Rivian R1T owner drives 24,000 miles in 15 months. Now, Rivian is buying it back
That’s why the company pays the full price for the used truck.
Updated: November 18, 2023 in 8:43 AM ET
The Rivian R1T is marketed as an adventure truck, but some people want a small truck for work. And Mitch Domke, who uploaded the 22-minute video embedded above, is one of them.
He bought it about 15 months ago and has put 24,000 miles on the electric truck to do everything from hauling trailers to carrying tools and keeping up with anything thrown its 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 truck towed due to some variation of fault in either the drive system or the parking brake rendering the vehicle inoperable.
With that being said, the owner mentions multiple times in the video that Rivian’s customer service is amazing and that every time the pickup truck stops, Rivian immediately arranges a tow truck, offers credits to drive an Uber or Lyft back home, and puts it in its place. In a rented car.
After all his breakdowns, Mitch says he drove an Enterprise rental car for about 45 days over a three- to four-month period. Which understandably made him lose confidence in his car. So he spoke with Rivian and agreed with the company to buy back the R1T at full price because the issue was not resolved during all service appointments.
Gallery: 2022 Rivian R1T
9 the pictures
However, he still recommends the Rivian electric truck because he believes his case is an isolated one and that the company is still learning from its mistakes. Sure, the electric trunk lid broke in the first few months (a common problem, which is why it was redesigned) and the hood refuses to close after pressing the button, but other than that, it was a good car.
The bed-mounted electrical outlets and unique Gear Tunnel were praised by the owner as making life much easier on the farm. He can carry his shoes or stinky gear in the Gear Tunnel and get power from outlets in the bed without having to worry about extension cords.
Watch the video at the top of this page and let us know what you think in the comments section below: What would you do if you were in a similar situation?
