A 24-year-old American receives his new car after a 3-year wait. But just 2 days later, the car is ruined. A snowdrift has destroyed the car.
A car is a costly investment, and one usually hopes to use a new car for many years. But for a 24-year-old, it was over just 2 days later. This is despite waiting 3 years for the car and making a down payment of around $80,000. This is reported by the English-language magazine Businessinsider.com.
A total loss after just 2 days after a 3-year wait
This is what happened to the buyer: The 24-year-old Merrill was convinced by other family members to order a new Rivian R1S. According to the manufacturer’s website, this model starts at just under €70,000.
At first, the driver was uncertain whether he could really afford such a new and especially expensive vehicle, as in the remote area where he lives with his family, one is dependent on their car.
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After 3 years of waiting, he finally received his new vehicle. He tells the magazine that the new car felt fantastic: “I was in a honeymoon phase,” he explained. But the joy was short-lived.
Two days later, he wanted to test the car and drove the SUV into the mountains to a family property. He wanted to put his rugged electric SUV to the test and drove it on the unplowed, snow-covered road to the property. Initially, the R1S skidded through the snow. Then, a large snowdrift immobilized the car.
I encountered about 2.5 feet [72 centimeters] of snow, and it just stopped. I had seen all the Rivian advertising campaigns where the cars just plow through the snow, so I thought: Man, this is disappointing.
But it got even more frustrating. Because while he was unbelted in the driver’s seat and was rocking the R1S out of the snowdrift, he accidentally triggered a safety feature that locked the car between park and drive. This rendered his vehicle completely useless.
What happened next? He had his car towed, costing about €2,000. He is now considering getting rid of the Rivian and purchasing another vehicle instead. Not surprising after the first failed test.
The manufacturer itself stated that the experiences of the 24-year-old were anything but positive. Wassym Bensaid, Senior Vice President of Software Development at Rivian, assured:
There was an unfortunate cascade of events and edge cases that led to this situation. But we take this feedback as a gift. It is great input for us to improve the product.
Bensaid said that he and his team are considering responses to this specific incident, such as adding better service shortcuts to the Rivian mobile app to report issues like Merrill’s, and sharing FAQs for drivers whose cars get stuck.
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