a minor glitch as the new AXM2 module settled in. I’ll also need to return to have our other key card re-paired if they can’t do it remotely.

The team in Normal has been fantastic. The detailed invoice notes, which outline all the work performed—including remedial efforts on previous issues—have significantly restored my faith in the process. They were very apologetic about Saturday; sometimes, though, things just happen.

Now, it’s time to put some miles on this truck. Throughout this I was holding on just as having had other R1s I knew what I was going through was not normal, and it looks like everything is back on track now. Hopefully this is the last (or 2nd to last) post I add to this thread - and start a new one on a much more positive tone, or just go hang out in the Wind Noise thread, now it's hopefully my biggest concern

 

[DayTripping]

I just read through this saga and can feel the pain. Hopefully they got it all fixed finally for you. Honestly, you shouldn't have had to go through even 1/10th of what you did. It is great that they finally took care of it, but this is more of a glass-half-empty story to me. There were just way too many things wrong and their QC might even be worse than what I've dealt with for my truck.

I'm sorry to hear wind noise is still an issue. That is my biggest complaint about my G1 R1T. I've now spent almost 15 hours fiddling with weatherstripping, tubing, and seals to try to suppress the noise their shoddy QC likely caused in the first place. That doesn't even remotely include the hours I searched for solutions as a basis to start.

In my almost 7 months of Rivian ownership, I've learned when they get it right, it is pretty damn good, when they fail, it is pretty damn bad. Anyway hope you have many happy miles now that you got your truck back!

 

[michaelcasto]

Edit: see this post for an update: In summary - things are looking much better!

I’ve been a Rivian fan from the start. We jumped in early 2023 with a Gen1 quad R1T (in the best color, Compass Yellow), and that truck was initially rock-solid for us. Because of that fantastic experience, we bought a Gen1 R1S, which has been nearly problem-free aside from a spate of random openings of the frunk that mobile service quickly fixed. Now I’m on my second R1T, and I’m honestly questioning my sanity sticking with this brand. My experience with Rivian’s quality control—especially on the service side—has been one headache after another.

Bingo: The First R1T, the Falling Lift, and the Never-Ending Repair Ordeal
My first R1T, nicknamed “Bingo,” was delivered back in 2023. It was almost perfect except for one glaring issue: a paint defect spotted the moment I picked it up from the factory in Normal, IL. I nearly rejected delivery, but given the train ride out there (and Rivian’s assurance it would be a simple fix I could handle later), I went ahead and drove it home. That “simple fix” turned into a months-long nightmare.

The “Fell Off the Lift” Saga

• June 2024: I dropped Bingo off for a rear paint repair, after having waited for the SC in St Louis to open and them to have collision centers in the area. The service center and local Rivian-certified body shops said the entire panel needed repainting.
• July 12, 2024: I’m expecting a routine update. Instead, I get a call: “Your truck fell off the lift during final inspection, but don’t worry, we’ll fix it.” Alarms went off in my head.
• Conflicting Updates: The collision center called daily for almost a week with odd reports—a minor scratch during reassembly, waiting on parts, repainting and “baking” for 48 hours. The whole thing felt unsettling and far from the simple fix Rivian had promised.

Trim Troubles, Deleted Gear Guard, and More

• Immediate Damage: When I finally picked up Bingo from the Rivian SC; the truck was dirty (it looked like it has been used to move car parts based of the mud and grease in the bed), the tailgate trim was torn, the spoiler was off-kilter, and the “full panel repaint” was actually a spot blend.
• Vanished Footage: Gear Guard footage over the bed disappeared. The service center guessed it was due to spoiler removal while it sat outside.
• Multiple Return Visits: After each fix, new issues popped up—misaligned trim, more snapped clips, mismatched paint. They replaced everything from A-pillar and B-pillar trim to the spoiler and bed trim.

Second Collision Center & Multiple Repaints

• Paint Fails Again: By August, the new paint started wrinkling and cracking. The seam sealer didn’t bond right.
• Switching Shops: Rivian arranged a different collision center, but that turned into weeks of repeated re-sprays, poor inspections, and fresh problems like cracked headliners, exposed conductors and incomplete repairs.

The Buyback Decision
Rivian did a full buyback and threw in a $10k goodwill credit for a new truck. By then, I was exhausted—for 6 months Bingo spent more time in shops than in my driveway, and each pickup felt like rolling the dice on what might still be broken - as I was doing Rivian's QC for them - they had actually paid the 2nd service center $10K in labor alone for work that was not performed, and missed this until we pointed it out to them. Before anyone calls BS on this, it was a large part of the reason Rivian offered buyback including all incurred costs and the discount on a gen2 without needing to even call a lawyer.

Muffin: The “Press-Level” Gen2 Tri-Motor R1T That Couldn’t Drive Past 4 MPH
Enter R1T #2, nicknamed “Muffin,” which I picked up on December 13, 2024. Based on our saga to date Rivian promised a “press-level” inspection—essentially the same scrutiny they’d give a vehicle destined for a big-name automotive review - which actually pushed our delivery back by over a week to 'give them time to get it perfect'. I was hopeful, but that optimism vanished almost immediately.

Day One (and Then Some) Disappointments

1. Gear Tunnel Door Misalignment
   • Right at delivery, the driver-side gear-tunnel door felt off. The sales guy brushed my wife off, calling it “normal for Gen2.” and tried to explain to her how the gear tunnel doors worked as though she had never used one before. We were unconvinced, but just wanted to get back on the road so accepted delivery.
   • As soon as we actually tried to drive, the truck threw an error about the gear tunnel door needing service, and capped speed at 4 mph.
   • The service center realigned the door and adjusted the sensor, which took 30 mins —only then could I actually go faster than walking speed.
2. Window Calibration Issues
   • Both passenger-side windows wouldn’t fully close, after opening - bouncing up and down several times before stopping with an inch or two too go.
   • Standard recalibration from the owner’s manual did nothing; the tech finally had to hook up a laptop via the OBD2 port.
   • Again, day-one stuff that should’ve been caught pre-delivery and another additional 30 mins at the SC whist they fixed it before we could go home.
3. Steering Wheel Defect
   • The original steering wheel had leather peeling away. Rivian replaced it via a mobile service visit a few days later
   • Yet again, day-one stuff that should’ve been caught pre-delivery.

All of these issues were reported before we had even driven off the lot - with hindsight we should have rejected delivery on the spot, but naively thought "this cant get any worse can it?" Well it could:

1. Rattle From Passenger-Side Doors
   • At lower speeds, when driving home, we heard an annoying rattle on the passenger side. Initially thought it was the front door.
   • Mobile Service discovered it was actually the rear door trim contacting an internal component. They adjusted it, and the rattle stopped—at least for a while.
2. Door Contact and Paint Damage
   • We missed this at pick up but *both* yes *both* front doors were actually hitting the rear doors whenever we closed them, chipping the paint on both.
   • A later service appointment realigned the doors on both sides and touched up the chipped paint. It’s better now, but it’s another example of baffling day-one misalignment.
3. Intermittent Front Camera Disconnect
   • The first time it happened, I was in the middle of an automatic lane change at 70 mph on Highway Assist. Suddenly, the camera cut out and the truck dumped me out of assist, mid-lane-change.
   • It’s happened multiple times since, including once when a Rivian service staffer was riding along. They claimed they’d “never seen this on a Gen2 before.” Great to be the first, I guess.
4. Morning Startup Failures
   • On several occasions, I’ve gone to drive the truck after it’s been sitting overnight, only to find it won’t shift into Drive. The screen basically demands a full reset before letting me go anywhere.
   • It’s incredibly frustrating and has happened enough times to be a real concern.
5. Inconsistent Braking
   • Sometimes tapping the brake pedal triggers a near full-stop—like the brake booster is going haywire. It’s almost digital: on or off.
6. Creaks and Rattles (Again)
   • The passenger-side door is back to creaking, and now the dashboard rattles when driving on the highway. Though of course it went silent (after driving me crazy the whole way to the SC) when doing a test drive with the SC staff - though at least they were able to witness the other issues, and I was able to get video recordings of it occurring for them.

Hardly Driven, Constant Resets
The worst part? Muffin barely has any miles on it. For Two weeks after delivery, I was out of the country, and then another three weeks went by for PPF and ceramic coating. In the short windows I’ve actually driven it, I haven’t made it more than 100 miles without needing some kind of reset—sometimes a quick reboot, sometimes a full hard reset. On multiple occasions when trying to put the truck into drive the infotainment screen literally says 'Reset Software Shift to Park. Then Press both buttons for 15 seconds' - something the service center says they were "unaware a gen2 could even do that" - it does not let me drive until that procedure has been done. I'm not even going to go into the L2 charging issues with these Max Packs and the Midwest weather here. Right now its' back in service again, and the SC has warned me that it may be several weeks this time - as worse case they will need to replace the wiring harness.

Why I’m (Still) Here (For now)

• R1 is a Rock Star: “Bluey,” our Gen1 R1S, runs flawlessly. That’s what stings the most: Rivian can build a great product; I’ve seen it first-hand.
• Brand Loyalty—Or Naivety?: I’ve always loved Rivian’s adventure-vehicle vision. I want them to succeed.
• They Tried: The buyback for Bingo and $10k credit showed good faith. But it doesn’t erase the fact that I’m on a second truck with a laundry list of issues.

Where to go from here?
I’m tired of feeling like a perpetual beta tester for build consistency and service quality. One R1T fiasco might be “bad luck,” but two? It’s fair to question if Rivian’s R1T program has deeper quality-control issues. I’m telling this story because I still believe in Rivian’s potential. If you’ve run into similar problems—or found a magic fix—I’d love to hear about it - I'm considering engaging investor relations and senior leadership at this point. I see what they did right with the R1, and I want to hope they can replicate that across the board. But after Bingo’s endless repairs and Muffin’s immediate meltdown, my patience is on thin ice. If you have success stories, I need to hear them—because right now, I’m close to giving up on the R1T altogether, no matter how cool it looks and awesome it is to drive (when it runs). Let me know if you’ve got advice, or if I’m just hurting myself by trying to stay loyal.

@Donald Stanfield this post is for you would love some of your fan-boi snark or words of encouragement - I really want to love this truck again.

Edit: S(p)elling

This comes across like a professional author that Tesla hired to complain about a ghost vehicle that never existed. To give up on a company because an idiot dropped it off a lift while painting is strange. And why is it on a lift to paint? Did they want to clear coat spray the underside. Two face slaps on the same reply.

 

[portdirect]

This comes across like a professional author that Tesla hired to complain about a ghost vehicle that never existed. To give up on a company because an idiot dropped it off a lift while painting is strange. And why is it on a lift to paint? Did they want to clear coat spray the underside. Two face slaps on the same reply.

LOL - It was on a lift to do the final inspection apparently. I think you are missing the timescales involved, and litany of errors - hence the exasperation.

The ghost 'bingo':

And 'muffin' earlier this year:

Thankfully since its trip to Normal - Muffin has been great - the team up there did a fantastic job. Thanks for the complement on writing!

 

[woodcan]

I decided to drive up to Normal today—even though they offered to deliver the truck tomorrow. Based on past experiences, I was reluctant to have the truck delivered without the opportunity to inspect it firsthand. I’m glad I made the trip—not because I discovered new issues in Normal, but because I had the chance to drive it back:

• Quiet Ride: Apart from some wind noise which really kicks in around 65'ish, the truck was remarkably quiet. The wind noise itself is inline with all the other R1Ts I've driven have been (regardless of generation). The AC is quiter than gen1. The motors are super quiet.
• Efficiency: I made it back to STL with 24% battery left, after HOOFING it down from Normal - I'm finally impressed with the range!
• Performance Upgrade: I experienced, for the first time, the performance of a Gen2 tri-motor setup. It’s a significant improvement in refinement over the Gen1 model—a difference I had previously questioned. The region though still softer than a gen1, actually is noticeable now - and I was not constantly on the brake at traffic lights etc.
• ADAS Calibration: With a properly calibrated ADAS system, I was truly impressed. Back-to-back with a gen1 on the same >150 mile midwest interstate route, it's a massive step up - my wife will be jealous.

Had this been the truck I received in December, I doubt you would have endured the extended saga to get here. In full disclosure, I did need to reset the truck once on the return trip: After a while it displayed only the lead car and flashed “adaptive cruise control disabled – system fault detected” for a second. For now, I’m attributing this to a minor glitch as the new AXM2 module settled in. I’ll also need to return to have our other key card re-paired if they can’t do it remotely.

The team in Normal has been fantastic. The detailed invoice notes, which outline all the work performed—including remedial efforts on previous issues—have significantly restored my faith in the process. They were very apologetic about Saturday; sometimes, though, things just happen.

Now, it’s time to put some miles on this truck. Throughout this I was holding on just as having had other R1s I knew what I was going through was not normal, and it looks like everything is back on track now. Hopefully this is the last (or 2nd to last) post I add to this thread - and start a new one on a much more positive tone, or just go hang out in the Wind Noise thread, now it's hopefully my biggest concern

I'm so glad to hear this but concerned you had to go to the mothership for resolution as that is not an option for most people including myself.
I have been following along your story since I started the journey of buying our own Rivian and it gave me pause but the many anecdotes of yours being a one-off rare situation I felt confident making a purchase. Well, I have hit every single issue branch on the way down so far. The latest is after taking delivery of a dirty car when I got to hand wash it at home I noticed numerous paint issues. Issues I would have declined delivery over but that ship has sailed whether intended with the dirty vehicle to cover them up or not. There were other issues I figure they shouldn't have a problem resolving but paint is another story as you have first-hand experience. I dropped off my 1 week old R1S today with Rivian's plans to have a certified body shop repaint a quarter panel, liftgate, buff the rest of the vehicle, and Rivian to replace the roof glass. Not at all the stress we were expecting from this process after many issues on delivery day already and the constant reminder of what we shelled out for this vehicle. I'm not sure you have anyone to talk to besides regular customer service at Rivian that you can pass my info on to before this spirals.

 

[DayTripping]

I'm so glad to hear this but concerned you had to go to the mothership for resolution as that is not an option for most people including myself.
I have been following along your story since I started the journey of buying our own Rivian and it gave me pause but the many anecdotes of yours being a one-off rare situation I felt confident making a purchase. Well, I have hit every single issue branch on the way down so far. The latest is after taking delivery of a dirty car when I got to hand wash it at home I noticed numerous paint issues. Issues I would have declined delivery over but that ship has sailed whether intended with the dirty vehicle to cover them up or not. There were other issues I figure they shouldn't have a problem resolving but paint is another story as you have first-hand experience. I dropped off my 1 week old R1S today with Rivian's plans to have a certified body shop repaint a quarter panel, liftgate, buff the rest of the vehicle, and Rivian to replace the roof glass. Not at all the stress we were expecting from this process after many issues on delivery day already and the constant reminder of what we shelled out for this vehicle. I'm not sure you have anyone to talk to besides regular customer service at Rivian that you can pass my info on to before this spirals.

Sorry to hear about that. I hope Rivian isn't like Tesla where when they fix one thing, they make something worse.

I had an issue where there was a contact issue where paint was being transferred from one panel to another. I absolutely stopped driving it until it could be fixed. The car was literally dropped off this way and they said drive it until they could get it in to fix it. If I had done that, it would have required repainting several panels.

That most likely would have spiraled into have most of the car repainted. Instead the car set in my driveway for a month for until they could get it in and adjust my brand new car with 5 miles on it. Thankfully that was the only issue I had and it was clear sailing from then on. The best thing I did was just wait it out. I'd heard too many horror stories where a minor issue just snowballed into something major during each stop of the repair process.

In all fairness, my Telsas have had fewer issues collectively (all 5 of them) than my one Rivian. Still love my Rivian, but I am not blind to its issues.

 

[woodcan]

Sorry to hear about that. I hope Rivian isn't like Tesla where when they fix one thing, they make something worse.

I had an issue where there was a contact issue where paint was being transferred from one panel to another. I absolutely stopped driving it until it could be fixed. The car was literally dropped off this way and they said drive it until they could get it in to fix it. If I had done that, it would have required repainting several panels.

That most likely would have spiraled into have most of the car repainted. Instead the car set in my driveway for a month for until they could get it in and adjust my brand new car with 5 miles on it. Thankfully that was the only issue I had and it was clear sailing from then on. The best thing I did was just wait it out. I'd heard too many horror stories where a minor issue just snowballed into something major during each stop of the repair process.

In all fairness, my Telsas have had fewer issues collectively (all 5 of them) than my one Rivian. Still love my Rivian, but I am not blind to its issues.

I literally drove my Rivian straight home on delivery day, around the block to show the family the next day (Easter Sunday), backed out of the garage to wash it this past Sunday (when I found the car covered in baked rust spots hidden under the dirt given to me on delivery day) and then to the service center this past Monday. Less than 100 miles. I am disappointed in the whole process from start to finish and feel like an ass for thinking all those people with Rivian delivery day issues were blowing things out of proportion. I wasn't going to be a Karen and demand they wash the car before I took delivery but now wish I had. I am thankful in the handful of miles I put on the car I didn't experience any mechanical issues but this is far from the experience I dreamed of and have not been contacted by anyone to even talk through these issues other than the service center drop-off guy telling me the delivery team should have detailed my car before giving it to me like every other single car they deliver but I'm SOL now because I accepted it. Had I seen the rust spots covering the car on top of the other paint defects and other issues I did notice I would have absolutely declined delivery.

 

[portdirect]

Sigh. It’s like it heard me telling people how Rivian had fixed everything.

 

[DayTripping]

On the plus side, won't being stuck in Conserve mode help your efficiency? Sorry to hear about your continuing saga.

Every day I am thinking I might have made the right choice by going with a Gen 1 rather than a Gen 2 fresh out of the gate.

 

[portdirect]

On the plus side, won't being stuck in Conserve mode help your efficiency? Sorry to hear about your continuing saga.

Every day I am thinking I might have made the right choice by going with a Gen 1 rather than a Gen 2 fresh out of the gate.

I almost made it 500 miles without a service center appointment this time! That’s over 5x better than it’s been to date at least. Looks like something is up with the rear motors or inverter - they are not lighting up at all - so it’s like a gen1 in conserve now, and it seems all adas is disabled.

Dude, what I’d give to get a gen1 back - just hit 14k miles on our Gen1 R1S with only a single mobile service so far (well two if you count the torque check they did last week).

 

[Mellowyellow]

Dude, turtle mode? Nooooooooooooooo

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Not again. You must have angered the Rivian gods or something to get dumped on this badly. My Gen 2 has 10K on it, trouble-free and counting.

 

[portdirect]

After a hard reset (soft reset did nothing earlier) and sitting on the driveway for an hour, it seems to be working again - but I’m spooked; just when I thought this was all over and was starting to plan a road trip/picking out a roof top tent.

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