Will an R1 ever be as reliable as Ridgeline?

[Quattro Powers]

I think there’s no doubt that the Honda will be more reliable, but the RT1 will be sexier and get you noticed.

I’d prefer to get attention and feel popular.

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[R1Sky Business]

While waiting almost two weeks for a failed delivery caused by QC issues, I can’t stop doom scrolling this forum and freaking myself out.

Remember...the negative posts likely outnumbered the positive ones by a good margin in these forums

 

[Max]

Thank you all for your response. They have been very helpful.

As of now, I am still Hopeful that by the time it is my turn, R1 Reliability and my risk tolerance will move to meet somewhere in the middle. Here are some thoughts that have been colliding in my head which resulted in starting this thread. Even though the car company and much of the software is new, the basic tech behind it not so much. My electric lawnmower has been much more reliable than my gas powered one. I think R1 electric motor can be as reliable as most engines but the fact that it has four of them may increase the chance of breakdown due to motor failure by a factor of four but still not too risky for me. The battery tech has been around in most mobile devices we use for years. May be it is my lack of knowledge of both technologies but ICE still feels more complicated to me. An explosion is the most chaotic thing I can think of. Containing it in an enclosed space and repeating it over and over again for millions of times without a problem still sounds like stuff of magic to me. I think EVs have the potential to be much more reliable if the company has that as priority and don’t get sucked into the shiny gadget race. How many speakers are inside should take a distant back seat to getting the mobility part of the car right.

My current truck is almost 20 years old. If I get a Ridgeline, I will be polluting for another 20 years so I am willing to take more of a chance with R1 than I have taken with any other car purchase in the past.

The parts that I think more likely will get me one of those “do not move or your R1 will explode” messages is a misunderstood sensor somewhere. I think as more situations happen that Rivian engineers didn’t think of when they designed the car, they will adjust. I think a lot of these will be remedied through OTA and I am hoping the hardware issues are picked up as early as possible to minimize recall. The fact that they offered manual bed cover is a good sign. I hope they offer simplified version of any trouble area. I would have loved to have a manual air vents.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and keepem comin

 

[Dirty_B]

I think I've had my R1T for over two months and have over 5k miles. I have taken it to multiple states. I was nervous like you for the first week or two but fully appreciate your fear and apparently your experience. Time will tell. I have a job with some flexibility but this isn't a toy, I expect it to get me to work every day. I'm still thrilled and expect I'll think that in a year.

Have mine since second week of June (6 weeks as of this post). Been in shop last 3 weeks...when I'll see it again...WTFK.

 

[Dirty_B]

But eventually, it will surpass Honda IMO. As everyone has said - at this time it's early adopter issues - reliability will improve as all manufacturers do and if they listen to Munro and Assoc, it'll be a fine product (already is for all it's faults).

 

[zipzag]

I've been hearing fewer and fewer horror stories of Rivian Service. I think they're getting their shit together. Things are going to break, not be assembled right occasionally. It's how quickly Rivian is able to address those that matter.

Didn't the R1T suspension squeak guy on Youtube just say his vehicle spent a total of 12 days in the shop? Both he and the Rivian rep were pleased with the "fast service". I would not be pleased.

That said, EVs will be higher reliability than ICE. My Model Y is perhaps the highest quality vehicle I have owned. One of my worst was a Mercedes. I've had very good Fords.

Rivian, like early Tesla, is probably best owned by people with an alternate vehicle.

 

[mkg3]

Thank you all for your response. They have been very helpful.

As of now, I am still Hopeful that by the time it is my turn, R1 Reliability and my risk tolerance will move to meet somewhere in the middle. Here are some thoughts that have been colliding in my head which resulted in starting this thread. Even though the car company and much of the software is new, the basic tech behind it no so much. My electric lawnmower has been much more reliable than my gas powered one. I think R1 electric motor can be as reliable as most engines but the fact that it has four of them may increase the chance of breakdown due to motor failure by a factor of four but still not too risky for me. The battery tech has been around in most mobile devices we use in years. May be it is my lack of knowledge of both technologies but ICE still feels more complicated ti me. An explosion is the most chaotic thing I can think of and contain it in an enclosed space and repeating it over and over again for millions of times without a problem still sounds like stuff of magic to me. I think EVs have the potential to be much more reliable if the company has that as priority and don’t get sucked into the shiny gadget race. How many speakers are inside should take a distant back seat to getting the mobility part of the car right.

My current truck is almost 20 years old. If I get a Ridgeline, I will be polluting for another 20 years so I am willing to take more of a chance with R1 than I have taken with any other car purchase in the past.

The parts that I think more likely will get me one of those “do not move or your R1 will explode” messages is a misunderstood sensor somewhere. I think as more situations happen that Rivian engineers didn’t think of when they design the car, they will adjust. I think a lot of these will be remedied through OTA and I am hoping the hardware issues are picked up as early as possible to minimize recall. The fact that they offered manual bed cover is a good sign. I hope they offer simplified version of any trouble areas. I would have loved to have a manual air vents.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and keepem comin

@Max,

Inherently, EVs have less parts than ICEs. Just think of any ICE and just how many parts there are compared to an electric motor.

One of the major advantage of EVs is the lower life cycle cost of the vehicle. It requires less maintenance and less parts to "wear out". My Model 3 has been serviced by Tesla three times in 4 years. Twice for voluntary recall replacement of HW parts (one suspension part and another for the charger cover flap). The other is to replace the 12V battery ($70 part that they replace under the warrantee). The 12V battery never failed but a message was sent to say schedule a replacement soon so I did.

I am not saying all EVs are trouble free, no more than ICE are troublesome. Rather, just think about the problem holistically and know that EVs should be more reliable as a whole.

As for Ridgeline, Hondas are excellent appliances - a blender as it were. It just keeps working. I've owned Integra and Accord over the years and never had any issues with them. Just change oil and filter, it keeps running just fine.

So, I don't know how risk averse you are but know that your Rivian being not one of the early production vehicle is a great thing. All the infant mortality failures of parts and manufacturing issues will be worked out in continues product improvement by Rivian. Think of it as blessing in disguise. All of which will help the reliability of your R1.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

This is a real question for me. And I would like your thoughts on it. I understand a lot of issues we are seeing is due to a R1 being a new vehicle from a new company and as Rivian get feedback from their service centers, things will improve. However, it seems like (I am not sure if this is really the case), there are too many conditions and too many sensors that can make R1 unable to perform it's primary duty; getting the owner from point A to B. It seems like R1 is more capable than a mountain goat off road but it is having trouble getting people to work or a vacation destination on a flat road without the display telling you need a flatbed. I understand the grin factor for most of you puts R1 within your risk tolerance. For me, being stranded twice in the first 10K may take all the fun out of those 0-60s. Where do you think R1 will be a year from now with the type of service calls it is getting now? How will it compare as a reliable means of transportation (not an exhilarating grin machine) compare to a Ridgline or a Tacoma?

This is a reasonable post. I have a reasonable response. I knew from the beginning of my reservation that as an early adopter with a start-up building something like this that there was zero chance it would ever be as reliable as my Tundra. The Tundra had 148,000 miles, never a check engine light or any component failures of any kind happened. Batteries, brakes, tires, that's it.

I have 9,000 nearly flawless miles on my R1T, but if you want a reliability comparison as your only vehicle versus a Taco or a Ridgeline, then owning a Rivian in the next two years is absolutely not for you. You will have issues.......Asking the question alone should give you the answer......

 

[CGM55082]

I was a very early owner of the Model 3 when things were clearly unstable at Tesla. At the time, the Tesla forums were filled with horror stories about reliability issues. As a result, I almost cancelled the Model 3, but ultimately, and very anxiously, took delivery. In my nearly 40 years of driving, that car has been the most reliable I've ever owned. Not one single issue in the five years I've owned it.

I had the same concerns when I took delivery of my R1T two months ago. I have some relatively minor issues and I'd be lying if I said they didn't frustrate me, but I'm confident they'll eventually get resolved. More importantly, I would never choose to change my decision to take delivery of my R1T. I love the truck and thankfully haven't experienced anything that prevented me from driving it, so the minor inconvenience to get some of the issues fixed is worth it (and I'm 200 miles from a service center).

 

[Yoshi]

FWIW my 2017 Ridgeline has been recalled five times, including one replacing all the injectors and rails $$$
It also has numerous little electrical glitches like the backup camera doesn't always work and I get frequent erroneous warnings from the Multi Information Display, particularly when it is cold or after it rains.
Far from the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned but on the other hand it has never left me stranded either.

 

[COdogman]

Thank you all for your response. They have been very helpful.

As of now, I am still Hopeful that by the time it is my turn, R1 Reliability and my risk tolerance will move to meet somewhere in the middle. Here are some thoughts that have been colliding in my head which resulted in starting this thread. Even though the car company and much of the software is new, the basic tech behind it not so much. My electric lawnmower has been much more reliable than my gas powered one. I think R1 electric motor can be as reliable as most engines but the fact that it has four of them may increase the chance of breakdown due to motor failure by a factor of four but still not too risky for me. The battery tech has been around in most mobile devices we use for years. May be it is my lack of knowledge of both technologies but ICE still feels more complicated to me. An explosion is the most chaotic thing I can think of. Containing it in an enclosed space and repeating it over and over again for millions of times without a problem still sounds like stuff of magic to me. I think EVs have the potential to be much more reliable if the company has that as priority and don’t get sucked into the shiny gadget race. How many speakers are inside should take a distant back seat to getting the mobility part of the car right.

My current truck is almost 20 years old. If I get a Ridgeline, I will be polluting for another 20 years so I am willing to take more of a chance with R1 than I have taken with any other car purchase in the past.

The parts that I think more likely will get me one of those “do not move or your R1 will explode” messages is a misunderstood sensor somewhere. I think as more situations happen that Rivian engineers didn’t think of when they designed the car, they will adjust. I think a lot of these will be remedied through OTA and I am hoping the hardware issues are picked up as early as possible to minimize recall. The fact that they offered manual bed cover is a good sign. I hope they offer simplified version of any trouble area. I would have loved to have a manual air vents.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and keepem comin

FWIW I just came back from doing my first mile drive at the Denver service center and I made a point to ask my drive guide (Ally) what issues the employees have seen with their own trucks since I assumed they all have more miles on theirs than most people here would. She said she hasn’t heard of any major issues from any of her coworkers - only some of the same minor ones we hear about frequently here, like the tonneau cover, etc… She has 8k miles her R1T and her manager has 13k miles on his.

I only got 45 minutes with it, but I was impressed with how the truck seemed to be put together. And holy $hit was it fun to drive. I’ve owned a Ridgeline and drive a Tacoma now and I think I had forgotten what actual acceleration felt like

 

[MNLightning]

I consider it a major benefit. I don’t expect to get the full picture from the manufacturer alone. The reason, I am excited about R1 is the forum and the reason I am cautious, it is forum too. The fact that you get both good news and bad news here, makes me trust it’s over all content.

I consider myself a Rivian Enthusiast it doesn't keep me from using this forum for a 'BITCH BOARD" when I'm disappointed occasionally. While some of the very serious and unfortunate problems that some have experienced haven't happened to me, Rivian hasn't walked away from anyone that I'm aware of. Yes the solution might have taken longer or even taken another swing or two to correct but they followed through. Renting vehicles, using Ubers, Providing Towing and all in a pretty timely basis for the industry imho.
But being an early adopter has its risks.. I hope you follow through and it goes well.

Best Wishes Max

 

[iansriv]

I think there’s no doubt that the Honda will be more reliable, but the RT1 will be sexier and get you noticed.

I’d prefer to get attention and feel popular.

Is it really? I was hoping it would blend in and not draw attention.

OP: Lots of good thoughts here. All I can add is with most cars today the quality is great but every now and then you get a crappy one. It's a bit of luck or lack thereof.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

For me I need to look at the complaints and evaluate them based on how big of a deal I think they would be for me. There are a few on here that are a little scary, but it seems like Rivian has done okay at making it right. Many years ago I had a Mazda 6 that within 10K miles it went through 3 fuel pumps and an entire ECU and wiring harness.

I guess my point is I got what was supposed to be a "reliable" vehicle and it turned out to be total garbage. I'm hoping my Rivian is flawless just like everyone else does, but I'm perfectly happy with some software glitches and having to reset the truck on occasion. After all I have to do that on my similarly priced Audi, and that car isn't perfect either.

If it winds up being fun to drive, mechanically sound, put together well and the technology working well most of the time I consider it a huge win. If you're going into it expecting perfection you're most likely going to be disappointed. If this is a huge reach purchase for you and you aren't prepared to deal with some issues getting a car that's brand new from an equally new manufacturer isn't really the best choice.

For me I have other cars, and my lifestyle allows the flexibility to deal with minor issues and service on occasion.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Is it really? I was hoping it would blend in and not draw attention.

OP: Lots of good thoughts here. All I can add is with most cars today the quality is great but every now and then you get a crappy one. It's a bit of luck or lack thereof.

You drive a Porsche 911 according to your profile, that's not exactly an incognito car either. I get what you're saying though, and I like that although my Audi get's a few looks it blends in a lot more than the Rivian probably will. I don't want to draw much attention either, but getting a red-orange distinctive looking truck probably isn't going to blend in that well.

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