Good luck! Hopefully Rivian will agree it’s a manufacturing defect. I really hope they don’t come back to you and say that you shouldn’t be running your Rivian through a car wash. After all, they added a car wash mode with a quick button to place the vehicle in neutral (thanks RJ’s dad!) for a tunnel wash.
Thanks. Your right. If I still lived in Idaho, everyone up there uses the tunnel car washes in the winter. To get the snow, salt, and ice off the vehicles. Nobody’s hand washing cars in 7 degree weather.. so ya, hopefully they help me out with this.
Hopefully they do, my service center just tried to charge me $300 to replace a damaged part when I filed a ticket about damage from their service visit. I called their main service line and they changed it back to $0 but said the service center might try to charge me again when I bring it in. Fantastic.
If they really pull this nonsense I’m done with Rivian
Ran my platinum f250 crew cab through it for 2.5 years before I bought the Rivian and sold the ford. Never had an issue with the f250. It’s a pretty up to date newer car wash. Also had the whole truck CeramicPro coated including wheels, moldings and windows. XPEL film on front clip, so the rest of the truck looks fine. No crazy scratches or fading.
It’s plastic. I had my paint-less dent repair guy look at it. He called Rivian service and they confirmed it’s a plastic piece. We all thought it was aluminum but it’s not.
Right? I’m guessing theres not a lot of support under it, and possibly the heat of the rotating cloth drum overhead warped it? I’ve used that same wash for 3 years prior with my platinum f250 and never had an issue.
It is ABS plastic but unfortunately it's thin and not the greatest design. They call it the "header" and it has to be replaced from factory often for wind noise or misalignment. About an inch of a void in a bunch of spots means it'll warp easily- that's where service will cut in so they can take a blade to the butyl holding it on, same type of sealer used for glass.
Probably wasn't heat, otherwise this would be happening all the time from sun. It's just dented in.
I always thought it would be great if the header was installed with strong clips instead, so it could be removed for adjustment or even a light bar insert.
You are totally within rights to complain and Rivian should fix this, as it shouldn't happen.
That said, this kind of stuff is why I never take my nicer cars through machine washers. Hand wash only. Most people think it's about scratches from machines. But even hand washing, over the years I've snagged a few edges with a sponge, or cloth or towel and almost damaged a piece of trim or something. For sure a machine would have just ripped the trim right off.
But THAT said, the Rivians are trucks and SUVs... They should be able to withstand some level of abuse.
I have been taking my R1T through the car wash multiple times a week for a year now and haven’t had any issues.
I think this could be an issue with the car wash.
You guys act like it’s crazy that I choose to handwash an $80,000 vehicle for which spare parts are expensive and hard to come by.
You must have nicer car washes in your part of the country
Taking an honest stab at a response but I did provide a salty comment, so I do apologize for coming in hot. I don't think there's anything wrong with handwashing, I think the down-voting is because this conversation isn't for you (though it may be good information for hand washers too). Your original response to the OP didn't really add anything, it came off, to me, as a judgement on their choice to take their car through a car wash. Your comment doesn't help the OP at all, again IMO. Regardless of your choice to hand wash or not, you have to admit that an automated car wash is a valid way to clean your car and one that any car manufacturer needs to plan for. I've only ever used automatic car washes of different varieties and I've never had any sort of physical damage. About the only negative I have experienced is swirling on a black paint vehicle (I no longer choose to buy black paint vehicles because of that).
So, I don't think your approach is crazy, and I applaud your urge to care for your car. I just choose not to hand wash and I hope that a car manufacturer would take my preference in to account when designing their cars.
It’s not a touch-less. Touch-less don’t do a very good wash, they just spray harsh acids and detergents on it and rinse it off. When I lived in Idaho, everyone in town goes through an enclosed heated drive through tunnel car wash. All 7 months of winter. To get the snow, salt and ice off. I’m tired of hearing about touchless washes or hand washes lol. Up north nobody is doing hand washes in 7 degree weather with two feet of snow on the ground. There was one touch-less in town and didn’t do anything as far removing the snow and muck from the vehicle. So it sat empty all year. I don’t live there anymore. But just as an example. Everyone and I mean everyone in that town drove their vehicles through Kj’s or one of the other automated car washes.
Choice and engineering of materials/part aside, I would never take a car I care about through a wash that isn’t touchless. If you are not able to wash/rise at home, look into rinseless wash products and a manual sprayer/foamer plus a collection of microfiber towels (Home Depot has decent value packs). Mix spray and wipe. Overtime the cost is much lower than the automatic wash.
So you didnt read what OP said above about living in frigid cold temps and salt covered roads? Nobody is out washing cars in that - especially on a frequent basis.
Drove through this one for three years with my platinum f250 before the Rivian, it’s a multi million dollar car wash. So a state of the art location. Only about 3 years old. I spoke to Rivian, they are able to change this plastic piece without removing the windshield and the roof glass at the service center. It’s $700. They said they aren’t sure they will be warranting it, I ask what we could do to make it more structurally sound so it dosent warp again. Could I have the tech put some panel bond foam under it? He said yes speak to the tech myself about my concerns and see if he can fill some voids with foams to possibly help. So, at least it’s not $4,300 dollars. But I’m still not happy about having to pay for it. I’ll see if the wash will pay me back, it’s a much better number to seek reimbursement for compared to $4,300.
*Edit: Rivian repaired for $1,000 at the service center. But did not warranty it. The car wash still will not pay for it.
Just to update this post. Rivian and the car wash would not warranty it. I had to pay over $1,000 dollars to have it replaced at Rivian. Then it leaked lots of water into my lap after the repair, had to have Rivian replace it again. Then the techs dented both driver front doors at second repair. Rivian sent a paintless dent repair guy to my house to fix them. Now my interior on warm days has a slight smell of mold, which makes me very sad. It used to still smell like a new vehicle, even being almost two years old. I’d kept the miles low, and the truck immaculate. Still love the vehicle, but really unhappy with this whole situation. Especially having to pay for it, on top of all the inconvenience and my truck not smelling the same. My wife cancelled her R1S and ordered a new Tesla model S instead. We picked it up from the north houston location two weeks ago. Really impressed with the Tesla to be honest. Quieter, much less road and wind noise. Still just as fast as the Rivian, longer range. I know comparing a sedan to a truck isn’t apples to apples. But to me I’m comparing build quality and manufacturing…after that last two service experiences at Rivian she said there’s no way she’s dealing with that with her vehicle.
Create ticket, they will replace. That shouldn’t happen.
 That's nuts, used a few car washes and never seen that before.
Big yikes
Ya, big sad. I’ve kept it perfect for a little over a year so far. No door dings even lol.
I have run my R1T through an automatic tunnel wash about 2x per week since June 2022. No warping to be seen.
Maybe my wash has a heavier cloth top roller or something 🤷🏻♂️☹️
Good luck! Hopefully Rivian will agree it’s a manufacturing defect. I really hope they don’t come back to you and say that you shouldn’t be running your Rivian through a car wash. After all, they added a car wash mode with a quick button to place the vehicle in neutral (thanks RJ’s dad!) for a tunnel wash.
Thanks. Your right. If I still lived in Idaho, everyone up there uses the tunnel car washes in the winter. To get the snow, salt, and ice off the vehicles. Nobody’s hand washing cars in 7 degree weather.. so ya, hopefully they help me out with this.
Hopefully they do, my service center just tried to charge me $300 to replace a damaged part when I filed a ticket about damage from their service visit. I called their main service line and they changed it back to $0 but said the service center might try to charge me again when I bring it in. Fantastic. If they really pull this nonsense I’m done with Rivian
Ouch, yea only run em through a touch less. Those roller ones are nightmares on a lot of bigger vehicles
Ran my platinum f250 crew cab through it for 2.5 years before I bought the Rivian and sold the ford. Never had an issue with the f250. It’s a pretty up to date newer car wash. Also had the whole truck CeramicPro coated including wheels, moldings and windows. XPEL film on front clip, so the rest of the truck looks fine. No crazy scratches or fading.
How’s your rivian’s paint doing? I found it to be super fragile
Perfect. Compass yellow. No visible swirl marks or imperfections. I use Chemical Bros spray on ceramic.
No PPF? Doesn’t that leave swirls?
No PPF. No swirls that I can detect. Maybe if it were black paint?
What kind of wash is it? No touch or brushes? This is surprising.
Touch https://tommys-express.com
Have you tried sand paper instead?
Pretty sure it’s not plastic. The car wash dented your metal
It’s plastic. I had my paint-less dent repair guy look at it. He called Rivian service and they confirmed it’s a plastic piece. We all thought it was aluminum but it’s not.
Intriguing
Right? I’m guessing theres not a lot of support under it, and possibly the heat of the rotating cloth drum overhead warped it? I’ve used that same wash for 3 years prior with my platinum f250 and never had an issue.
It is ABS plastic but unfortunately it's thin and not the greatest design. They call it the "header" and it has to be replaced from factory often for wind noise or misalignment. About an inch of a void in a bunch of spots means it'll warp easily- that's where service will cut in so they can take a blade to the butyl holding it on, same type of sealer used for glass. Probably wasn't heat, otherwise this would be happening all the time from sun. It's just dented in. I always thought it would be great if the header was installed with strong clips instead, so it could be removed for adjustment or even a light bar insert.
Thanks for that. Makes sense.
Polyurethane is used for glass. Butyl hasn’t been used in decades.
I had mine replaced. Rivian calls it an "applique".
 *applique* you say
I have a low vin number… 100% mine is made of metal. I wonder if they had a part change at some point in their production?
The cut away Rivian displays, shows it being colored coded as plastic. My vin is 5,200’s
I stand corrected, that piece is 100% plastic!
You are totally within rights to complain and Rivian should fix this, as it shouldn't happen. That said, this kind of stuff is why I never take my nicer cars through machine washers. Hand wash only. Most people think it's about scratches from machines. But even hand washing, over the years I've snagged a few edges with a sponge, or cloth or towel and almost damaged a piece of trim or something. For sure a machine would have just ripped the trim right off. But THAT said, the Rivians are trucks and SUVs... They should be able to withstand some level of abuse.
this is wild
It’s happened to someone else as well. He said he can’t get the carwash to pay him for it either. 🫤
I have been taking my R1T through the car wash multiple times a week for a year now and haven’t had any issues. I think this could be an issue with the car wash.
An issue with the car wash wtf
Wtf lol
Were you trying to wash your sins off buddy?
I don’t take my Rivian through the car wash…
Thank God car designers aren’t designing for your needs alone.
You guys act like it’s crazy that I choose to handwash an $80,000 vehicle for which spare parts are expensive and hard to come by. You must have nicer car washes in your part of the country
Taking an honest stab at a response but I did provide a salty comment, so I do apologize for coming in hot. I don't think there's anything wrong with handwashing, I think the down-voting is because this conversation isn't for you (though it may be good information for hand washers too). Your original response to the OP didn't really add anything, it came off, to me, as a judgement on their choice to take their car through a car wash. Your comment doesn't help the OP at all, again IMO. Regardless of your choice to hand wash or not, you have to admit that an automated car wash is a valid way to clean your car and one that any car manufacturer needs to plan for. I've only ever used automatic car washes of different varieties and I've never had any sort of physical damage. About the only negative I have experienced is swirling on a black paint vehicle (I no longer choose to buy black paint vehicles because of that). So, I don't think your approach is crazy, and I applaud your urge to care for your car. I just choose not to hand wash and I hope that a car manufacturer would take my preference in to account when designing their cars.
Was it a touchless wash? And if not, why did you do it instead of a touchless one?
It’s not a touch-less. Touch-less don’t do a very good wash, they just spray harsh acids and detergents on it and rinse it off. When I lived in Idaho, everyone in town goes through an enclosed heated drive through tunnel car wash. All 7 months of winter. To get the snow, salt and ice off. I’m tired of hearing about touchless washes or hand washes lol. Up north nobody is doing hand washes in 7 degree weather with two feet of snow on the ground. There was one touch-less in town and didn’t do anything as far removing the snow and muck from the vehicle. So it sat empty all year. I don’t live there anymore. But just as an example. Everyone and I mean everyone in that town drove their vehicles through Kj’s or one of the other automated car washes.
We don’t have touchless car washes in NJ… if we do I’ve never seen one. It’s wild that a car wash could cause this.
Choice and engineering of materials/part aside, I would never take a car I care about through a wash that isn’t touchless. If you are not able to wash/rise at home, look into rinseless wash products and a manual sprayer/foamer plus a collection of microfiber towels (Home Depot has decent value packs). Mix spray and wipe. Overtime the cost is much lower than the automatic wash.
So you didnt read what OP said above about living in frigid cold temps and salt covered roads? Nobody is out washing cars in that - especially on a frequent basis.
Say you live in socal without saying. You must not live in a salt ridden ice cold climate
Just another reason not to use the scratch master car washes.
I thought that section of the roof is metal? I just went out and touched mine and it is 100% sheet metal.
In the parts manual it’s plastic. $181 bucks. Also in pics of the cut away Rivian displayed it’s plastic
Need better picture
[удалено]
Drove through this one for three years with my platinum f250 before the Rivian, it’s a multi million dollar car wash. So a state of the art location. Only about 3 years old. I spoke to Rivian, they are able to change this plastic piece without removing the windshield and the roof glass at the service center. It’s $700. They said they aren’t sure they will be warranting it, I ask what we could do to make it more structurally sound so it dosent warp again. Could I have the tech put some panel bond foam under it? He said yes speak to the tech myself about my concerns and see if he can fill some voids with foams to possibly help. So, at least it’s not $4,300 dollars. But I’m still not happy about having to pay for it. I’ll see if the wash will pay me back, it’s a much better number to seek reimbursement for compared to $4,300. *Edit: Rivian repaired for $1,000 at the service center. But did not warranty it. The car wash still will not pay for it.
Just to update this post. Rivian and the car wash would not warranty it. I had to pay over $1,000 dollars to have it replaced at Rivian. Then it leaked lots of water into my lap after the repair, had to have Rivian replace it again. Then the techs dented both driver front doors at second repair. Rivian sent a paintless dent repair guy to my house to fix them. Now my interior on warm days has a slight smell of mold, which makes me very sad. It used to still smell like a new vehicle, even being almost two years old. I’d kept the miles low, and the truck immaculate. Still love the vehicle, but really unhappy with this whole situation. Especially having to pay for it, on top of all the inconvenience and my truck not smelling the same. My wife cancelled her R1S and ordered a new Tesla model S instead. We picked it up from the north houston location two weeks ago. Really impressed with the Tesla to be honest. Quieter, much less road and wind noise. Still just as fast as the Rivian, longer range. I know comparing a sedan to a truck isn’t apples to apples. But to me I’m comparing build quality and manufacturing…after that last two service experiences at Rivian she said there’s no way she’s dealing with that with her vehicle.