What looks like a pretty small ding on the Rivian R1T evidently ended up costing more than Chevy asks for an entire Chevy Colorado Trail Boss
by Stephen Rivers
May 2, 2023 at 19:05
by Stephen Rivers
While the challenges of living with a new EV are often defined by many as those to do with charging and infrastructure, repair work is an often forgotten concern. One Rivian R1T owner from Ohio experienced maybe one of the most glaring examples of that after a fender bender. The damage to the electric R1T incurred wasn’t fixed for months and when it was, the total bill came to over $42,000.
The owner in question posted the Rivian Electric Vehicles Discussion page over on Facebook when the initial accident happened. “I got hit yesterday and I’m not pumped about it. I have a call into my guide. How do I find a certified repair shop?” they said.
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That was all the way back on February 12th and it wasn’t until April 29th that he updated the forum on the repair.” I figured the repair would be expensive but had no idea! Originally her insurance estimated the damage to be around $1,600 and sent me a check,” he said. Evidently, the approved body shop deals exclusively with EVs. The owner says that the shop was meticulous in its investigation of the total damage.
He continued, “They carefully documented every step with photographs to show the insurance company the process and It took over two and half months to finally get my truck back. They did an incredible job and my R1T looks as nice as the day it was shipped. The final bill was over $42,000!!!” That’s a huge chunk of change and as we can see in the photos, the shop removed a lot more than one might expect.
Some commenters are suggesting that there’s something “fishy” going on with this gargantuan repair bill. For example, why the rear glass had to come out is a solid question. No matter how one slices it, this is a lot of disassembly for what initially looks like very minimal damage to the bumper area. We’ve reached out both to the owner here and to Rivian itself for more information.