A Rivian R1S Owner Says He Loved His SUV “More Than Anything I’ve Ever Bought,” but After Repeated Electrical Failures and a Rear Suspension Issue Rivian Denied, He Accepted a Buyback, Ending Up in an Escalade IQ That Feels “Just… Fine”

There are endings that feel like a clean brake job, calculated and expected, and there are endings that feel like locking up at the end of the front straight. What happened between one Rivian R1S owner and his Forest Green SUV, nicknamed Shrek, falls firmly in the second category. He did not trade out casually. He did not tire of the technology or the charging curve. He loved the thing, called it his favorite purchase, then watched that affection grind against a cascade of electrical failures and a stubborn rear suspension noise. In the end, he accepted a buyback and wound up in an Escalade IQ that checks all the boxes yet leaves him feeling that it is just fine.

The owner, posting as skerfan02 on Reddit, opened his account like a driver closing a logbook for the last time:

“Today is legitimately a sad day. I turned over the key cards to Shrek and said goodbye.

It was sunny and warm when I picked it up. Fitting that it rained the whole way there.

The good:

I love this truck. It is my favorite thing I have ever purchased. I love the quirky Baymax face. I love that it rides like a 4 Runner and is about the same size too. I love the company. I love that Wassim interacts on Reddit. I love that RJ built the company with a purpose, and although all billionaires are problematic, he is not Elon.

I love this truck when it works. But I got a lemon, and it did not work.

Car costumes on Halloween and Christmas are fun, even if they go away too fast.

OTAs proved to me that a software defined vehicle is the future and every company will have to go that way.

Customer service: while the wait times can be long, I truly believe every person was trying to do right by the customers. Even when I felt like I was being gaslit, I believe this was still the case.

Community: the wave, the online forums, Facebook groups, Reddit topics, the aftermarket 3D printed parts. The random strangers who came and gave my kids a Rivian Matchbox car at multiple charging stops. This has been a great group to be a part of, and I am sad that I am no longer part of it.

The disappointing:

Range: on the OE Pirellis, I averaged 2.3 kW per mile (total range of 324 miles). On the Michelins, 2.1 kW per mile (296 miles).

I never came close to averaging the EPA range. Huge caveat: this could be related to all my electrical issues.

Charging: I maintain 200 kW is fast enough provided that the speed is held long into the curve, at least to 70 percent. The curve is not that good with Rivian, and Gen3 needs to get to 350 kW speeds.

The bad:

The electrical issues.

My electrical issues started about 3 to 4 months in. The front driver's sensors would stop responding. I assumed it was a software glitch that would be fixed with an OTA. A soft reset would usually fix it. Then I started getting airbag failure warnings. Nearly at the same time, the SOS button and overhead lights stopped working.

A mobile service appointment replaced the light fixture and SOS button. No big deal. Faulty part, it was replaced, and my issues were fixed.

Nope. Three months later, a new issue emerged. The front and rear light bars no longer illuminated, and my sensors started going haywire. I lost front collision, traffic sensors, and all versions of cruise control and Driver+. As an aside, Rivian needs to add a dumb cruise control or throttle lock option.

Service visit: there was a probable defect in the light bar, and one of the modules was corroded. It was replaced and all the issues went away again.

Two months later, I noticed a loud metal clunk in the front and rear suspension. Service techs said everything was in spec and the sound must be from the items I had in the basement, which is what I have taken to calling the area under the rear floor.

This is my only issue with service. I accept the long wait times. But frequently they would gaslight me about my suspension issue. Instead of saying they could not see anything wrong, they would put it on me. This would be a reoccurring issue.

One month later, I lost all my sensors again. No cruise control, no traffic, no Driver+. Plus the R1S now showed that the side view mirror cameras needed to be recalibrated. The sound was also still in the suspension.

They replaced the mirror. Weirdly, now there was a recall on the front suspension, nothing from the rear. So the sound must be from the basement. This is the point where my wife told me to get rid of it.

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I picked it up on a Friday, and I did not even get out of the parking lot before the sensors went out again. They hard reset the car and told me to take it home to see if it was fixed.

I dropped it back off on Monday and service replaced three more sensors and the driver assistance module. They recalibrated all the sensors. They said they could not duplicate the sound. I, excessively frustrated, made the service manager ride with me in the R1S. All of my stuff had been moved to the frunk from the basement. I easily duplicated the sound. They told me that some bolts were not torqued to spec, but everything was fine.

Twenty-eight days later, the sensors went out again. This time I called and told them I was unbelievably upset and did not trust this car. I got in the next day. I also got the regional service manager’s work cell number.

Rivian put me in a Gen2 loaner. Immediately I could tell the difference in the suspension. And now I was done. I could not trust the electrical system, and I now knew there was absolutely an issue in the rear suspension. I requested the buyback.

Service replaced every sensor again and the rear half shafts and rear dampers. When I picked up the car, what do you know, the noise was gone.

However, five days after picking it up again, all the sensors started intermittently failing again.

Thirty-eight days in service over the first 14 months and the issue could not be resolved.

The buyback:

My wife was done with the R1S two months before me. I drive a lot, more than 30,000 miles last year. Even with that many miles, I actually very rarely fast charge, about one time a week. Otherwise, I can charge at home. I bought an electric for a lot of reasons, but chief among them is my belief that the battery life is not dependent on miles driven.

Plus, charging at ten cents per kW saved me more than five thousand dollars last year.

At every service visit I was given a gas rental or a Gen1 loaner. With every gas car, Shrek was infinitely better, so I was always happy with what they did. With the Gen1, I could waive off any differences because they are different motors.

Then they gave me a Gen2 on the last loaner. That was a mistake. Instantly, I could hear and feel the difference in the suspension. And there it was. With the incessant electrical problems and the suspension, I was done.

I asked for a buyback on a Friday, one day after it went to service the last time. I was sent up a few channels, including a phone call with a really high-up service manager (corporate level). They offered me two lease payments to waive any lemon claims. I politely declined.

They told me they would review my situation and it would take 6 to 8 weeks for an official decision. I picked Shrek up 13 days later. Twelve hours after picking it up, I had my buyback offer. My purchase price plus taxes paid, plus interest, plus the performance upgrade purchased later, minus the mileage usage from the first date the electrical issues started. I came out okay.

The future:

My business buys my cars, so tax write-offs play a key role in what car I choose. With as much driving as I do, my wife and I agreed I need a car that has closer and more available service centers.

I have back issues, so the sedans are out. My options with the range and weight that I need: a new Rivian, a Lucid Gravity, the Silverado EV, the Sierra EV, or the Escalade IQ.

My wife said no to a new Rivian. Lucid’s closest service center is 8 hours away. I liked the Silverado, but I decided on the Escalade IQ.

It is nice, but I am not excited like I was with Shrek. It is okay, but man, am I going to miss my Rivian.

Sad day.”

You can hear the tone any veteran road tester would recognize. Not anger, but grief. The community understood it the same way. One commenter thanked him for a painfully honest story and expressed hope that Rivian would learn from experiences like his. Another wrote that perhaps he would return to Rivian someday when the time was right. These were not commentators fueling a bonfire of outrage. They were fellow owners who sensed the sincerity of an enthusiast torn between love of a vehicle and the weight of its unresolved faults.

The problems began with a quiet stutter of the front driver sensors a few months into ownership. A soft reset often cleared it, so he kept driving. Then airbag warnings appeared. The SOS button and overhead lights failed. Mobile service replaced the overhead assembly, and the truck behaved for a moment. Months later, the front and rear light bars quit simultaneously, and the sensors misread their surroundings, taking collision warnings, traffic sensing, and all forms of Driver+ with them. Then came the metallic clunk heard at low speeds in both the front and rear suspension. Technicians examined the vehicle, pronounced everything within specification, and suggested the noise might be coming from items in the rear storage compartment he jokingly called the basement. Other owners chimed in with nearly identical stories, which did not inspire confidence.

The R1S went back to the service center again and again. Rivian found a probable defect in the light bar and a corroded module. The sensors were replaced. The systems were recalibrated. Everything seemed normal, then returned to abnormal. More sensor replacements followed. A recall addressed the front suspension, yet the rear noise was still attributed to cargo shifting. Eventually, the owner insisted that a manager join him for a test drive. With the basement emptied, he reproduced the metallic clunk easily. The dealership found bolts not torqued to specification, but once again said the vehicle was fundamentally fine. When the sensors failed again, less than a month later, the owner reached the inevitable conclusion. He no longer trusted the truck.

Rivian responded quickly. He was given the number of a regional service manager and placed in a second-generation R1S loaner. That vehicle made the truth unmistakable. Its suspension was calmer and more composed than Shrek’s had ever been. Rivian installed yet another round of sensors on its own truck, along with new rear half shafts and rear dampers. The suspension noise finally vanished, but within days the sensors failed intermittently again. At that point, the truck had spent more than 38 days in the shop over fourteen months. He requested a buyback. Other owners noted how quickly Rivian often processes these requests and how unexpectedly smooth the experience can be.

The buyback came together in a way that would impress even seasoned industry observers. After escalating the claim up the chain, Rivian warned the review might take weeks. Instead, less than two weeks later, the owner picked up his truck and received a formal offer twelve hours after that. Rivian agreed to refund the purchase price, taxes, interest, and its performance upgrade, minus a mileage offset calculated from when the electrical issues first emerged. He described the outcome as acceptable but not joyful. The community responded with empathy. Some congratulated him for sticking with it as long as he had. Others wished him better luck with what came next.

What came next was a Cadillac Escalade IQ. His business required the range, weight capacity, tax advantages, and access to nearby service centers. His back ruled out sedans. His wife had grown wary of trying another Rivian immediately. Lucid’s service network was too far from home. The Silverado EV tempted him, but the Escalade IQ won out. It is comfortable, capable, and suitable for someone who drives thirty thousand miles a year. Yet in his own words, it does not excite him the way Shrek once did. One commenter captured the sentiment perfectly by saying that perhaps one day a Rivian will find its way back to him.

The broader lesson from this saga is straightforward. Sometimes a machine does not come together the way its designers intended. Even the best manufacturers produce the occasional problem child. What matters is not the flaw itself but the response when the flaw refuses to go quietly. In this case, Rivian’s technical fixes fell short for one customer, but their handling of his buyback was efficient and fair. It was not the ending he wanted, but it was an honorable one. And in the world of complex electric trucks and over-the-air updates, where confidence matters as much as kilowatts, that counts for something.

Image Sources: Rivian Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.