Rivian Repair Nightmare: R1T Owner's Patience Wears Thin With 8-Month Service Wait

A Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN truck owner has alleged that he has been waiting for eight months to get his vehicle repaired after an accident in April.

What Happened: Utah-based Michael Holbrook took delivery of his Rivian R1T Launch Edition in June 2022.

After clocking about 7,500 miles, the vehicle collided with a Jeep Cherokee at an intersection in Utah in April, damaging its front right quarter panel.

Holbrook subsequently gave the vehicle to a Rivian-certified body shop in Salt Lake City for repair, and since then, hasn't received a satisfying fix on his vehicle, InsideEVs reported. It is worth noting that the collision center is a third-party affiliated with Rivian but not owned by it.

As per the report, it was later found that the crash pinched the cable linking one of the side view cameras, and to replace it, the body shop will have to replace the entire wiring harness for which it needed Rivian's specialized diagnostic software called Ride.

The vehicle sat at the service center for four months awaiting the software, and then it took two more months to sort out the problem, the report said. At present, however, replacing the side camera is a relatively easier process.

Holbrook received his vehicle six months after giving it for service but believes that the repair process only damaged his vehicle further with the disassembling and reassembling. Rivian, however, is of the opinion that the vehicle was returned to the customer with all damage fixed. During the period when his vehicle was under repair, the company also loaned Holbrook a replacement R1T free of charge.

A Rivian spokesperson acknowledged the long wait time in a statement to Benzinga and said that it is adding more collision centers to cater to customers and their needs.

"Although damage was significant, we recognize that an 8-month wait time for a collision repair is too long, and we have been in contact with both the third-party collision center and the customer," the spokesperson said.

What's Ahead: Rivian delivered 15,564 vehicles in the third quarter of this year despite the higher-end pricing on the vehicles. It reported a revenue of $1.337 billion for the quarter and a loss of $1.19 per share, beating analyst estimates of $1.32 per share.

Presently, the company is eyeing positive gross profit by 2024 and working on its R2 platform.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

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