Trading in our 2022 Lariat ER for a Rivian R1S Dual Motor Max Pack

[vandy1981]

Both the R1T and R1S are significantly noisier even at moderate speeds. Sound isolation is much worse, road noise bleeds through even when driving around town, wind noise is much worse on the highway and the ride...God.

I'm definitely not going to argue with you on the noise isolation of the R1's. The Lightning is unmatched outside of the ultra luxury segment.

There was a update in September that improved the ride considerably. I will say that the ride was dramatically better in the R1S that we test drove 2 weeks ago vs the R1T we drove in July.

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[csukoh78]

I'm sticking with the Lightning. I was initially interested in the Rivian. My friend got one and likes it a lot, but for the same/more $$ you get less truck IMO. Both are solid trucks, I'm not trying to state otherwise, but my preference is the F150. For someone's first truck, the Rivian seems more manageable.

Agree 100%. Was looking at the Rivian, then I got the lightning. I have absolutely no regrets. Plus you have the stability of multibillion dollar international company whereas Rivian could go under at any minute. The lightning is bigger, more comfortable, quieter. I've driven both and the lightning beats it hands-down. I'm still shocked at how smooth and quiet it is on daily drives.

 

[Heliian]

Your trailer is too heavy for any electric vehicle range.

I think you'll find some serious shortcomings on the r1s for towing. Shorter wheelbase isn't going to help and I think tongue loading will be critical with the SUV, not to mention actual payload of the vehicle.

You should have got a powerboost or a gasser for your towing needs but it's worth a shot I guess.

 

[moder8tor]

I have a 5500W inverter generator with the appropriate charge cable to put in the back of my lightning just for that purpose. I get just enough charge in one night to make it home.

 

[JRT]

I'm curious to follow too, I would never plan towing duty in an EV for anything but local or with established charging network. For me, I'd carefully consider the trade in lose with a purchase, it could be better to buy a used ICE truck and keep the lighting.

My 2021 MME trade in barely broke my balance owed on Friday. I'll be in the Lightning for 100k miles for sure now.

 

[Vorador]

I'm starting to lean the other way. I passed on my 22 Lightning, but considering ordering a 24. After 2 bad service experiences with Rivian, and the back seats being too small for 2 car seats and an adult to fit comfortably in the R1T, I might go back to Ford.

Only advantage I see Rivian having right now is software, which they are doing updates quite frequently with.

 

[vandy1981]

I think you'll find some serious shortcomings on the r1s for towing. Shorter wheelbase isn't going to help and I think tongue loading will be critical with the SUV, not to mention actual payload of the vehicle.

We wanted something smaller than the Lightning, preferably an SUV so we could sleep in the back if needed. It was either the R1S or the Expedition. The R1S has the same wheelbase as the Expedition and the R1S has the benefit of 1400 pounds of additional mass. The R1S Payload is going to be around 1800 pounds, which will exceed our Lariat ER's by 100 pounds.

For me, I'd carefully consider the trade in lose with a purchase, it could be better to buy a used ICE truck and keep the lighting.

We don't have room for a third vehicle, so the Lightning had to be traded in for something. If we had more room, that's probably what we would have done (and saved some money while we were at it).

 

[vandy1981]

Update 10/24/23: Pickup for the R1S is tomorrow (10/25) and these are my observations about the sales process so far:

-I ordered the R1S on 10/18 evening and we will be picking it up tomorrow (10/25) afternoon. That's less than 7 days, even though it had to be shipped from Normal, IL. The Lightning took about 25 days for delivery once it was marked as 'built.' Logistics were a cluster in June 2022 and the Lightning shipped by rail, so the situations aren't really comparable.
-Communication from Rivian has been consistently good, especially over the last week. My Rivian Guide provided substantive answers to all of my questions within 1 business day over the last month or two and I've been able to text my local service center with questions as well. Compare this to the Ford dealer where I had no dealer-initiated communication from the time I ordered the Lightning to when the truck was delivered to the dealership. The Ford website was sometimes helpful for tracking the order, but when I reached out to the dealer, they were generally uninformed and uninterested in answering reasonable questions. Also, it seemed like every time I called the previous salesperson had left the dealership and I had to talk to a brand new person.
-We've been able to take care of pretty much everything online including payment, registration, etc., online. We were provided deadlines, but it's been low stress with zero pressure from Rivian. I had to do everything in person at the Ford dealer and had to sit through a painful 45 minute meeting with the finance person even though we weren't financing the vehicle. I was also offered an oil change subscription during that meeting, LOL.
-I was provided reasonable flexibility (about a 7-day period) for pick up of the Rivian when it hit the Service Center. My Ford dealer gave me 24 hours to pick up the Lightning after it hit their lot and threatened to sell the truck to someone else if I didn't comply. This was after zero dealer communication for months. I needed at least a day to arrange the trade-in and things were especially complicated because my partner was at home quarantined with covid.
-The Rivian trade in offer was much lower than competitors like Carmax and their offer is non-negotiable. I was at least able to work with the Ford dealer on the trade in value for the Lightning trade in and they came up off of their initial offer which was nice.
-There is no negotiation with the price of the Rivian and in June 2022 there was no room for negotiation around the price of the Lightning. I actually prefer Rivian's no-haggle structure, but would probably be able to negotiate on the sales price if I was in the market for a Lightning today.

 

[F150ROD]

Update 10/24/23: Pickup for the R1S is tomorrow (10/25) and these are my observations about the sales process so far:

-I ordered the R1S on 10/18 evening and we will be picking it up tomorrow (10/25) afternoon. That's less than 7 days, even though it had to be shipped from Normal, IL. The Lightning took about 25 days for delivery once it was marked as 'built.' Logistics were a cluster in June 2022 and the Lightning shipped by rail, so the situations aren't really comparable.
-Communication from Rivian has been consistently good, especially over the last week. My Rivian Guide provided substantive answers to all of my questions within 1 business day over the last month or two and I've been able to text my local service center with questions as well. Compare this to the Ford dealer where I had no dealer-initiated communication from the time I ordered the Lightning to when the truck was delivered to the dealership. The Ford website was sometimes helpful for tracking the order, but when I reached out to the dealer, they were generally uninformed and uninterested in answering reasonable questions. Also, it seemed like every time I called the previous salesperson had left the dealership and I had to talk to a brand new person.
-We've been able to take care of pretty much everything online including payment, registration, etc., online. We were provided deadlines, but it's been low stress with zero pressure from Rivian. I had to do everything in person at the Ford dealer and had to sit through a painful 45 minute meeting with the finance person even though we weren't financing the vehicle. I was also offered an oil change subscription during that meeting, LOL.
-I was provided reasonable flexibility (about a 7-day period) for pick up of the Rivian when it hit the Service Center. My Ford dealer gave me 24 hours to pick up the Lightning after it hit their lot and threatened to sell the truck to someone else if I didn't comply. This was after zero dealer communication for months. I needed at least a day to arrange the trade-in and things were especially complicated because my partner was at home quarantined with covid.
-The Rivian trade in offer was much lower than competitors like Carmax and their offer is non-negotiable. I was at least able to work with the Ford dealer on the trade in value for the Lightning trade in and they came up off of their initial offer which was nice.
-There is no negotiation with the price of the Rivian and in June 2022 there was no room for negotiation around the price of the Lightning. I actually prefer Rivian's no-haggle structure, but would probably be able to negotiate on the sales price if I was in the market for a Lightning today.

Out of curiosity can you post the trade in value?

 

[vandy1981]

Out of curiosity can you post the trade in value?

Rivian offered $48,310 on our 2022 Lariat ER with 16,000 miles. This was much lower than other quotes that I got even after accounting for the sales tax benefits of trading in to Rivian.

I will post the rest of the quotes I got on the Lightning after I sell it later this week. I've decided that private sale is not really worth the trouble so have focused on the usual players and local dealerships.

 

[invertedspear]

All of the points you make in Rivian's favor are about the BS that comes from dealerships, and Fords model that requires they be used. When F150Ls become common enough they're just available on lots all the time, and we don't have to go through the special order process, those timeline advantages will be in Fords favor. I hope Ford gets the ability to go direct to consumer like Rivian and Tesla, or at least offer us the choice. There will always be a need or want to get a truck the same day, but this place Ford is currently in is weird. They are trying to seem like they are direct to consumer like Rivian and Tesla, but they're very much not and it hurts us.

 

[RedLightning86]

We were among the first people to have the privilege to purchase a Lightning when we took delivery of a Lariat ER in June 2022. We traded in a Ram 1500 Platinum and the Lightning outperformed the Ram on almost every metric and the Lightning is the best truck we've ever owned, except.....

My partner leases hunting land about 120 miles from our home and we need tow a travel trailer (1.1 mi/kWh, documented here) and side-by-side (1.3 mi/kWh) there on a regular basis. We also were not able to make it there and back without charging in cold weather. We could make the range limitations work if the charging situation along that route was better, but it's effectively gotten worse since we bought the Lightning due to congestion and unreliability and there's no hope for improvement in the near future. We decided that we were going to sell the Lightning for that reason during the summer. We're also sick of dealing with a full-size truck in the city and were planning on trading it in for a smaller SUV or truck if we got rid of the Lightning. We initially looked into a Grand Cherokee PHEV, but the payload capacity was too limited for our trailer's tongue weight. We then looked into an Expedition, but decided to delay plans when we heard that the Rivian Max Packs would go on sale this fall.

We've carried a price-protected preorder for the R1T Max Pack since 1/2022, but switched to an R1S Performance Dual Motor Max Pack in early October. An R1S became available on Wednesday and should be ready for pickup this week....

Easy to see why if you are towing. My wife is flat out afraid to tow and get stuck in our Lariat ER. We are looking for a new smaller camper....

 

[mme_and_lightning]

A couple of people have said they are moving from Lightning to Rivian, and on the Rivian site a few people say that they are moving from Rivian to a Lightning.

It would be interesting to see a joint message board for selling between the 2 sites and save people a lot of money.





btw: when you make your switch, let us know: Is the grass greener on the other side? LOL
And remember, the grass is always greener nearer the septic tank.

 

[DanielM92563]

If major complaint was lack of long range towing, I’m still confused why OP would go from one EV truck to another. Resell value on the Rivian will be just as bad I imagine if they’re making them at quantity now. Personally, there are some deals to be had (low 60k) on new Ram 1500 Limited trims; I would have gone that route- the air suspension, quiet ride, luxurious interior, and not bad fuel economy for a full size truck. I prefer a Lightning over a Ram Limited but I don’t tow regularly.

 

[vandy1981]

If major complaint was lack of long range towing, I’m still confused why OP would go from one EV truck to another. Resell value on the Rivian will be just as bad I imagine if they’re making them at quantity now. Personally, there are some deals to be had (low 60k) on new Ram 1500 Limited trims; I would have gone that route- the air suspension, quiet ride, luxurious interior, and not bad fuel economy for a full size truck. I prefer a Lightning over a Ram Limited but I don’t tow regularly.

We owned a Ram Limited with air suspension prior to the Lightning. The Ram was great, but we didn't want to go to another full size truck from the Lightning. And the fuel economy on Ram was pretty terrible, especially compared to competitors like the F150 Powerboost.

We were cross shopping both the R1S and Expedition Timberline. We have price protection on the R1S, so the Expedition would have been significantly more expensive after accounting for the $7500 tax credit for with the R1S. We absolutely would have not bought the R1S at full price which would probably have been $25,000 more than what we payed.

As for the towing question, we have a very specific towing need that should be solved with the extra range we expect to get with the Rivian. I would not not recommend electric vehicles for people who need to regularly tow long distances.

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