Where the hell is my R1T?

[astonius]

I’ve had several open tickets with Rivian service since I took delivery in mid June. They were finally ready to address these issues this week.

I live east of Nashville. The Nashville (technically Franklin) service center is not fully operational yet, so I was told they would flatbed the truck to Memphis. This morning around 9:15 the tow truck arrives, loads up the truck, and heads down the road.

As I’m winding down this evening I had the thought to check the app to see if the truck had arrived safely to Memphis. To my horror the truck is not in Memphis. In fact, it’s nowhere near Memphis and is not even remotely en route towards Memphis. It’s in a rural area of Bryant, Alabama.

I immediately contacted Rivian service. After sitting on hold for 10 minutes the agent said they are still trying to get in contact with the towing company, and they would call me back as soon as they heard something.

Now I’m eagerly waiting to hear what the heck is going on.

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[Donald Stanfield]

This makes me want to drive my truck myself to service even though it's a long drive.

 

[astonius]

Rivian service just called me back. They spoke with someone at the Memphis service center who confirmed the truck is there, in their possession.

They are seeing what I’m seeing, that the truck is reporting being in Bryant, AL, but that’s apparently incorrect.

??‍

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Well at least it's where it's supposed to be. I'd much rather have a mapping error than a missing truck.

 

[jjswan33]

I had a similar issue with my truck showing in the wrong place for days after being towed in for service but they had already confirmed it had arrived.

Another time I had my truck being towed back to me, I wasn’t sure when it was coming so I was watching on the app to see if it had moved then I got a call from the tow company that he was outside. So I was standing in the driveway looking at my truck but app said it was still in Bellevue.

Assume the computer gets confused when it’s moved while it’s asleep?

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I had a similar issue with my truck showing in the wrong place for days after being towed in for service but they had already confirmed it had arrived.

Another time I had my truck being towed back to me, I wasn’t sure when it was coming so I was watching on the app to see if it had moved then I got a call from the tow company that he was outside. So I was standing in the driveway looking at my truck but app said it was still in Bellevue.

Assume the computer gets confused when it’s moved while it’s asleep?

Could also be connected to WiFi that's running though a VPN.

 

[astonius]

Assume the computer gets confused when it’s moved while it’s asleep?

Maybe, but I would think it would report either a last known location or some gibberish location rather than some random town that is a realistic distance from me. It’s also clearly been driven since it was towed based on the mileage and the fact that it’s currently charging.

 

[astonius]

Could also be connected to WiFi that's running though a VPN.

Interesting theory, but I would imagine the location reporting would use GPS coordinates rather than IP.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Maybe, but I would think it would report either a last known location or some gibberish location rather than some random town that is a realistic distance from me. It’s also clearly been driven since it was towed based on the mileage and the fact that it’s currently charging.

Did you grab a picture of your odometer before it was picked up? You could certainly have the SC check it when it gets there to see if the truck driver decided to do some joy riding.

 

[astonius]

Did you grab a picture of your odometer before it was picked up? You could certainly have the SC check it when it gets there to see if the truck driver decided to do some joy riding.

Didn’t think to do that. It hasn’t had a ton of miles put on it, 13 at most, and those may have been diagnostic miles by the service techs.

 

[CGM55082]

I can top this. About a month ago, my Rivian was picked up by a tow truck operator around 8 pm and the truck was scheduled for service the next day at 8 a.m. The service center was a 4 hour drive and the tow operator said he was taking the truck immediately to the service center and dropping it in the service center's secured lot so it would be ready for its appointment in the morning.

The next morning I woke up around 6 a.m. and checked the location of my truck. To my horror it was only about 20 minutes from my house in a residential area. I tried calling the tow operator and received no answers. Called Rivian and they couldn't track down the tow operator either. I then drove to where the truck was -- in a neighborhood outside of a house. I knocked on the door of the house until the idiot finally answered it and I told him he had 30 seconds to get my truck off his trailer. He looked shocked and scared to see me -- he had no idea I could track the vehicle. Rivian is not nearly as selective with their tow providers as they lead you to believe.

 

[SoCal Rob]

I am starting to think that Rivian has quite the challenge of figuring out whether people want their vehicle delivered according to reservation date regardless of geographic location and proximity to service center -OR- quality of service experience regardless of reservation date.

If their comms were better they could probably ask each reservation holder when they become eligible by reservation date: What is your preference if distant from a service center, deliver quickly or wait for better service infrastructure before taking delivery?

Of course what is the likelihood of them using written communications to clearly set expectations and… oh, never mind.

 

[SANZC02]

I am starting to think that Rivian has quite the challenge of figuring out whether people want their vehicle delivered according to reservation date regardless of geographic location and proximity to service center -OR- quality of service experience regardless of reservation date.

If their comms were better they could probably ask each reservation holder when they become eligible by reservation date: What is your preference if distant from a service center, deliver quickly or wait for better service infrastructure before taking delivery?

Of course what is the likelihood of them using written communications to clearly set expectations and… oh, never mind.

I’m sure they could ask, then many people would say delivery, don’t care about service, until of course they need service and complain about long delays.

You know the old saying, “you can’t please everybody”.

In the last 15 or so years it has morphed into a new saying… “You can’t please anybody”

I for one want to think Rivian for the delays and poor communication. I left my funds in the market because of the original delays, pulled it out late last May because I had a June/July window. Ended up getting an extra 30% when I sold compared to the original dates. Had I known about the delay to October/December and left the money in based on today‘s valuation, I would have lost that 30% plus another 10%. So essentially, not only do I save 20k on my price, I have extra free money I’m using for the purchase. ?

 

[SoCal Rob]

I’m sure they could ask, then many people would say delivery, don’t care about service, until of course they need service and complain about long delays.

You know the old saying, “you can’t please everybody”.

In the last 15 or so years it has morphed into a new saying… “You can’t please anybody”

I for one want to think Rivian for the delays and poor communication. I left my funds in the market because of the original delays, pulled it out late last May because I had a June/July window. Ended up getting an extra 30% when I sold compared to the original dates. Had I known about the delay to October/December and left the money in based on today‘s valuation, I would have lost that 30% plus another 10%. So essentially, not only do I save 20k on my price, I have extra free money I’m using for the purchase. ?

Yeah: for those of us close to a service center, we have options and the best of both worlds: fastest possible delivery and reasonable access to service.

I seem to recall that Rivian was discussing contracting mobile service in remote locations (Cox Automotive?) but it seems like that isn’t happening; maybe s00n? Some reservation holders in locations far from a service center may not realize the consequences of accepting an earlier delivery given the current service options.

 

[astonius]

Truck is still in Memphis. Been driving a rental Ford Edge, courtesy of Rivian. Makes me appreciate the R1T a bit more, though I must say it’s been nice to have CarPlay again.

Advisor updates me this evening saying they will need the truck a bit longer, however they got their loaner R1T back and would like to offer it to me. Very nice of them to do. Makes the sting of the loan payment a bit less to drive a similar vehicle.

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