• A Rivian R1S owner decided to part ways with the EV after just 7,000 miles.
• The car had several issues, the first of which occurred just 800 miles into the ownership.

The refreshed Rivian R1S and R1T are great electric cars. They’re powerful, comfy, luxurious, and competent off the beaten track. But they’re not perfect.

In the case of Michael Rauch, an EV enthusiast and self-confessed Rivian fan, a bad ownership experience has led him and his family to look elsewhere for their EV fix. After his wife’s Tesla Model X was rear-ended, the search for a new car began last year, as he explains in the Out of Spec Bits video embedded below.

Michael was already the owner of a pre-facelift (Gen 1) Rivian R1T, so when the Gen 2 came out, it seemed like the obvious choice to replace the totaled Model X. After some careful consideration, they pulled the trigger on a fully loaded R1S with the tri-motor and Max battery pack configuration. 

But then, the issues started popping up. The R1S was ordered in July, but it wasn’t until December that the delivery happened. Not a big deal, but it later turned out to be a bit of an omen. “The best day was picking it up,” Rauch said.

With just 800 miles on the odometer, the R1S had a critical failure of the front electric motor. The electric SUV had to be picked up by a flatbed truck and sent to a Rivian service center, which was a great experience. The service staff was “dynamite,” the owner said. They replaced the front motor and, out of an abundance of caution, the rear motor, even though there wasn’t anything wrong with it.

With that initial mechanical issue fixed, the family embarked on a 1,000-mile road trip, thinking its teething issues were sorted. They weren’t. With 2,000 miles on the odometer, the air conditioning system failed, which resulted in another tow to a Rivian service center. Again, the technicians and service manager were on top of their game, but the owners’ confidence in driving the R1S was eroding. 

With the HVAC system sorted, the car was back on the road, but not for too long. At 6,900 miles, water started to leak into the cabin, even on sunny days. This was the last drop, and it convinced Rauch that the R1S has to go.

“As much as we love it, and we love Rivian, it’s time for us to move on from it,” he said. We’ve lost all confidence in the vehicle.”

Now, the R1S, which is less than a year old, is currently sitting inside a garage because the owner fears it may be flooded if it rains. Since December, it has spent more than 30 days out of commission, which makes it eligible for a Lemon Law buyback in Pennsylvania.

 

As with any car startup, potential customers usually think twice before committing to a purchase because there’s bound to be some sort of problem along the way. Compared to so-called legacy automakers, startups have fewer service centers and parts availability could be scarce. On the flip side, you get to drive a car that’s different from the norm.

This could be an outlier, but it’s not the first time a Rivian owner had to resort to a buyback. Two years ago, the owner of a Gen 1 R1T had a similar experience with his truck. He loved the truck and the service center experience, but the EV had to be towed away on four different occasions for some variation of an error with either the drive system or the parking brake that would render the car inoperable.

Rivian did everything it could to put the car back on the road as quickly as possible, but the car had become a pain instead of doing what it was supposed to do.

In Michael’s case, the nearly new Gen2 R1S transformed the EV ownership experience, forcing its owners to embrace what he calls “usability anxiety.” The fit and finish were really good, the interior is great, but the overall experience was bad. “I don’t want car drama, I just want a car,” his wife, who was the primary driver, said.