2023 RIVIAN R1S Unknown Or Other Problems

14 complaints about Unknown Or Other

14
Complaints
2
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Deaths

High Severity Issue

This component has been associated with crashes, fires, or deaths.

This Problem Across All Years

All Unknown Or Other Complaints (14)

Oct 1, 2025

The horn is far to quiet to be heard by other drivers. This creates a dangerous situation in many common circumstances on the road and highway.

May 30, 2025 Crash

I pulled into my semicircle, long driveway as I do every morning, and stopped at the top by releasing my foot off the accelerator (no need for brakes as it is an EV). I opened the garage door and slowly stepped on the accelerator, but it started to go fast, and I felt out of control. I immediately released my foot off the accelerator (which should have stopped the vehicle) and slammed on the brakes (there is proof in my driveway with tire marks leading up to the accident) but still did not stop. I quickly realized I was going to crash into the garage, and possibly into the house, so I steered away as much as I could to only drive into and through the side of the garage wall. The space I had would have given me enough time to stop had the car not been driving at a fast speed. Even the neighbors heard braking and ran outside to see what was happening. There is a recording on a ring cam, and you can hear him say "I heard brakes". Oddly, the massive impact did not deploy the airbags. Also, the car usually records all incidents with time before and after (it has successfully done this before when I was rear ended and will if you get too close to anything), but for some reason it recorded what was labeled "incident" and you can only see me pulling into the driveway, the garage door going up, and then the video stops - no record of the crash. The car should have also detected the house. The car only stopped after driving through concrete and stucco, and up the stairs. House has massive damage, personal items in the garage destroyed, and the vehicle is possibly unsalvageable. It took until the next day to see if we could remove the vehicle from my house, but it is now at the service center and Rivian has been notified. I've since researched online and found countless similar incidents.

Aug 26, 2024

Horn is extremely underpowered and not audible to other drivers at highway speeds in particular. This has not been inspected by Rivian because all R1S vehicles are like this since they removed the second horn that was originally shipped in earlier builds.

Jul 6, 2024

I received a critical safety recall regarding side air bags from Rivian regarding my 2023 R1S on June 14. After multiple attempts by me to connect with their Customer Service, I was informed that a mobile service technician would come to fix the issue on August 26, 2024. This would be more than 60 days after Rivian's initial notification. Additionally, on July 6 2024, when I turned on the vehicle, I was notified of multiple system failures. I promptly created an incident ticket with Rivian on this but have to yet hear back from Rivian. Rivian's lax attitude on getting such critical issues fixed is of great concern. The vehicle is barely over a year old since I have owned it and I feel distrustful of this company and thoroughly disappointed by their nonchalant approach to getting these critical issues fixed.

Feb 14, 2024

(1) Q: What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? A: "Critical Battery Issue" + "Electrical Hazard Possible; Drive to service center immediately. Avoid driving through water" + "Coming to emergency stop soon; Steer to safety and park" (2) Q: How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? A: (1) The car abruptly stopped near a corner in middle of street blocking the street, police had to intervene with traffic *potential for collision/pedestrian strike (2) The car had no electrical, completely blacked out and HAZARD lights didn't work when Police asked to turn them on, nothing would turn on **potential for collision (3) Car was blacked out with all windows down, doors unlocked and unable to get into compartments of vehicle to remove personal items of value due to all electrical being backed out *potential safety / theft concern Police ended up towing due to Rivian being unable to locate a tow in a timely manner the incident occurred at 4:30pm and Police politely waited for Rivian until her 6:30 and then called their local tow yard for secure space for unresponsive unit blocking street (3) Q: Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? A: Not sure - It took Rivian until 11:30am the next day to coordinate a pick up from local tow yard where Police mandated tow due to Rivian being unable to clear a hazard blocking the street (4) Q: Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? A: The local Police were on scene and were highly accommodating directing traffic to mitigate any potential safety issues for pedestrians, drivers and on-lookers. Rivian hasn't shared anything at all and its 24hours+ after the incident (5) Q: Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? A: Yes, as listed above in #1

Feb 7, 2024

Horn is too weak and inaudible when there’s other noise around or if someone is listening to music in their car. Other vehicles don’t seem to hear the horn in case of emergencies.

Dec 11, 2023

The single horn on this vehicle is incredibly weak/not loud enough and has almost led to two separate incidents in my 3 months of ownership due to other drivers not being able to hear my horn.

Dec 3, 2023

The vehicle horn is not very loud and makes a low frequency noise that is not easily recognizable as a vehicle horn. The horn presents a safety risk to vehicle occupants, other vehicles and pedestrians.

Nov 19, 2023

I was at 44% state of charge and the ambient temp was around 65 F. While taking a turn at an intersection, the vehicle reduced regenerative braking(regen bar on the vehicle was greyed out) had I had quickly break as the car started to coast. This only lasted for 8-10 secs and the vehicle had regular regen breaking. Rivian don’t have blended braking, so if that had happened in different situations that needed much faster reaction time I would be in trouble. Issue 1: vehicle randomly decided to go into reduced regen for a brief period even at ideal conditions for regen( low SoC and normal temp, vehicle drive only for 5 mins) Issue 2: There is no blended braking to compensate for this in such situation, putting the driver/passengers at risk

Nov 14, 2023

Software update rolled out version 2023.42.0 and now the vehicle screen is black and HVAC does not work. It is unclear if any safety or airbag systems are operational. Cameras not working.

Nov 14, 2023

OTA update 2023.42 failed to install and left car without working screens, the only way to really manage the vehicle's settings. No formal communication until mid-afternoon next day, approximately 16+ hours after problem became known. Rivian stating vehicle can be driven without speedometer and working systems.

Oct 5, 2023

Horn on the car not loud enough. Other drivers on road can barely hear it. I can barely hear inside my own car.

Sep 27, 2023 Crash

Vehicle lunged to the right without any driver input. Damaged rim and wheel and could have hurt someone . Have never experienced anything like this in my life. Steering wheel was perfectly straight but vehicle lunges to the right. This is a safety issue.

Sep 7, 2023

The car automatically, abruptly, and without warning shift into park as I slowed down at a stop sign and stalled in the middle of the road. It did not shift into Park for 30-35 mins and even after doing hard and soft resets while on the phone with service. Somehow it worked again after my hitting the brakes several times and I was able to move it out to the side and drive it back home. This issue has happened multiple times in the past too but it only happened for a few seconds as opposed to such a long time. The car had a ‘charger not connected properly’ warning on the dashboard. My safety and that of my wife was put in danger as an abrupt and automatic shift to park disrupted traffic and we could’ve been rear-ended. This is also a particularly troubling issue if the car stalls abruptly when slowing down on the freeway and cars in the back are speeding up and end up rear-ending my car. This situation could be fatal. I wasn’t able to reproduce the event but it has happened to me multiple times in the past. Rivian is looking into this issue now as I’ve dropped off my car for service today (9/6). I did receive responses to my post on Reddit about this situation and other customers complaining of experiencing the same issue. There were no warning lamps or prior warnings of this issue. The dashboard showed a charger not installed correctly error but I believe that’s for another issue I’ve had with the car where the car does not fast charge. The issue first appeared for me in stop and go traffic in Seattle downtown a few days after taking delivery of the car in June, and once again on the Canada-US border in Vancouver in July when moving slowly in line to reach the immigration booth. The car abruptly stopped and would not shift back to drive. It took a minute or two but it eventually shifted back to drive.