Rivian R1T 2023

Car with less than 300 miles on it. On inspection of the underbody, a significant leak on passenger front side with grease in a centrifugal pattern. Appears that CV joint/boot is failing which is concerning on a brand new car for potential failure.

The front passenger airbag sensor goes on and off when my passenger sits in the front seat. My passenger is 133 pounds and sometimes it triggers the "disabled" airbag icon and sometimes it doens't. It's very inconsistent and I fear that if it is in the disabled position at the time of an accident the airbags will not deploy. The vehicle has not been inspected by a licensed professional, manufacturer or police.

The Rivian R1T's passenger airbag does not engage if you weigh less than a certain amount. I am 5'2" and 120 pounds, and the airbag is "off" if I sit in the passenger seat. Some Rivian dealers say it is set at 135 pounds; one dealer said it is set at 150 pounds. When we complain to Rivian, they say the car is "functioning as designed," but will not tell us what those design parameters are. I cannot ride in my own car.

Was driving on the highway in the left lane at roughly 80 mph and suddenly lost regenerative braking and almost got into an accident not realizing I had to use my physical brakes to slow down. Truck entered turtle mode and was able to make it safely over and back home. Problem got worse with rattling coming from the front compartment. Front half shaft was discovered to be detached and this will be the third this half shaft has been repaired. Video of the loose half shaft is available.

Rivian R1T was brought to independent tire center for tire rotation on same day before 1,000 mile trip. Technician documented: "Drivers side front CV axle bolt almost completely backed out". Bolt took less than one rotation by hand to come off. Documented by tire shop technician. - Possible safety impact by possible failure of half-shaft and loss of steering control and/or wheel loss - The vehicle is scheduled for an inspection by manufacturer July 14, 2025 - There were no warnings or symptoms prior to discovery

Rivian passenger airbag is usually disabled (70 % cases) with adult passengers weighing about 125 lbs while they sit correctly in the front passenger seat. There is a warning light "Passenger airbag off". No problems with heavier passengers (> 140 lbs). There are tons of threads about this issue on Rivian forums, Reddit or Facebook groups. Based on these threads, sometimes Rivian service centers try to fix it (often unseccessfully) and sometimes they say it's normal. I've contacted a Rivian service through the Rivian app and they told me that it's a normal behavior because 125 lbs is near the treshold. But I never had similar issues with other cars.

I Was driving down highway and receive a fe messages in quick order -front sensors off, front camera off, collision detection off, regenerative braking off - started moving toward right shoulder prior to pulling off - car lost speed at high rate putting me in jeopardy of being rear ended. 2025.06.012 code was loaded into truck the day before - this was first real drive after new code loaded into truck - early in the morning the warning for front sensors off, collision detection off, regenerative braking off did come and I pulled off and rebooted system. Everything seemed to be fine - made into office and again on return the loss of speed at high rate was a safety issue.

The vehicle was parked on a 8 degree slope in the driveway with approximately 2 inches of snow on the drive way. Within thirty minutes of the vehicle being parked the truck slide down the driveway and crashed into the house. The parking brake failed and or is miss-engineered seeing that only two of the wheels were locked and two rolled noting the tire tracks in the snow. The saftey of myself and others could have been much worse if the truck hadn't hit the house and kept rolling down the hill into an adjacent street or house. There is other vehicle reports of this happening on online forums. The vehicle component has not been inspected by the manufacturer. The issue lies with it being an electrical motor and does not have a differential to lock the remaining tires as in an automatic gas powered vehicle. This company has relied on the parking break to only lock the rear wheels for the parking break despite it being an extremely heavy vehicle.

The contact owns a 2023 Rivian R1T. The contact stated while driving at approximately 70 MPH with the cruise control activated while overtaking another vehicle, the vehicle independently activated the brake. The contact had not turned off the cruise control and there were no other vehicles nearby. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that when the other vehicle had passed the contact’s vehicle, the brakes disengaged, and the cruise control resumed and accelerated the vehicle back to the pre-set cruising speed. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but had become a recurring failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to a service center; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that when the vehicle fully charged the battery, the indicator showed that the vehicle was at 100 percent charge with a range of 369 miles. The contact was only able to drive a range of 260 miles on a full charged battery before needing to recharge the battery. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 7,000.

The vehicle’s Driver+ advanced driver assistance system (including Adaptive Cruise Control and Highway Assist) repeatedly failed during normal highway driving. The system would display “Driver Assistance Features Unavailable – Service Soon” and immediately disable all assisted-driving functions, even in clear weather and well-marked lanes. This occurred intermittently from approximately 1,200 miles onward and continued for over a year despite multiple repair attempts by the manufacturer’s service centers. The malfunction directly affected safe operation, as the system could disengage without warning at highway speeds, forcing sudden driver intervention. The issue was reproduced and documented by the manufacturer’s technicians during at least one service visit, which resulted in replacement of the vehicle’s driver-assistance computer. The failure continued even after that replacement. The vehicle has been inspected and serviced numerous times by the manufacturer, with diagnostics performed on the cooling system, cameras, sensors, and ADAS module. Each repair attempt either failed to duplicate or failed to permanently correct the defect. The safety risk is loss of Adaptive Cruise Control and Highway Assist functions while driving, unexpected disengagement of automated steering/braking, and lack of reliable warning timing to the driver. Warning messages appeared frequently throughout 2024–2025, beginning within the first few months of ownership. The defect remains unresolved and appears systemic rather than isolated to this vehicle.

I picked up this vehicle brand new from a Rivian service center. On the way home after approximately 90 miles, the screens lit up with a message saying Critical Battery Issue: Service Vehicle Immediately. In addition to the warnings on the console, there was a very loud beeping sound that did not stop. My understanding of the issue from speaking to Service and reading forums is that there is a software issue interacting with the battery which can cause this issue and eventually the vehicle to brick. It could cause a safety issue because in my case, it happened out of nowhere and forced me to pull over to the side of the road to protect myself and my family and the vehicle. In attempts to tow it to the service center, we also discovered that it was not possible to place the car in neutral which made it difficult to place on the tow truck. Had the car shut down entirely, I am not sure what the option would have been. To the best of my knowledge, Service has not officially diagnosed or determined the issue with my vehicle. Some of the information I have provided comes from research in online forums where others were encountering this problem at least back in 2022. It concerns me that there is still an issue especially as this was a brand new car and this manufacturer is attempting to ramp up production. It seems plausible there could be many more cars on the road soon and many/all contain this issue. There were no indications whatsoever before the message and noise began and I was driving down the highway at a normal and constant rate of speed.

The components that failed are Traction Control, Stability controls, and Anti-Lock Braking while in high regeneration mode. Vehicle can easily become incontrollable in low traction situations (in high regeneration mode) that is a danger to the driver and others on the road. Sequence of Events 1.Vehicle begins to Aquaplane 2.Driver (myself) removes foot from the accelerator pedal (standard technique to regain control) 3.The tires in the front loose more traction and skid due to high regeneration mode. 4.With even less traction the vehicle is out of control In the moment, my first concern and priority was other drivers. I was able avoid six lanes of traffic in the direction of travel without hitting another vehicle before hitting the should barrier. The vehicle felt like there was no ABS (Antilock Braking System) and no traction control. It felt like the vehicle locked all four wheels (like I had placed the vehicle in park). In addition, I had a service scheduled at the end of May 2024 (scheduled in January 2024) for issues with the rain sensor(s). I do not know if these sensor(s) comes into play. It is my belief that there should be a safety warning when using High Regeneration mode and the vehicle should automatically switch back to Low Regeneration mode with each new startup. I have noticed this feature in other electric cars (Audi/BMW) and have begun to understand why these vehicles perform this function. In addition, I have searched the Forum website and have discovered others that have experienced the same issue related to traction in this mode.

1. The powertrain, acceleration system, and defrost system failed. The vehicle unexpectedly entered Limited Performance Mode, but instead of allowing reduced acceleration as expected, it resulted in a complete loss of power and left us stranded in traffic. Additionally, a defrost system failure warning appeared, causing a loss of visibility. The vehicle is currently at a Rivian service center, and it should be available for inspection upon request. 2.The vehicle became completely unresponsive while on a single-lane on-ramp overpass, leaving us stranded in moving traffic. Other vehicles were traveling at 50-60 mph, and drivers had to swerve abruptly to avoid a collision. This failure created an imminent risk of a rear-end or multi-car accident, putting my wife and me—and other drivers—at serious risk of injury or death. Additionally, the defrost failure further compromised visibility, making it even more dangerous to remain in the vehicle while waiting for assistance. 3.The vehicle is currently at the Rivian service center, but Rivian has not yet provided a definitive diagnosis or explanation for the failure. We are awaiting their response and further inspection. 4. The vehicle is at Rivian’s service center, where it is undergoing inspection by the manufacturer. However, it has not yet been inspected by police or insurance representatives. 5. Yes, the “Limited Performance Mode” message appeared, but according to Rivian’s own system, the vehicle should have still allowed for reduced acceleration. Instead, it lost all power completely, leaving us stranded. Additionally, a defrost system failure warning appeared at the same time, preventing us from defrosting the windshield.

On multiple occasions I have experienced the defrost feature of my 2023 Rivian R1T blowing cool air instead of warm or hot air, leading to a build up of ice on the windshield while driving. I have brought this concern to Rivian's attention with two service appointments, both of which resulted in Rivian noting they couldn't see any errors in the vehicle's diagnostic logs. I specifically noted the date, time, and temperature of one event but Rivian failed to copy the log data when requested. The issue is trivially reproducible in temperatures around 32ºF, when the defrost mode is enabled. Tapping the defrost/defog button on screen twice to enable defrost mode results in the vehicle selecting the vents for floor and windshield heat, speeds the fan to near maximum, and is supposed to blow hot air to aid in clearing built up ice. Instead what happens is the vents blow cool air for several minutes at maximum fan speed. Then the fan motors slow to their slowest speed at which time the vents blow slightly warm air After 5-10 minutes the fans speed up to maximum and the air coming from the vents is cool. When the vehicle was initially purchased, the defrost feature blew air hot enough to nearly be uncomfortable on the face. This is very much in line with any other vehicle I have owned when the defrost temperature and fan speed was set the maximum. But after an end of year update in 2024 or early 2025, the defrost feature began blowing cooler air and has never regained its original ability to clear the windscreen. The winter of 2025 and early 2026 has now resulted in this complaint. Rivian maintains the system is functioning as expected, but the service center staff doesn't quite seem to understand the severity of the issue. They claim a bug report can not be filed with Rivian until they capture an error in diagnostic data that they repeatedly fail to collect. Instead their advice is to enable cabin vents to warm the cabin instead of the windshield.