Rivian Quality - Two Genuine Questions

[SoCal Rob]

We took delivery of our R1S in early June after reserving 2+ years ago in April of 2021. We had one minor issue which only made itself known when the vehicle sat in the sun for a while, causing something to expand enough that the lift gate rubbed slightly and made a noise. Our delivery person was appropriately mortified that there were any issues at all and swore it didn’t make the noise earlier. (I believe him because it didn’t make the noise after being parked in our garage, either.) He showed me how to submit a service request and it was fixed in less time than was anticipated. We have almost 5,000 miles on it.

My purchase and delivery experience was WAY better than any other new car purchase I’ve made and I didn’t have any more problems at delivery than my last 3 new new car purchases.

Here’s the question I think you should be asking people on the forum: If you had to do the whole thing over (same wait, same delivery experience, same service experience, same ownership experience) would you buy again?

My answer is absolutely! I would even buy again at the new pricing, given what other vehicles with anything close to the same capabilities would cost.
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[dleepnw]

a) not all owners are on this forum or social media
b) people with problems overwhelming tend to post
c) people with little or no problems don't post

 

[Si.LE.R1S]

@rob_d

Put simply, my wife loves her eTron. It is refined and essentially flawless. She does her errands and carries on with all the *other* things in life she enjoys. She would have returned it in a heartbeat if it had any of the imperfections the Rivian has. That is her expectation - a car gets you from point A to point B (albeit with a little more EV flair).

For me, driving the R1S *IS* the joy. Getting into off-roading, camping capabilities, and just the simple fun it is to drive. I deal with the annoying flaws but that all absolutely dissipates every time I simply run out to the store in our R1S. Haven’t you seen Christine?

In all seriousness though, people on the forums are simply passionate (and have way too much time) - Rivian is building a brand, and all this nitpicking simply forces the company to raise their own expectations of what they should be to their base.

I think your interpretation of “accepting lower expectations” is in fact the exact opposite. Folks love Rivian despite their *minor* flaws. The forums and FB are in part a way of commiserating, but are also a very valid driver of improvements.

If you have the time, I would encourage you to read through the some of the early posts on the OTA updates and the early wishlists, and try and count how many those are now incorporated in the UI.

 

[Krusty]

We have two R1Ss in the family and they've been okay. Piant, panel, and noise issues are present in both cars. Wind noise and the whistling from the recirculation vent are by far the most annoying. The coffin creak of the AC vent is also present on both. And, the infotainment and sound quality are not in line with a $80k vehicle. Your experience will be dependent on your expectations going into the purchase. If you expect a Toyota/ Lexus /BMW experience, then you will be disappointed. With that said, there are few if not no other real electric alternatives to Rivian's products. If you're expecting perfection, I'd wait for Rivian to improve their vehicles or an established manmanufacturer to come out with a viable alternative.

By the way, what is drawing you to Rivian? For me it was an electric car that can realistically seat 7, can deal with dirt and snow, and over 300 mile range.

 

[Rknb2000]

I am a full time RVer, I have owned my R1T for 35 days, I now have 2800 miles on her. She has had one problem, the drivers side wiper was installed too high. Service came and fixed right away. I too have owned numerous vehicle, but I really do love this one!

 

[Nsblifer]

Thanks for the thread. Right there with you man. I’ve been purposely holding off delivery for about 6 months now. I want the quad T but have kept my reservation as max dual T to kick the delivery date down the road. I also think it’s odd when folks compare some of these issues to other past vehicle experiences. My Touareg is 13 years old now and I’ve never had one thing wrong with it-literally not one and I bought the thing for <$25k. Can’t imagine what form of anger might occur if I got into my $80k vehicle in the morning to jet off to clinic and get error messages telling me I can’t drive for some reason. I could also be wrong here; but as someone that doesn’t place much importance on vehicles, I also hesitate from a place of not wanting such high obligation and commitment to my vehicle-which overall seems necessary with the transition.

 

[md2023]

I assume that many without problems do not post much (or even belong to such a discussion forum), creating an exaggerated sense of problems - not saying this is true, but it could be. I can't really answer your first question because I have not had any problems with my R1T. It's been great. In terms of you second question, I have some long term concerns, but only because it is a new company and therefore there is no historical evidence of long term reliability. But, mostly I am very happy with my vehicle and not too worried about the future.

 

[jimmyb2]

I think you should stick with your current vehicles, or buy updates of them if you are just looking to buy something.

If you purchase a Rivian the odds are you will find something wrong with it as you sound (to me) like someone who will be very picky and expecting near perfection. Then if you have trouble getting it fixed or it takes a long time you will likely become a Rivian complainer … not good for you, not good for Rivian.

Save yourself the heartache. Stick with what you have.

 

[Guy]

Thanks for this thread! I’m taking delivery of my R1T on Tuesday. It’s been a long, over a year and half, roller coaster ride. Following these forums can be daunting, for sure. These last couple of weeks have been especially stressful, wondering if I’m making the right move with Rivian, almost pulling the plug numerous times. I know that all the negative posts don’t fairly represent the total ownership experience, but still. Just today, I finally signed the purchase agreement and transferred the funds. 8-step process is now complete! I have to admit, I do feel a sense of relief. Reading these positive, up beat, and hopefully more representative posts couldn’t come at a better time for me! Thanks, again, to all. Looking forward to Tuesday. Keep the positive vibes coming!

Thanks for posting this as I have had the same feelings with my factory pickup tomorrow. I fly out today from Philadelphia and then hopefully have a great delivery experience and drive back adventure. Good luck for Tuesday.

 

[Tdfster]

Thanks for posting this as I have had the same feelings with my factory pickup tomorrow. I fly out today from Philadelphia and then hopefully have a great delivery experience and drive back adventure. Good luck for Tuesday.

Ditto. I'm picking up our R1S a week from Friday.

 

[iansriv]

Nothing wrong with waiting or canceling. It's your call. You have legitimate concerns. I've seen different people with different pain thresholds on what is and what isn't acceptable. IMHO the R1 quality for a first year model is great. If you want a Lexus quality you might want to wait a bit. Again this is a very subjective and personal call. All the best.

 

[Hillbilly]

You will probably need to have stuff addressed under warranty. My wife's car is in right now but she got a Rivian loaner so no big deal. Issues that we'd probably live with if it were a $40k car, but we want addressed at this price point.

For comparison we have about a dozen things that need to be addressed on our new airstream under warrant including a leak. QC on the Rivian is significantly better. Just part of the process of buying anything nowadays. Hell, even my John deere tractor has a couple of issues.

 

[Golfer04]

You will probably need to have stuff addressed under warranty. My wife's car is in right now but she got a Rivian loaner so no big deal. Issues that we'd probably live with if it were a $40k car, but we want addressed at this price point.

For comparison we have about a dozen things that need to be addressed on our new airstream under warrant including a leak. QC on the Rivian is significantly better. Just part of the process of buying anything nowadays. Hell, even my John deere tractor has a couple of issues.

I have 44,000 miles on mine and have had 9 service appointments in 14 months. Some minor issues and some major. I know the early warranty claim rate within 60 days of delivery was 65 percent. I assume it has improved. OAEM normal is single digits. My VIN is early 7000s. I often think would I tolerate this from Ford, GM, Range Rover, etc. I don't think I would. But I have always had outstanding service from Normal SC. Alex there is outstanding. I pull up, we visit, trade fobs and I drive away in a loaner. I'm going to trade for a dual motor soon. I do just love this truck. Despite it all I don't regret the purchase.

 

[CrazyOne]

I have had minor panel issues, one seat belt rattle and suspension alignment issues fixed in one visit. 2022 October build. No major issues in 7k miles.

Some annoyances are present though. There are some rattles that show up on certain road surfaces. The quality is probably worse than it is on the 2010 Acura TL and the 2017 Mazda CX9 in the garage. Being on this forum, there is a worry of something breaking on a road trip though.

However ta dealer ruined the brakes on Mazda and it will take me a few visits and to independent shops to trust it again. They also backed it into tree and needed several attempts to fix body work. Another dealer damaged the door while trying to fix a creek in the first year of ownership. I am so done with dealers and never want to deal with a Mazda dealer. The only honest dealers I came across were Acura dealers while I was living in Salt Lake City.

 

[Count Orlok]

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?

ETA: I am at 10 months and 8,500 miles on my R1S.

1) The level of quality in my experience has been very good. No "tock," no "right hand pull," no major panel gaps,* only a few fasteners for the underside plastic covers that mobile service sort of took care of.

2) This is more than one question on your part and these concerns are relevant to ANY vehicle. As Machiavelli said, "it is better to be impetuous than cautious."

I'll add that I don't see what price has to do with your concerns. If you bought a 35k vehicle would you tolerate manufacturing defects?


* the asterisk is to note that after an accident and collision repair my hood is difficult to align perfectly. I do not see this as a Rivian manufacturing quality issue however.

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