Rivian R1T Owner Drove 24,000 Miles In 15 Months. Now, Rivian Is Buying It Back
The Rivian R1T is marketed as an adventure truck, but some people want a pickup for work. And Mitch Dumke, who uploaded the 22-minute video embedded above, is one of them.
He bought it about 15 months ago and put 24,000 miles on the electric truck doing everything from hauling trailers to carrying tools and keeping up with whatever ranching threw his way.
As he puts it, the R1T was a great work truck for him, but it wasn’t perfect. In fact, on four different occasions, he had to have his pickup towed because of some variation of an error with either the drive system or the parking brake that would render the vehicle inoperable.
With this being said, the owner mentions several times in the video that Rivian’s customer service is amazing and that every time the pickup died, Rivian would immediately arrange for a tow truck, offer credits for an Uber or Lyft drive back home, and put him in a rental car.
After all the breakdowns he’s had, Mitch says that he drove around in a rental car from Enterprise for about 45 days in a three- to four-month period. Which, understandably, made him lose trust in his car. So he spoke with Rivian and agreed with the company to buy back the R1T at full price because the issue wasn’t resolved during all the service appointments.
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However, he would still recommend Rivian’s electric pickup because he thinks his case is an isolated one and that the company is still learning from its mistakes. Sure, the powered tonneau cover broke in the first few months (a common issue, which is why it was redesigned) and the hood refuses to close after pressing the button, but other than that, it’s been a good vehicle.
The bed-mounted electrical outlets and the unique Gear Tunnel got praise from the owner because they made life a lot easier on the farm. He could carry his stinky boots or tools in the Gear Tunnel and get power from the outlets in the bed without having to worry about extension cords.
Go ahead and watch the video at the top of this page and let us know what you think in the comments section below: what would you have done if you were in a similar situation?
