Rivian Air Suspension concerns?

[SoCal Rob]

Two different LR dealers and one British independent. (I won’t rehash the earlier posts, but air suspension diagnostics are done by installing new parts and “and seeing if that worked”). Fingers crossed for the R1’s!!

That takes me back to the Rivian compressor overheat message being a good thing. If Rivian is providing that kind of messaging to the driver then I think it is highly likely they are providing more detailed diagnostics to techs.

I know that Land Rover provides more detailed air suspension diagnostics to techs. I have a Land Rover-specific code reader so on the occasion that I had an issue with a valve block and I took the vehicle into the dealer, told my service writer the symptoms and the code I saw, and the vehicle was fixed on the first attempt.

I think being able to provide codes as a customer lets the dealer/shop know via the service writer that if you come back with, “Golly, these new-fangled systems are so complex that it makes them EXTRA hard to diagnose!” that the customer probably isn’t going to buy that. Not that there are ever any shenanigans in the car repair business. I have no problem politely questioning their explanations if they sound bogus and, if I’m paying for parts, I ask for the old parts back. Partially just curiosity and partially verification.

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[opnwide]

This thought process always surprises me. I can see replacing a vehicle when you lose faith in it, you tire of it, or your use case changes. Even if you just want the new vehicle but never really understood getting rid of it because the warrenty ran out.

Let’s say after tax and license you end up paying 85k for a Rivian, it has a 5 year warrenty if you drive less than 12k a year. Spread that cost out over 5 years and it is 1,417 dollars a month, let’s say you trade in the current vehicle and only pay half, that is 708 dollars a month. Unless over the next 5 years with the current vehicle you are paying more than that much a month in repairs you are losing money getting a new vehicle with a warrenty.

Example if you are in the 708 a month rate and the only repair was 3200 for the air suspension for the entire year you save 5200 for that year (708 x 12) -3200.

I agree. I certainly would like to keep a vehicle 6-8 years personally. It's easy for folks to say "I'll just get rid of it after 5 years". But in 5 years when a new RIV is $95-100k, you might just try to eek out another 2-3 years, and I'd certainly hope I can do that without $10k-20k extra in that time frame.

 

[SoCal Rob]

LR dealers are pretty bad. Still better than non-luxury brands from my experience, but still bad. I've never had a 'good' dealer experience.

I have had good experiences and bad experiences… some with the same dealer or shop. I really hope that Rivian will provide a consistently good experience.

 

[SoCal Rob]

This thought process always surprises me. I can see replacing a vehicle when you lose faith in it, you tire of it, or your use case changes. Even if you just want the new vehicle but never really understood getting rid of it because the warrenty ran out.

Let’s say after tax and license you end up paying 85k for a Rivian, it has a 5 year warrenty if you drive less than 12k a year. Spread that cost out over 5 years and it is 1,417 dollars a month, let’s say you trade in the current vehicle and only pay half, that is 708 dollars a month. Unless over the next 5 years with the current vehicle you are paying more than that much a month in repairs you are losing money getting a new vehicle with a warrenty.

Example if you are in the 708 a month rate and the only repair was 3200 for the air suspension for the entire year you save 5200 for that year (708 x 12) -3200.

To be fair, I think there are a LOT of people who value the expected higher reliability of a new vehicle over the possibility of being stranded and the fixed monthly payment cost over hard-to-budget repair costs.

edit: typo

 

[PoorDick]

Driving the truck for only the second time yesterday. She had been sitting in a parking lot for about 5 hours while I played golf in 50-degree temperatures. Going about 30mph down a normal street, received the “Ride height change not possible due to overheated air compressor” error on the dashboard screen. I was not attempting to change it, just driving down the road. Almost immediately the back end started bouncing like a spring-loaded Jack-in-the-box without a bump in sight.
I pulled over and tried to adjust the height from “conserve” to “all-purpose,” and the error then said, “To change ride height service air compressor” and two error 'codes' were showing on the left side of the drivers screen.
“Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)” is turned off or malfunctioning
“System Failure” One or more system failures
Made it home and was told via online chat to attempt a sleep cycle to see if that fixed the problem.
I let her sit in the garage for about an hour, locked. Upon unlocking, I immediately heard the air compressor attempting to do something, but once I sat down and put my foot on the brake I had the same errors.
This morning was the same result, and when I tried to drive around the block had to hold my coffee tight so it wouldn’t spill. The bouncing backend got really old really fast.
Now I’m waiting 24-48 hours to hear if they can send out the mobile tech unit (I’m two mountain passes and 130 miles away) or if they’ll need to come tow her back to Denver.
On the positive side, both service people I talked to (one online chat and the other live on the phone this morning) were very helpful and responsive, and both were aware of the issue, meaning I’m not the first.
Good thing I haven’t sold my 2019 Chevy Colorado yet…

 

[ironpig]

Driving the truck for only the second time yesterday. She had been sitting in a parking lot for about 5 hours while I played golf in 50-degree temperatures. Going about 30mph down a normal street, received the “Ride height change not possible due to overheated air compressor” error on the dashboard screen. I was not attempting to change it, just driving down the road. Almost immediately the back end started bouncing like a spring-loaded Jack-in-the-box without a bump in sight.
I pulled over and tried to adjust the height from “conserve” to “all-purpose,” and the error then said, “To change ride height service air compressor” and two error 'codes' were showing on the left side of the drivers screen.
“Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)” is turned off or malfunctioning
“System Failure” One or more system failures
Made it home and was told via online chat to attempt a sleep cycle to see if that fixed the problem.
I let her sit in the garage for about an hour, locked. Upon unlocking, I immediately heard the air compressor attempting to do something, but once I sat down and put my foot on the brake I had the same errors.
This morning was the same result, and when I tried to drive around the block had to hold my coffee tight so it wouldn’t spill. The bouncing backend got really old really fast.
Now I’m waiting 24-48 hours to hear if they can send out the mobile tech unit (I’m two mountain passes and 130 miles away) or if they’ll need to come tow her back to Denver.
On the positive side, both service people I talked to (one online chat and the other live on the phone this morning) were very helpful and responsive, and both were aware of the issue, meaning I’m not the first.
Good thing I haven’t sold my 2019 Chevy Colorado yet…

That stinks but is sadly part of the early adopter blues. I went through it with my early Model S. Glad you have another car to keep you rolling. I am not planning to rely on the Rivian as my only vehicle as I expect it to be in the shop from time to time being a first gen new ev product.

 

[KurtP]

Driving the truck for only the second time yesterday. She had been sitting in a parking lot for about 5 hours while I played golf in 50-degree temperatures. Going about 30mph down a normal street, received the “Ride height change not possible due to overheated air compressor” error on the dashboard screen. I was not attempting to change it, just driving down the road. Almost immediately the back end started bouncing like a spring-loaded Jack-in-the-box without a bump in sight.
I pulled over and tried to adjust the height from “conserve” to “all-purpose,” and the error then said, “To change ride height service air compressor” and two error 'codes' were showing on the left side of the drivers screen.
“Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)” is turned off or malfunctioning
“System Failure” One or more system failures
Made it home and was told via online chat to attempt a sleep cycle to see if that fixed the problem.
I let her sit in the garage for about an hour, locked. Upon unlocking, I immediately heard the air compressor attempting to do something, but once I sat down and put my foot on the brake I had the same errors.
This morning was the same result, and when I tried to drive around the block had to hold my coffee tight so it wouldn’t spill. The bouncing backend got really old really fast.
Now I’m waiting 24-48 hours to hear if they can send out the mobile tech unit (I’m two mountain passes and 130 miles away) or if they’ll need to come tow her back to Denver.
On the positive side, both service people I talked to (one online chat and the other live on the phone this morning) were very helpful and responsive, and both were aware of the issue, meaning I’m not the first.
Good thing I haven’t sold my 2019 Chevy Colorado yet…

I really hope you report and tenaciously follow up with Rivian on this issue.
If there is a suspension issue so early, then I would hope they are working on addressing this in the short-term.

 

[PAFDenver]

I think it's a roll of the dice. Before buying my Model S I talked to an employee at Tesla's store and he said he was so concerned that he was buying the model without air suspension. I stuck with the air suspension and 9 years in there's no issues with it.
There also was a team at the Rebelle Rally for 2 years running the R1T that blew out one air shock this year. It's up to you whether you see that as a vote for or against the system. Yes, it failed. But it failed once during a rally race.
The technology isn't new so I don't see any reason why the tech would be inherently unreliable. It comes down to the individual design and parts used and we won't know about that for years.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Driving the truck for only the second time yesterday. She had been sitting in a parking lot for about 5 hours while I played golf in 50-degree temperatures. Going about 30mph down a normal street, received the “Ride height change not possible due to overheated air compressor” error on the dashboard screen. I was not attempting to change it, just driving down the road. Almost immediately the back end started bouncing like a spring-loaded Jack-in-the-box without a bump in sight.
I pulled over and tried to adjust the height from “conserve” to “all-purpose,” and the error then said, “To change ride height service air compressor” and two error 'codes' were showing on the left side of the drivers screen.
“Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)” is turned off or malfunctioning
“System Failure” One or more system failures
Made it home and was told via online chat to attempt a sleep cycle to see if that fixed the problem.
I let her sit in the garage for about an hour, locked. Upon unlocking, I immediately heard the air compressor attempting to do something, but once I sat down and put my foot on the brake I had the same errors.
This morning was the same result, and when I tried to drive around the block had to hold my coffee tight so it wouldn’t spill. The bouncing backend got really old really fast.
Now I’m waiting 24-48 hours to hear if they can send out the mobile tech unit (I’m two mountain passes and 130 miles away) or if they’ll need to come tow her back to Denver.
On the positive side, both service people I talked to (one online chat and the other live on the phone this morning) were very helpful and responsive, and both were aware of the issue, meaning I’m not the first.
Good thing I haven’t sold my 2019 Chevy Colorado yet…

This sounds like a leak or valve issue to me. Assuming it’s like what Land Rover is doing, I think there isn’t enough air pressure to inflate one or more air springs and the vehicle was running the compressor to build pressure. Either it was leaking out faster than the compressor could pump or the air was prevented from reaching the corners which were too low.

The compressor isn’t meant to run continuously so eventually it shuts down to protect itself from overheating and causing expensive damage.

The severe bounce would probably be from whichever corners were deflated so the vehicle was sitting on the bump stops with nothing to act as a spring.

 

[zefram47]

The list of changes for some upcoming software update indicated an issue with ride height sensors that was being improved/fixed. I wonder if this could be a symptom of that issue. Is the truck sitting noticeably high or low from what you expect? I could also see the rear being bouncy if it set it too high in addition to if it was too low and bouncing off the bump stops.

 

[PoorDick]

The list of changes for some upcoming software update indicated an issue with ride height sensors that was being improved/fixed. I wonder if this could be a symptom of that issue. Is the truck sitting noticeably high or low from what you expect? I could also see the rear being bouncy if it set it too high in addition to if it was too low and bouncing off the bump stops.

It's sitting noticeably low although the current setting is "Conserve" and "standard."

 

[the long way downunder]

Air suspension can't be compared from one marque to another or from one generation of vehicle to another. The suspension of the R1 is one of its strengths. As for durability, who can say, but the components and technology are not unorthodox or unknown. I'd be more worried about the expensive things that fail in a Tesla (computers, touchscreen, cooling.)

footnote: Having been an avid Range Rover driver for a couple decades, my opinion is that complaints about the Rangie suspension (until then end of the 3rd gen in 2001) are a combination of poor maintenance, high mileage and off-road extremes. If the bags are replaced (inexpensive and done in the driveway with hand tools) as they age, there's no problem. Swapping to coil springs is a bit of a racket. Paying "experts" to replace airbags at dealer parts and labor prices is a racket.​

Maintaining the vehicle results in reliable motoring. People like me with decades of trouble-free off-road driving tend to be silent on the Land Rover forums which are full of people who've come to the forums because of their suspension problem and their concerns are echoed by the people selling the parts and services to profit from those problems.​

 

[the long way downunder]

The thing I noticed this week is how the suspension seems to be to put to work needlessly lowering and raising when driving at 50+ mph between traffic lights … it seems to be a lot of needless cycling from lowest to normal.

 

[godfodder0901]

The thing I noticed this week is how the suspension seems to be to put to work needlessly lowering and raising when driving at 50+ mph between traffic lights … it seems to be a lot of needless cycling from lowest to normal.

This times 100. It does seem like it applies some logic to this and not just 50mph = low. It does seem to be just long enough for me to have it cycle 3-4 times on my 10 mile drive home...

 

[rpmtexas]

Driving the truck for only the second time yesterday. She had been sitting in a parking lot for about 5 hours while I played golf in 50-degree temperatures. Going about 30mph down a normal street, received the “Ride height change not possible due to overheated air compressor” error on the dashboard screen. I was not attempting to change it, just driving down the road. Almost immediately the back end started bouncing like a spring-loaded Jack-in-the-box without a bump in sight.
I pulled over and tried to adjust the height from “conserve” to “all-purpose,” and the error then said, “To change ride height service air compressor” and two error 'codes' were showing on the left side of the drivers screen.
“Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)” is turned off or malfunctioning
“System Failure” One or more system failures
Made it home and was told via online chat to attempt a sleep cycle to see if that fixed the problem.
I let her sit in the garage for about an hour, locked. Upon unlocking, I immediately heard the air compressor attempting to do something, but once I sat down and put my foot on the brake I had the same errors.
This morning was the same result, and when I tried to drive around the block had to hold my coffee tight so it wouldn’t spill. The bouncing backend got really old really fast.
Now I’m waiting 24-48 hours to hear if they can send out the mobile tech unit (I’m two mountain passes and 130 miles away) or if they’ll need to come tow her back to Denver.
On the positive side, both service people I talked to (one online chat and the other live on the phone this morning) were very helpful and responsive, and both were aware of the issue, meaning I’m not the first.
Good thing I haven’t sold my 2019 Chevy Colorado yet…

This is exactly the same type of shit I have dealt with for years with my Jeep GC. The dreaded "overheated air compressor" message. Wonder if they used the same air system. This is very bad news!

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