I reserved an R2 on March 7, 2024. On August 4, 2026, I got the email saying I could order one. I have talked about my Rivian interest in the past.
But, something funny happened on August 1, 2026. Our R1S broke down.
My wife was at the farmer’s market, and when she got back to the car, the driver’s side rear-view mirror would not extend and half of the headlights would not turn on. She tried a soft reset and a hard reset. I drove over and also had no luck.
We went back home, researched it, and realized it might be the 12V battery. We came back with the van and I did my first jump ever. The car turned on! I was able to get in and clear a hood error. I waited for a minute and then unplugged the jumper cables.
Then I couldn’t get back in the car.
I thought the car would be running off the main battery and would be fine, but I was obviously wrong.
The car was completely locked and would not respond to the app.
Our car was fully charged and just sitting in a parking lot for three hours, and it just bricks?
After four hours, a tow truck driver came and took the car to the nearest service center. 45 minutes away.
The next day, I got a call from Rivian. They wanted to know what was wrong with the vehicle because everything seemed fine. I told them the story, and they said, “Huh, that’s weird.”
The following day, Rivian called again and said that we were going to need at least a new door handle and that there was something wrong with the NFC reader. It sounds like they just decided to break into my car because they couldn’t figure out how to get in.
They then asked that I give a service technician access to the vehicle. I couldn’t, because Rivian had marked it “in service.” I messaged them via the app and, after multiple attempts, I was able to give them access.
It has now been a week without the R1S.
The car is still under warranty, as it is less than three years old and under 36K miles. So I’m not too worried about the cost of repairs. But, to have a three-year-old vehicle be completely unusable is concerning.
They are saying we can take it home because everything should work other than the NFC reader, but they are also saying there is nothing wrong with the low-voltage system, even though the car was completely unresponsive. They wouldn’t even offer a 12V battery replacement.
It has given me severe hesitation about purchasing the R2. Especially since there is a Gen 3 model coming in less than a year.
To Be Continued…
