Rivians have poor quality?

[Donald Stanfield]

Mine has poor quality, but I'd keep it if I had a service center close enough. It's the best vehicle on the market. I have a rocket ship that handles great and looks good. There's nothing else on the market that touches it. BMW has some great driving cars too, but they are all too small for my preference.

The R1 series is the best driving vehicle for its size.

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[DaveA]

I concur...early Gen 1s have/had many issues, but still one of the best driving vehicles for its size. The R2 I test drove had the glove boxes operate but seemed like alignment was off as one rubbed against the other upon closing/opening. The cup holder was finicky and took finesse to keep it closed.

 

[stormbreaker]

Hasn't this topic been discussed and or beaten to oblivion already?

I wanted to say I knew Rivian was brand new when I went in on my dual motor large pack. But seeing in the marketplace that all pickups have become so ungodly huge, I took the leap of faith.

Yes, I've had some hiccups. Mostly centered in driver+ hardware issues. Last fix was over a month ago and I'm a happy customer.

I'm keeping stormbreaker. Sorry your truck sucked though...

 

[TexasBob]

Look at the actual data here from JD Powers.

• If you have the very best, MOST RELIABLE vehicle brand you can expect an average of 1.51 problems during you first three years of ownership.
• If you have the very worst, LEAST RELIABLE vehicle brand you can expect an average of 3.01 problems during you first three years of ownership.

A "problem" can be a software glitch or a blown engine. So realistically, the difference between a "low reliability" Land Rover and a "high reliability" Toyota is that you will have ONE extra problem covered by warranty during the first three years you own the vehicle. That is all these surveys tell you. How big a deal that is to you is a matter of personal preference.

Side note: Consumer Reports data is misleading garbage manipulated in a secretive non-transparent way to amplify apparent differences. The real data and the weightings are not published except on a pay-to-see basis to OEMS as part of the CR scam. Embarrassing shadow of its former self.

 

[lmr]

Feels to me that Rivian build quality is hit or miss, much like many manufacturers. For my experience owning my Gen1 R1S this last 3 years the vehicle has only been in for service twice that wasn't related to regular/planned maintenance, both times it was to replace the 12v battery at Rivian's expense under warranty and Rivian proactively contacted me each time and scheduled me within 10 days for an appointment that took less than 90min each. Where you live, how many service centers you have nearby for your metro size is also a bit factor in the service experience.

Most of the truly annoying quality issues I have experienced have been from software updates that clearly needed a bit more time to bake with QA before release, but luckily Rivian has been fairly quick to push out follow-on updates/fixes. Hopefully as their product portfolio continues to increase with additional models and complexity that they to invest properly in this area as a Software Defined Vehicle can go from being quite stellar to practically unusable with one bad code push.

This has been my experience anyway.

 

[McLovin]

I completely agree with your earlier comment that Rivian service sucks, still sucks, and in fact the people who answer the phone to open a new ticket are even worse now than they were three years ago.

I think this is region-dependent, so the blanket statement of “Rivian service sucks” is misleading.

I just had my 12v battery replaced yesterday. In & out in 2 hours. Scheduled the appointment while on vacation on the other side of the country, and they got me in 10 days later. They would have done a remote service, but I don’t have L2 charging at home.

I’ve had Audi oil changes take longer than 2 hours.

 

[Calypso]

Any pointers on what you did to fix the A-pillar wind noise would be greatly appreciated.

I think it varies by vehicle build. I tried unsuccessfully by adding weather stripping around door frame. I finally saw a post that mentioned the gap at the top of the A-piller and roof. For now, I simply added a bit of filler weather stripping in the gap and a flush piece of electrical tape. The prior sound like a window is cracked open is gone. I should get the SC to fix it more permanently before my warranty goes out.

First photo with weather strip before taping. Second after taping. I don't notice it since it is above eye level.

 

[marpow]

I think it varies by vehicle build. I tried unsuccessfully by adding weather stripping around door frame. I finally saw a post that mentioned the gap at the top of the A-piller and roof. For now, I simply added a bit of filler weather stripping in the gap and a flush piece of electrical tape. The prior sound like a window is cracked open is gone. I should get the SC to fix it more permanently before my warranty goes out.

First photo with weather strip before taping. Second after taping. I don't notice it since it is above eye level.

Appreciate the pointer!

I took a look at mine and this seems like it will help. Do you know what diameter you used?

 

[virgnia_rivian]

I think this is region-dependent, so the blanket statement of “Rivian service sucks” is misleading.

I just had my 12v battery replaced yesterday. In & out in 2 hours. Scheduled the appointment while on vacation on the other side of the country, and they got me in 10 days later. They would have done a remote service, but I don’t have L2 charging at home.

I’ve had Audi oil changes take longer than 2 hours.

Try opening a ticket via chat or calling the 855 number. The person you're going to talk to is likely at their call center in Michigan and can barely handle Tier 1 support tasks. This is Rivian's system for opening a ticket nationwide. You can't just call a service center directly. (you're not supposed to)

Service centers don't always have control over their scheduling. Sometimes Rivian does this, sometimes it's sent to them for scheduling. This hasn't improved since 2022.

Service wait times have improved.

Your account says you're in Virginia. Are you referring to Sterling or Richmond for service? We've been to both. As well as Gaithersburg, MD.

 

[McLovin]

Your account says you're in Virginia. Are you referring to Sterling or Richmond for service? We've been to both. As well as Gaithersburg, MD.

I've been to Sterling the last 3 times (15K, 22.5K, and yesterday), and Gaithersburg twice (7.5K and PTC install). I have had zero problems scheduling. All previous times I've done it through the app, except this one, where I called.

Also, I've had 3 loaners (two Rivians, one Audi), an Uber, and waited today. Honestly...no problems ever.

 

[virgnia_rivian]

I've been to Sterling the last 3 times (15K, 22.5K, and yesterday), and Gaithersburg twice (7.5K and PTC install). I have had zero problems scheduling. All previous times I've done it through the app, except this one, where I called.

Also, I've had 3 loaners (two Rivians, one Audi), an Uber, and waited today. Honestly...no problems ever.

We had a mobile service in April for a tire rotation. They found a fluid leak. (not our first) We opened the new ticket. Sterling fumbled it. More than a month went by as pending. Then when we called in to find out what was up we ended up in support hell. While that was going on our 12V battery died. Then we finally had to escalate the situation to get into the Serling location and they admitted they overlooked our initial ticket and never put it on the schedule.

Previous work has been done at Gaithersburg and Richmond, pre-dating both of the closer SC.

We are still not impressed. The team in Sterling is friendly, but the systems in place to get work done are still not there.

 

[McLovin]

We had a mobile service in April for a tire rotation. They found a fluid leak. (not our first) We opened the new ticket. Sterling fumbled it. More than a month went by as pending. Then when we called in to find out what was up we ended up in support hell. While that was going on our 12V battery died. Then we finally had to escalate the situation to get into the Serling location and they admitted they overlooked our initial ticket and never put it on the schedule.

Previous work has been done at Gaithersburg and Richmond, pre-dating both of the closer SC.

We are still not impressed. The team in Sterling is friendly, but the systems in place to get work done are still not there.

Maybe I've just been hit w/ the "lucky stick"? I've not had 10% of the issues people here have posted about. And the ones I have had were really minor IMO (like the Apple Music app suddenly cutting out).

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