A minor accident involving a Rivian vehicle resulted in a cost of $42,000. The CEO has stated that such an incident should never occur.
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Currently, Rivians are considered pricey vehicles. A quick search online reveals numerous accounts of minor accidents leading to repair bills as high as $42,000 or $41,000 for repairs that seem excessively expensive. The CEO of Rivian acknowledges that this is outrageous and shouldn't occur.
In an exclusive interview in Park City, Utah, on the latest episode of The Drivecast, Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe stated, “There’s no collision repair that should cost tens of thousands of dollars.”
You can listen to the full discussion starting from the point where Scaringe addresses repair expenses below.
The high repair costs for the R1 primarily arise from its aluminum composition and Rivian's initial vehicle design. “We used a one-piece body side, so if you damage something like the rear fender, the repair process can involve either bodywork or cutting out part of the panel and re-welding a new panel,” Scaringe explained.
The team is aware of this challenge, and the aluminum structure complicates matters further. However, a solution has been put in place to help alleviate the issue. “We actually provide subsets of the full panel as service parts for collision centers, so we don’t always have to replace the entire body side,” Scaringe mentioned.
Unlike service and sales, which Rivian handles directly without third parties (i.e., dealerships), it does not operate its own collision centers. Scaringe noted, “Collision repairs are done by third parties. One of the issues is that you can’t visit Rivian collision centers. This leads to high estimates because some centers may not be familiar with Rivians, resulting in inflated quotes that insurance companies approve.”
He further explained, “We have standard procedures, and no collision repair should have costs in the tens of thousands of dollars. These high figures are often isolated incidents, possibly from small collision centers that haven't dealt with a Rivian before, didn’t reach out to us for guidance, and provided a high quote because they likely didn’t want to take on the job.”
Rivians are not the only vehicles reported to have absurd repair costs. For instance, replacing a GMC Hummer EV taillight can cost a staggering $6,100, plus labor. The thought of replacing one of Audi’s new adaptive Matrix LED headlights is likely more than most want to think about. Additionally, the multitude of complex components in modern car dashboards can be overwhelming. At least Mercedes is moving back to using screws instead of glue in an effort to simplify their manufacturing process.
Have you heard about a repair costing an outrageous amount? Reach out to us at tips@thedrive.com.
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A minor accident involving a Rivian vehicle resulted in a cost of $42,000. The CEO has stated that such an incident should never occur.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe revealed exclusively to The Drive that collision repair costs should not reach tens of thousands of dollars, and he elaborated on the reasons for this issue.