[Wolfmobil]

Got my R1T on May 24. Exterior panel gaps, steering wheel vibration and other issues aside service was less than great but I ranted about it in another post. A month after getting the truck I called my guide and asked about the registration. I told the guide that I ship the truck out of state for the summer months and I will be traveling and asked to expedite the registration. He told me that temp registration is good for 90 days and they will take care of it before the temporary registration expires. Today (two weeks later) I receive the email:


Hi,

I hope you're doing great, and your R1T is still treating you well!

I wanted to reach out today because I just received better direction from our registration team regarding what we can do to speed up the registration process for your vehicle, and they informed me that it would be best at this point if we mail you all of your title & registration documents, including the Manufacturer Certificate of Origin, so that you can register your vehicle with your local DMV office in order to avoid any further processing delays.

I've asked them to send the documents needed to register your truck directly to your registration address, and we'll also refund any fees we had initially collected for the title and registration process, as well as the vehicle sales tax which will be collected by your DMV office.

I can't apologize enough for this inconvenience, but you can expect to receive your self-registration packet in the coming days, and here is the UPS tracking number to follow your packet along, 1Z151R8RNT342*****. Refunds are being processed separately but will arrive within a few days of your registration packet. Again, I'm sorry that this information hasn't been available until now and that we're shifting gears on the method of registration. But - I do believe at this point that it will be the quickest turn-around instead of using our processor.

If you have any additional questions about this process, please feel free to let me know!



Stay adventurous,
Anthony
Rivian Guide

I am in NY, truck is in NY and won’t be back until temporary registration expires. This is total bs.

 

[BikerBrad]

I'm in the same boat. I was told by my guide, I would need to register and pay sales tax my R1T on day 90 of the 90 day temporary registration. I have know idea what Rivian was doing with my money or registration process for those 90 days. Apparently Rivian had not even started the process! My state (WA) has no record the registration in process. Upside is Rivian will rent me a vehicle until my R1T is legal to drive. Still waiting for Rivian to send me my sales tax and registration fee refund. ;-(

 

[Wolfmobil]

So despite me telling the guide NOT to send the documents needed to register the car to me and handle as they are supposed to, they went ahead and mailed it to me anyway. Also my truck goes to service for the third time in a month and a half. Creaking from suspension or wheels when on and off accelerator. Tired and ready to sell.

 

[O. horridus]

Rivian is having a lot of problems with the contractor that handles the registration/title/plates. It makes sense for Rivian to outsource this because all states have (sometime drastically different) laws and regulations for out-of-state purchases, registration, titling and plates and this is not something that can be left to a local dealership in Rivian's case. But the contractor they picked seems to be ... not very good. Lots of people have experienced long waits and run-arounds with this contractor.

Give them credit, Rivian has recognized it's a problem and is responding pro-actively by giving you the ability to take care of this yourself in a timely manner. I hope they are also working on finding a different contractor. You can't expect the process to be perfect, even with a local dealer. But what you should expect is that Rivian tries to correct a systemic problem when they recognize it, and that's what seems to be happening here. Unfortunately that's not a good solution for your specific (and not typical) situation. I hope they will work with you for a different solution, but that solution in your case might just be to let the contractor handle it, because the contractor is the one who can deal with the individual states.

When the time comes I personally will be telling my guide that I want to self-register and skip the contractor. In part because these problems, and in part because I want a special-design license plate which can't be handled through the default process.

But if you're convinced you have a lemon, I'll gladly buy it from you sight unseen for cash @MSRP.

 

[Wolfmobil]

Rivian is having a lot of problems with the contractor that handles the registration/title/plates. It makes sense for Rivian to outsource this because all states have (sometime drastically different) laws and regulations for out-of-state purchases, registration, titling and plates and this is not something that can be left to a local dealership in Rivian's case. But the contractor they picked seems to be ... not very good. Lots of people have experienced long waits and run-arounds with this contractor.

Give them credit, Rivian has recognized it's a problem and is responding pro-actively by giving you the ability to take care of this yourself in a timely manner. I hope they are also working on finding a different contractor. You can't expect the process to be perfect, even with a local dealer. But what you should expect is that Rivian tries to correct a systemic problem when they recognize it, and that's what seems to be happening here. Unfortunately that's not a good solution for your specific (and not typical) situation. I hope they will work with you for a different solution, but that solution in your case might just be to let the contractor handle it, because the contractor is the one who can deal with the individual states.

When the time comes I personally will be telling my guide that I want to self-register and skip the contractor. In part because these problems, and in part because I want a special-design license plate which can't be handled through the default process.

But if you're convinced you have a lemon, I'll gladly buy it from you sight unseen for cash @MSRP.

They only had 10 years to prepare for registering customers cars. Now it looks like they have no idea how titling and registration works and what companies are good and bad at it. If like Tesla they sell direct to consumer title and registration process needs to be dialed in since it is part of the selling the car process.