Rivian reliability is a problem

[kyledmb]

My Rivian experience has been a nightmare - from constant problems with the truck, to concerns being blown off by my Service Center. Wait times, friends and family saying the "I told you so..." while my truck sounds like its about to fall into pieces driving down the road.

I'm really glad there are people who have had good experiences. I don't think I can stick with Rivian much longer.

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[kyledmb]

I don't think poor reliability and high customer satisfaction have to be mutually exclusive. Of course they can be, and often are. If the manufacturer can quickly address the issues and keep the overall promise of the vehicle intact, then you can maintain high customer satisfaction.

I think you're right. Several Rivian owners I know love the truck, love the brand, but have had issues that they can meet with , "well, I have hope that Rivian will figure this out and I'm up waiting through these reliability issues."

I love what my truck *could* be, but I am less hopeful that Rivian can bridge this gap with fixing service and reliability issues.

 

[DayTripping]

Just got my truck back from service. They had it for just under 3 weeks. I had 15 issues. They corrected 13 of them, couldn't replicate one of them, and they say they aren't seeing the issue, or they think it is an app issue. The app said cabin temperature was 12 degrees when the outside temp about 85F degrees, and the AC was set to 72F. I think there is an inaccurate sensor. Not sure if the temp sensor was supposed to be in F or C, but I assume it should default to whatever my phone or truck is set to and that is F

I am glad they were able to validate the issues I captured and try and fix them. I'll have to see if they are actually fixed. The temp sensor could impact my heating and cooling but they did see issues there. I'll likely need to make another trip back as I was showing one of the service advisor the issue but the techs were at lunch and I didn't have any more time to waste.

So overall I'll give the Dallas SC an 'A-' for service but unfortunately I'll likely need to make another trip back. If I was farther away this would be a real inconvenience but again the next service appt is out into Feb '25 now.

 

[Milk]

About a month and a half in with my Gen 2 R1T Dual Max. I had 3 fixes - 2 of them kind of a big deal. Charge port wouldn't release the charger with the button so I had to mechanically release every time and a very annoying rattle in passenger door. Drove the 200 miles to Salt Lake RC for what was told would be a 2-3 day fix. It would have been nice if they would have mentioned that they were not working Black Friday or Saturday because I was planning on being able to pick it up Saturday when I went back home. It ended up taking 9 days because they had to order a part for the charger.

But they fixed both issues and got the correct badge installed and the truck has been awesome since.

Long story short: I'm not expecting Toyota bullet proofness - and so far I very much agree with the Overall Satisfaction survey.

As an aside, I've owned 2 Alfa Romeos (still own one) which have a pretty terrible reputation for reliability. I never had any issue with either one.

 

[JasonK]

When I dig into the data on consumer reports, it shows 3 problem arias. suspension, cooling systems and build quality. I think it is likely pretty accurate considering several people on here have mentioned issues with the cooling system and build quality. Rivian should hold their suppliers responsible for things like faulty sensors. Require them to test the sensors as part of their qc process before shipping the part. This could reduce many of the issues. As far as build quality this is something to address at the factory. I live 4+ hours away from the nearest service center so having to have a lot of service issues could be a real headache if I decide to buy that R2.

 

[Milk]

When I dig into the data on consumer reports, it shows 3 problem arias. suspension, cooling systems and build quality. I think it is likely pretty accurate considering several people on here have mentioned issues with the cooling system and build quality. Rivian should hold their suppliers responsible for things like faulty sensors. Require them to test the sensors as part of their qc process before shipping the part. This could reduce many of the issues. As far as build quality this is something to address at the factory. I live 4+ hours away from the nearest service center so having to have a lot of service issues could be a real headache if I decide to buy that R2.

I feel you with living far away from a service center (I'm 3 hours away).

I'm certain Rivian has QC checks for their vendors in place. It might not be practical for any industry at scale to have every widget QC checked (or checked in a meaningful way). Maybe 1 out of every 4 or something like that??? Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they can do that but considering the number of parts and sensors involved that seems like it would be costly.

Reliance on a touchscreen interface for 90% or more of all functions I think is a big mistake but that seems no different from other manufacturers within the industry. Yesterday my screen went non responsive and then all black, including my gauge cluster (except for the MPH). It resolved itself after I stopped and got out of the truck but that's annoying and something that I expect to return from time to time.

 

[DayTripping]

I feel you with living far away from a service center (I'm 3 hours away).

I'm certain Rivian has QC checks for their vendors in place. It might not be practical for any industry at scale to have every widget QC checked (or checked in a meaningful way). Maybe 1 out of every 4 or something like that??? Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they can do that but considering the number of parts and sensors involved that seems like it would be costly.

Reliance on a touchscreen interface for 90% or more of all functions I think is a big mistake but that seems no different from other manufacturers within the industry. Yesterday my screen went non responsive and then all black, including my gauge cluster (except for the MPH). It resolved itself after I stopped and got out of the truck but that's annoying and something that I expect to return from time to time.

I had the screen issue (actually both and no mph) along with the cross traffic sensor going crazy. I hard rebooted everything. No issues sense then and several thousand miles later. Rivian did replace the cross traffic sensor.

I abhor touch screen everything. I hated it on my Teslas and thankful that my Rivian still at least has stalks for turn signal, wipers, shifting, etc.

 

[elektrode]

I was teasing my sister over Thanksgiving that she showed up in her Tesla “MAGA Mobile”. (It was a joke, don’t freak out)

She made 2 good points:
1) what else can we buy that is better than our Y?

Of course I said “Rivian R1S!”

Then she dropped the mic on me:

2) “everyone we know in the family with a Rivian has their’s in the shop!”

And she was right. Parents, cousin, and brother all had service visits recently with our Rivians.

 

[DayTripping]

I was teasing my sister over Thanksgiving that she showed up in her Tesla “MAGA Mobile”. (It was a joke, don’t freak out)

She made 2 good points:
1) what else can we buy that is better than our Y?

Of course I said “Rivian R1S!”

Then she dropped the mic on me:

2) “everyone we know in the family with a Rivian has their’s in the shop!”

And she was right. Parents, cousin, and brother all had service visits recently with our Rivians.

More truth to that than many here would admit.

I just had lunch with the person who bought my model Y a few years ago. We've become close friends. He is a great person and a car enthusiast. That Y is likely just a few weeks short of 120k miles. It just recently went in the shop for its first unscheduled service visit for a minor seat issue. That was at 118k miles.

My S Plaid has never had an unscheduled service visit and it is close to 3 years old. Same goes for my Model 3 long range and now 3 years old. New Highland 3 performance hasn't either, and I've owned it for about 3 times longer than my Rivian.

The only 2 cars I've owned in the past 20 years that I'd buy again if something happened to them are my Plaid and my R1T. That is the paradox of the R1T. It is one of my favorite cars but the one that has spent the most time in service in the past 20 years.

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