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Why Some Early Rivian Owners Are Losing Patience With Software Fixes
A Reddit post making the rounds this week has struck a nerve with a lot of Rivian owners, and it highlights a frustration that’s been bubbling under the surface for a while.
The post, titled “The Wet Handshake: Rivian’s Ignoring of Long-Term Bugs Is Getting Old,” comes from an owner with two R1 vehicles. It references RJ’s early comment that the R1 represents Rivian’s handshake with the world, and argues that, at least on the software side, that handshake doesn’t feel very strong today.
Instead of focusing on missing features, the post calls out long-standing issues that have reportedly stuck around for a year or more. HVAC systems behaving erratically on road trips, driver-assist features disabling themselves in light mist or snow, USB-C ports resetting under load, confusing navigation behavior, misleading preconditioning messages, and inconsistency in Snow Mode regen are some of the examples cited.
Individually, these are annoyances. Taken together, they point to a deeper concern around follow-through. Many commenters echoed similar experiences, especially around driver-assist reliability and climate control, suggesting these aren’t isolated edge cases.
The bigger issue raised is perception. As Rivian talks more about R2, autonomy, and future platforms, some early R1 owners feel like the vehicle that introduced the brand to the world is no longer getting the attention it deserves. For a group that largely helped build Rivian’s reputation, that feeling matters.
To be clear, Rivian ownership experiences vary widely. Plenty of owners still report extremely positive experiences and say their R1 is the best vehicle they’ve ever owned. But the consistency of certain complaints, particularly around software polish and service responsiveness, is hard to ignore.
This conversation comes at an important time for Rivian. With R2 on the horizon, expectations will only rise. Mainstream buyers will be less forgiving of long-standing issues, which makes tightening up the everyday experience on R1 more important than ever.
Rivian has already proven it can build compelling vehicles. The next step is proving it can consistently clean up the small things that shape long-term trust.
Jose’s Note
Throughout my own Rivian ownership, I’ve definitely run into a few software annoyances and minor frustrations, but nothing that would stop me from buying another Rivian or recommending one to someone else. Despite the quirks, I still believe in the product, the direction of the company, and what Rivian is building long-term.
I bought an R1T 6 months ago after being interested in the brand for years. The idea of the vehicle is fantastic, the QC of the vehicle and service experience is severely lacking for any price, let alone a $90k+ vehicle. Rivian is going to win over some consumers with a test drive like they did me, but they’re going to lose 10x others due to word of mouth from poor ownership experiences like my own. They have 100% bit off more than they can chew.
Service waits are still 4+ months, my Gen 2 has been in 6 times in a year of ownership and it’s been towed in for serious issues twice. It’s currently in the service center again and been in for over a week and they haven’t even started working on my vehicle. Also the closest service center is almost 200 miles from me. I’ve had to take a ton of time off work for service issues for this vehicle. I absolutely would not purchase a Rivian again and I’m not extremely concerned about how long service wait times will be once they start delivering R2’s. Every single software updated has seemed to cause new bugs and issues. It’s extremely disappointing.
I can’t say I’ve experienced any of the issues identified in the “Wet Handshake” post, but I’ve noticed a lot of little things that distract from an otherwise great experience:
– lack of “resume” function for cruise control (like every other automaker except Tesla)
– the audio app covers up some options in Spotify and Tidal, requiring you to swipe it away to access them
– the inability to view playlists in Spotify and Tidal without switching the audio over
– the Spotify app will randomly switch to a different playlist than the one I selected
– not showing the battery temperature while charging (yet still showing the motor temps?)
– Rivian Premium audio still very inferior to the old Merdian system, especially in bass output and clarity
– snowflakes have 6 sides, not 4 (Tesla gets this wrong too)
– the inability to put the wipers into service mode when set to Auto
– the audio and cruise control toggles on the steering wheel are exactly opposite that of Tesla (and I’m sure many R1 owners are current/former Tesla owners)
– cannot access the cameras from the app
– no garage door opener toggle in the app
– electronic door handles are a solution in search of a problem… if you have to include manual releases anyway for emergency situations, then why bother?
– unlocking slow to respond when using phone as key
– the truck will unlock and let me into the vehicle only to then say that it cannot detect a key
– it would be nice to have a separate “button” for the heated steering wheel instead of having to go into the seat heating/cooling submenu… there’s room on the screen