Rivian Quality - Two Genuine Questions

[rob_d]

I have been a long-time reservation holder slated for delivery in September/October of 2023. I expect to hear from a guide any day now. I love the R1S look and it was incredible to drive during my First Drive. Going from an R1S back to a gas powered car feels like traveling in a time machine and not in a good way. But I'm seriously considering cancelling and was within one button press of doing so tonight.

I have been following this forum as well as many of the others on Facebook. What I can't seem to get past is the reliability and quality of these vehicles. I can get over one or two misaligned panels, but it seems as though there are some major design flaws out there that get discovered on an almost daily basis. And there are also some major build quality issues, some of which impact safety (e.g., brake cabling issue). Most importantly, service sounds abysmal. The install base where I'm located is significantly lower right now than SoCal, but I hear stories about service in that area and it sounds like a nightmare. I worry about what happens when more trucks and SUVs get delivered in my area as Rivian tries to meet its objectives to make the street happy.

Any post in these forums that discusses quality issues is often met with some combination of the following responses:
- It's an "early adopter tax"
- "Mine was perfect, it's been to the service center seven times in the first three months of ownership but otherwise an amazing vehicle"
- "Mine had the same problem"
- "Mine had the same problem but its fixed now after being at the SC for three weeks"
- "Mine had the same problem plus these other things too."
- "Only people who have problems post in the forums. For every complaint there's 10 trucks/SUVs that are great." [I don't buy this.]
- "Every vehicle forum has hundreds of these same types of complaints." [I don't buy this either...go look at the RAV4 Prime Forum and you'll have a great point of comparison]
- And then one out of ten - "it's flawless, 400 miles and had it for a month."

I have owned five cars in my life - a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder, a 2007 Infinity G35X, a 2011 BMW X3, and our two current vehicles - a 2017 Honda Pilot and a 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime. The only one of the bunch that had a series of issues at purchase was -and this will not come as a surprise - the BMW. But BMW stood by their product and after the third major issue gave me a seven year platinum warranty on the house. (Funny enough from the moment they issued that warranty until last year when I traded it in, it never had any other major issues). The other four just had routine maintenance and tires with the RAV4 being the most solidly built car I've ever owned. (I specifically mention that one because people cite the electronics in the modern automobile as the issue...but the RAV4 has plenty of electronics in it).

So my genuine questions are as follows:
- Why this level of quality that Rivian is currently producing an expectation of the norm? It seems like the Rivian community is willing to accept this level of quality which to me is shocking - it's an $80-100k vehicle, depending on when you locked in pricing. Is it because many owners are moving from a Tesla where quality is historically known to be low quality? What I really don't get - whether you can afford it or not, a car that's valued at $100k is still $100k.
- Don't you worry about owning the vehicle over the long run? There's a whole host of things we know about, but what about the other stuff we don't? And don't people worry about the safety?

I really want to know what I'm missing here, and I'm not posting this to be inflammatory in any way. I respect all the people in this forum who already own Rivians. A bit jealous in fact. Every part of me wants to buy this thing, but everything I keep reading tells me it's a bad decision.

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[Mathme]

I've had mine since June and have a little over 4200 miles on it. I have 1 blemish in the paint, 3-4 areas that need some body panel alignments, a couple of queaks, and a camp speaker that won't charge. Essentially minor issues and I feel that's why we have a warranty to get these things addressed. These are complicated machines and there will be some issues.

I know compared to others, my list so far is minor...but that's been my experience.

 

[DuoRivians]

Vast majority of people don’t have problems, or if they are, they’re minor.

When everything is going well, people generally don’t share an update: “Everything is well! Carry on!”

Problems get the posts and attention.

So, you’re seeing skewed biased observations that don’t represent the true population by any means.

 

[R1Tom]

Vast majority of people don’t have problems, or if they are, they’re minor.

When everything is going well, people generally don’t share an update: “Everything is well! Carry on!”

Problems get the posts and attention.

So, you’re seeing skewed biased observations that don’t represent the true population by any means.

I agree with this with the caveat that at least some of the service centers are struggling real bad to keep up. Hopefully that will greatly improve, because even minor problems cam be frustrating with the current process and time to get things resolved.

 

[NY_Rob]

I complain about a lot of things Rivian related.. I guess Rivian knew that, so they sold me "one of the good ones"

Have had it since Jan, never been to a SC, no pending issues and is generally a pleasure to drive.

I don't plan to keep it past the 5year B to B warranty as it will be insanely expensive to repair.

 

[jjswan33]

First off yes Rivian service has a lot of room to improve, depends on your location.

Personally I have had issues with my truck but Ive also driven my truck harder than most, not an excuse. Rivian has made everything right, eventually and there have been long periods that were trouble free. All that said I don’t feel great about keeping it out of warranty so if you are a buy and keep it until it dies type of person you have to consider that. I am sure out of warranty service is not going to be cheap.

 

[COdogman]

I don’t think you can dismiss some of those common responses so quickly. And I don’t mean that in a smart ass way. Rivian IS a new company and while there are vehicles coming out that need additional work, the majority do not have those issues. It’s understandable that reading the forum you would possibly get that impression, but we represent only a small percentage of Rivian owners. Even here I would say the majority are satisfied customers.

Speaking only for myself, my T was delivered in June without any body panel or other issues. I have yet to find anything wrong with it.

 

[GreenOptimist]

Had our R1T for 6 months and 7,200 miles and have had our R1S for 2 months and 2,000 miles. Sole issue with the R1T was a stained headliner and also had to replace the windshield due to a truck kicking up rocks on the highway. Zero issues so far on the R1S.

 

[Zoidz]

Well, I'm one of those who has 3500 miles, super pleased and so far only two very minor issues - very internittent rattling dashboard speaker grille and a minor issue with the weather strip at the bottom of the passenger door. Based on my experience I would do it again.

Although you have already said you don't believe it, I'll chime in with the "people come to forums much more frequently when they have a problem or want to complain". How many posts have you seen here saying "This is my only post, I love my Rivian, no problems at all"? That's because people aren't motivated to do the research to discover the forum when they are happy but not a "Rivian enthusiast" looking for fellow enthusiasts. Also, look at the # of members here vs the # of Rivians sold. That implies that there are many satisfied owners out there with no complaints, or there are many who are unhappy but have not come online to research/discuss their issues.

By your bullet list above, you seem to have already decided that Rivian has lots of problems and you don't believe any possible rational explanations from anyone, so maybe it is best for you to pass on a RIvian. You will almost certainly feel like "I knew better..." if you buy a Rivian and have ANY issues. Your current feelings will likely amplify your issues, real, perceived or otherwise.

 

[Ecupip]

I couldn’t be happier with my build 9/22. Panel fit, gaps, and finish are on par with other $80k vehicles.

The only quality issue or irk I can find is with the drivers door. When I shut it from the inside it feels and sounds like the door panel doesn’t have good support or there is something loose inside.

 

[freshpow]

"Only people who have problems post in the forums. For every complaint there's 10 trucks/SUVs that are great." [I don't buy this.]

I was skeptical about this claim at first too, but think it's largely true and you should believe it. Just looking at myself - I am absolutely in love with my R1T, think it's the best thing since sliced bread and haven't had any real issues in 6 months and 5k miles (minor paint issues at delivery were quickly addressed by a friendly crew at the Denver SC). Yet, if you look through my posts here you'll rarely, if ever, find me praising what an amazing vehicle it is and what a great experience I've had. Instead you'll see me complaining about having one horn instead of two

 

[Will0077]

I have had an R1T for over a year and about 19,000 miles. Service has addressed all of my issues (body panels, squeaks, screens not working, alignment, etc) so far without complaint. I love the car and actually ordered an R1S also we love it so much. I accept all the problems because the car is worth it.

The most significant issue I have, something you should keep in mind, is that service wait times, at least in my area, are 3-4 months to get an appointment (I live in Los Angeles and have an appointment scheduled for the clanking half shaft fix and cargo crossbars that won't latch). I hear from other people that if the issue is so severe that it's not drivable, they may be able to squeeze you in sooner. But to me the vehicle is so great that it's worth it.

 

[DaveA]

I was unlucky twice…once with terrible paint (vin 1500) and the next one with ongoing issues with the front driver’s side half-shaft. (Round 3 coming up at service center, waited 3 months for an appointment) I WANT the issues fixed cuz it’s an amazing vehicle overall….basically, you have 7 days/1000 miles to review the vehicle and if it’s not for you or you get bad vibes, return it.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Our January built R1S has never been back to the service center. There are some minor fitment issues, but honestly I don't care enough to have them addressed. A different person might have rejected the vehicle and made a huge stink about it. It has been mostly problem free otherwise.

My Feb22 R1T has had quite a few issues but I drive it way harder and take it off road and down gravel constantly.

 

[rob_d]

I was skeptical about this claim at first too, but think it's largely true and you should believe it. Just looking at myself - I am absolutely in love with my R1T, think it's the best thing since sliced bread and haven't had any real issues in 6 months and 5k miles (minor paint issues at delivery were quickly addressed by a friendly crew at the Denver SC). Yet, if you look through my posts here you'll rarely, if ever, find me praising what an amazing vehicle it is and what a great experience I've had. Instead you'll see me complaining about having one horn instead of two

I appreciate your response. Candidly though the horn issue was one of the things that grabbed my attention and has me down the rabbit hole. Seriously for the price of this vehicle we're cutting out a $50 horn? So it can sound ridiculous. My thought process there is that was one small change we can notice, what about other things they took out of the BOM that we don't know about?

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