Service times will kill Rivian

[Electron]

This person is asking current owners if he should buy the car with the caveat that he does not have the luxury of waiting weeks and months to service his car. Shouldn’t the proper response be to ask him where he lives and which service center he will be using (if your intent is on helping him)?

“Protecting” and sugar coating the brand will not help it in the long run. Do you live in LA? Do you believe that the brand is doing well when I have 2000 miles and I have to try to schedule my 7500 mile service now and their first availability at El Segundo SC is November 30?

Loving and promoting a new brand is one thing but becoming a “fanboy” is another. As a multiple Tesla owner, I can tell you that many in the Tesla community actually believe that Tesla is the greatest invention since the light bulb and that Tesla can do no wrong. I sincerely hope that the Rivian community does not follow the same path and all of us owners can provide valid insight, praise and criticism when it is warranted so that the brand can reach new levels.

I'm with you 100%. Multiple Tesla owner, not a fanboy and see things as they are. There's no profit in sugar coating a brand for self fulfillment. In both camps it's statistically possible that the loudest sugar coaters are those who are holding stock in the company. Fair.

I'm sure you've seen this too, but man in the Tesla community there are so many bag holders that they bark so loud to hide their shame.

Glad to see people who can see things without tainted goggles.

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[ThumprMN]

….. but will the service times KILL Rivian?

??‍

 

[s4wrxttcs]

Wasn't there just another thread about this very topic?

It certainly will hurt Rivian if every other thread about a Rivian is about Service wait times.

In the PNW the wait times are so bad that the App doesn't even let you post a service request. So I had to pick a SC 100+ miles away just to schedule something for next month.

They then called me and I was able to schedule a mobile service 2 months from now.

In my case the Fob no longer works even after replacing the battery, and the interior door sensor (for the keycard) doesn't work. Aside from the phone the only way to drive the car is to use the keycard and select drive/reverse within 60 seconds of unlocking the door with the keycard.

I also have issues that I haven't scheduled a service for, and my rationality for holding off is due to them not being critical. One issue is the tonneau cover sounds like crap (original one), and there is some wind noise coming from the passenger side that suddenly appeared one day.

 

[s4wrxttcs]

….. but will the service times KILL Rivian?

??‍

The threads do seem to take a very black and white stance.

Why can't the service times simply maim Rivian? To me that's a more fitting title because it means that Rivian isn't operating at a level they should be at.

It's also very concerning when it comes to scaling up with the R2.

 

[NY_Rob]

I'm sure you've seen this too, but man in the Tesla community there are so many bag holders that they bark so loud to hide their shame.

To the detriment of the forum and community. If you simply intimate anything that can be somehow considered negative towards the brand even when asking an honest question... better don the fireproof suit and quick! I learned that pretty quickly on TMC and stopped posting there years ago.

 

[Electron]

….. but will the service times KILL Rivian?

??‍

Kill is a strong word. In theory, yes, if the lack of service continue to go down hill it could turn potential buyers away resulting in a lot loss in revenue. That can be detrimental.

So let's look at Rivian right now. All bias aside. They have cash in the bank, but it's dwindling fast and it's inevitable that it will run out if they don't turn a profit.

But can Rivian sell enough to turn a profit is the question, despite the efficiency and cost cutting on the gen 2.

Ok now so what about the VW cash drop? If allocated properly it could do wonders, but if they don't manage it properly it'll just buy time.

If the service infrastructure doesn't improve or expand to accommodate current and future owners, it could "kill" the brand.

As of right now, we're headed in a negative direction so it is our hope that they turn things around to change that direction.

 

[Eticket99]

I have forgone my Gen2 R1S purchase because of service. Taken me just shy of 2 years to get my truck where it should have been within 30 days of purchase. No way i'm paying $100k to be told its going to take 3-6 months to fix issues that the truck should have never had to begin with. But hey "I knew what I was buying into" right? Not. I knew there'd be fixes, I didn't think i'd wait up to half a year for them to attempt to fix them.

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

The alternative for Rivian is to stop selling vehicles in areas where their service departments are overloaded. Wait times aren't that long everywhere.

The alternate is to allow third party service centers. This is a consequence of letting Rivian have a monopoly on service. Monopolies are bad, and I wish Rivian dealers existed to check the power that Rivian has over their customers after the sale.

 

[CBRacerX]

If Rivian focuses on a problem free delivered vehicle, this will help reduce the need for service. Quality Control!

Agreed. I took delivery of 24 R1T yesterday and found three defects easily during the process:
PPF on Driver's Side Gear Tunnel Cover lifting off
Spare Tire cover will not open
Phone Charging Pad not working

All of these should have been found and fixed before it left the factory, or at a final inspection at the delivery center.

 

[iansriv]

The alternate is to allow third party service centers. This is a consequence of letting Rivian have a monopoly on service. Monopolies are bad, and I wish Rivian dealers existed to check the power that Rivian has over their customers after the sale.

I like your idea. 3rd party could scale up fast. Someone also mentioned leveraging the various SC under the VW flagship. I would be ok taking my R1 to a Porsche, Bentley or Lamborghini dealership.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

You hit the nail on the head. Rivian has a dream like opportunity to use some of the funds that they would never have had otherwise to do some major good with it.

If they don't address the foundation right now to support their growth, that bridge will eventually collapse and we're already seeing major fractures in their structure and foundation. Not a good sign.

If Rivian were to use VW service departments, this would be a lot of free advertisement to bring in foot traffic for sure, but as of right now VW has crap options for EVs, which could be temporary, but eventually if VW does release a decent EV this could be pose an issue and awaken the past dormant foot traffic of Rivian owners.

Imagine a solid beefed up VW Atlas SUV EV that does everything better than Rivian, hypothetically with a UI on par with Rivian since...

The funds are restricted in what they can be used for. That’s why I said day of the announcement that this isn’t a lifeline really. It’s VW’s opportunity to develop.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

The R2 has to be spectacular in order to complete with Tesla and the Model Y. The new Juniper (refreshed Model Y coming out) will set the benchmark without question. Even if the R2 was out right now, it stands no chance against the Model Y numbers.

I really hope that Rivian is being smart and thinking logically. We all want to see them succeed and if they were smart they would allocate the cash drop from VW wisely and use it in areas where it's desperately needed right now.

To be fair, the Y is pretty cheaply made and has a really rough ride. It’s also stripped of a lot of tech. But it has sold well, though sales are down. And it’s cheap to buy. 3s and Ys are essentially the budget EVs now.

So, I agree that the R2 needs to be great to get a part of that established market.

But if you can’t get a car fixed in a reasonable amount of time, it’s a killer.

As a previous poster said in this thread, the EV9 is pretty awesome, costs less, and ca generally be serviced much more quickly.

 

[R1DEW/ME]

In our particular situation, my Wife and I love the R1S, but hate the fact that the R1S doesn't do well with rear facing car seats in the 2nd row. It leaves you very little room, especially if you're on the taller side.

To be fair, a lot of other SUVs suffer from this as well, but we're not interested in any ICE vehicles so that leaves us with only a few options in the 3-Row EV Space.

She really wants the new KIA EV9. It's the best 3-row EV SUV for families for a lot of reasons and out does all the current EV offerings for rear facing car seats.

The guy in the video testing the seating position with car seats is 6'5, but you can clearly see where all the other options lack with the front leg room. Even those who are shorter are in an awkward seating position in the front due to the lack of space in the 2nd row in the R1S for rear facing car seats.

I would agree on the rear facing car seat front, but from my wife and I recently car shopping experience, just about every single vehicle except “Full size” SUVs and some minivans suffers from this delimma like you stated.

I do believe Rivian doubled down on it being an off-road platform and it 100% is and coming from a person who never really off roaded it gives me the confidence to know I can and even swayed me towards trying on occasion.

a big oversight imo is them not building the R1S on the same length chassis as the R1T and I hope in future generations they maybe give us a R1T length S, a R1SL / R1SX if you will.

To my knowledge there is not a single full size EV SUV out there rn and having the ability to compete with Tahoe, Suburban, etc would be MASSIVE!

I would 100% get behind a full size R1S even if it lost some of its efficiency and off road capability.

 

[Armeniandave]

I just got back my R1T that had been at the service center 31 days. I will say everything is fixed and it runs and looks like new again. Having a conversation with the manager he said they are expanding service centers in populated areas and they very much are feeling the pain also. He did say corporate has been approving more service centers and this will help tremendously. They did go above and beyond and as an early adopter and supporter I am satisfied they are on the right track.

 

[Skellogg]

Wasn't there just another thread about this very topic?

It certainly will hurt Rivian if every other thread about a Rivian is about Service wait times.

In the PNW the wait times are so bad that the App doesn't even let you post a service request. So I had to pick a SC 100+ miles away just to schedule something for next month.

They then called me and I was able to schedule a mobile service 2 months from now.

In my case the Fob no longer works even after replacing the battery, and the interior door sensor (for the keycard) doesn't work. Aside from the phone the only way to drive the car is to use the keycard and select drive/reverse within 60 seconds of unlocking the door with the keycard.

I also have issues that I haven't scheduled a service for, and my rationality for holding off is due to them not being critical. One issue is the tonneau cover sounds like crap (original one), and there is some wind noise coming from the passenger side that suddenly appeared one day.

Bought my 2024 R1T 4 months ago and just scheduled my first service to fix sudden wind noise coming from front passenger area (window maybe?). Anyway first available appt is 3 months away in San Diego.

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