[hayduke]

Another interesting thing is unlike most people here, I don't seem to get emails from Tony Caravano with important announcements like the email about the tonneau cover & seem to find out most of these updates from the forums. I called support just to check in if that announcement was meant for me and they have no idea why I don't get the emails (the customer service rep noticed I wasn't subscribed to marketing emails, are these considered marketing emails lol). Anyone else NOT get the tonneau cover email?

 

[R99]

It looks like Rivian is temporarily discontinuing the tonneau cover because of all the issues people are having.

Rivian has been sending out emails like this.

https://jalopnik.com/rivian-temporarily-discontinues-r1ts-powered-tonneau-co-1849693901

 

[edster]

It would be nice if a similar email went out to those of us with open service requests on our tonneau covers as well.

I guess I'd rather have it locked open for now rather than waiting or buying a truck without the future ability to add it on, which seems to be the case for pre-order folks now. I wonder what going to happen to us current bad cover owners. with only about 10k of us, hard to support with an aftermarket option.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

It would be nice if a similar email went out to those of us with open service requests on our tonneau covers as well.

I guess I'd rather have it locked open for now rather than waiting or buying a truck without the future ability to add it on, which seems to be the case for pre-order folks now. I wonder what going to happen to us current bad cover owners. with only about 10k of us, hard to support with an aftermarket option.

There was an earlier email to owners acknowledging the issue and saying a fix was expected in 2023.

 

[ERivTruck]

It would be nice if a similar email went out to those of us with open service requests on our tonneau covers as well.

Why would Rivian do that? This email is meant for people who have not received their trucks and are awaiting them. Hence, why you have to change their configuration. For those of us who have taken delivery and are experiencing tonneau cover issues, this latest email is moot.

 

[CotoR1TDude]

The email indicates that they are moving away from an integrated side rail solution. I have my truck coming this coming Dec/January, currently without the manual cover. I'm wondering if it would be better in the long run to take possession later with the model without the integrated solution and maybe have better after market solutions. I concerned about the "integrated" dead end solution being a problem for the future, especially if Rivian doesn't sell the manual covers on the on-line store. I'm wondering if the integrated solution is more of detriment at this point. Should I take possession later to ensure I get the model without the dead-end proprietary failed solution? Just curious what others think?

 

[LyfaRiley]

Have open/closed my powered tonneau about 10 times total when it started making a nasty snapping sound on opening and the last segment stopped stowing away. Truck was in shop (2nd time - this is a whole other story) for some repairs and I had this added to the work order. Was told that my tonneau was toast and that they recommended disabling it until the repair/replacement is out next year. They asked if I wanted it disabled open or closed. As there is no way to open it manually, I said open so I could actually use the bed like a truck.

Very disappointed on how this has played out. Am hopeful that the new design is robust as it needs to be in the bed of a truck.

Still love the truck but things like this are wearing on me.

 

[Bgrable]

Have open/closed my powered tonneau about 10 times total when it started making a nasty snapping sound on opening and the last segment stopped stowing away. Truck was in shop (2nd time - this is a whole other story) for some repairs and I had this added to the work order. Was told that my tonneau was toast and that they recommended disabling it until the repair/replacement is out next year. They asked if I wanted it disabled open or closed. As there is no way to open it manually, I said open so I could actually use the bed like a truck.

Very disappointed on how this has played out. Am hopeful that the new design is robust as it needs to be in the bed of a truck.

Still love the truck but things like this are wearing on me.

They have always been transparent that the powered tonneau cover was likely to fail. Rivian has also planned to repair this when a permanent fix is available, free of charge. If you didn’t want to to deal with a known faulty component you could have easily selected either no cover or a manual cover and let someone else take delivery of your truck who would not be bothered by this minor inconvenience.

 

[LyfaRiley]

They have always been transparent that the powered tonneau cover was likely to fail. Rivian has also planned to repair this when a permanent fix is available, free of charge. If you didn’t want to to deal with a known faulty component you could have easily selected either no cover or a manual cover and let someone else take delivery of your truck who would not be bothered by this minor inconvenience.

When many of us ordered our trucks, they were not telling us about the faulty tonneau covers. Just silly to claim that they have always been saying it would fail. That is not true. Clearly they did not intend to deliver a faulty product that would cost them huge dollars to repair. We all rightfully expected a good product. As time has gone on everyone now knows that it is a faulty design. Rivian has been good about admitting their mistakes and proactively working on a solution. Sharing my story here to keep others aware of how the process is playing out if they run into similar issues.

 

[O. horridus]

The issue with the Tonneau cover has been "known" to the public since at least the first test drives for the media in 2021 - a lot of the initial reviews of the R1T brought up the fact that the tonneau was disabled or removed in their test vehicle, and that this was a known problem area. And pretty much every review since then has repeated that the tonneau cover appears to be prone to failure. When I took my "First Drive" in Nov 2021 the vehicle they brought me had a non-functioning tonneau, and I remember being well-aware of the problem before the drive and asking the guide about that and a few other "known" issues (such as the charging pad, which also wasn't working in the test vehicle).

So when I finally received my R1T I expected problems with the tonneau. I haven't had any. (I haven't had any problems with my charging pad either, BTW.) The tonneau sounds a little clunky, but it works perfectly on my vehicle. I don't know the actual failure rate but it's clearly a lot higher than is acceptable, even if it is only a problem in a minority of vehicles. I'm glad Rivian has committed to improving the reliability and retrofitting existing vehicles with the new design - that gives me confidence that if I ever do have a problem it will be fixed eventually.

In hindsight, the biggest mistake was probably bundling the automatic tonneau with the Launch Edition vehicles. When the problems with the tonneau became clear in 2021, Rivian was stuck - they weren't in a position where they could delay shipments much longer, and they couldn't / hadn't been able to fix the problem at that point. The choice was then either don't begin to ship the Launch Editions at all, which would have doomed the company, or to continue working on the tonneau and ship knowing that some percentage would have problems and many might eventually need to be replaced. I think it was a lose-lose choice, and they chose the lesser of two evils. Yes, the replacement is going to cost them, but it doesn't affect everyone and I think if they delayed shipping until the tonneau issues were resolved then they wouldn't have shipped anything yet and they would be out of business.

 

[sjh1951]

Just finished an online chat with service about my partially open/stuck cover. One question I had was the status of the "fix", and was told 2023 or 2024. Last official communication I had was some time ago, when the timing was some time in 2023. None of this leaves me very optimistic.

 

[R99]

Just finished an online chat with service about my partially open/stuck cover. One question I had was the status of the "fix", and was told 2023 or 2024. Last official communication I had was some time ago, when the timing was some time in 2023. None of this leaves me very optimistic.

Oof if this drags on until 2024 that's not a good look for Rivian. I wonder what's been holding them up with the covers.

 

[MilesK]

The folks at The Kilowatts say they spoke to Rivian and were told that a tonneau cover fix si coming in March.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1613326503714095112

 

[ERivTruck]

This is the permanent fix? Or a temp fix?

 

[O. horridus]

The folks at The Kilowatts say they spoke to Rivian and were told

This is the permanent fix? Or a temp fix?

It's neither. It's a pure unsubstantiated rumor.

You can be absolutely sure that when Rivian does come up with a fix or a way to handle this, they will make an announcement. Just like they did with the Ocean Coast interior - a long period of silence with endless speculation from the Community followed by a decision, announcement, and rollout of the new design in very short order. Just like they did with the Max Pack. Rivian isn't going to float a proposed solution for community feedback, they're just going to do it. I expect the same with the Camp Kitchen etc - one of these days we'll find out what is going to happen with that, and until then everything you hear is just a guess.

Guides and customer service representatives are always saying wrong things, even as they try to be helpful. Customers in turn are always hearing what they want to hear, even if it wasn't meant that way or preferenced by "we're hoping to have it available by ...". Some unattributed statement from some unattributed Rivian employee carries absolutely no weight. Until Rivian makes an official announcement, this is all rumor.

 

[trashman77]

I picked up my Rivian last week - was specifically told upon pickup that the cover wasn't functional and working - the "guide" had told me this before and said hey parts are ordered and it'll be fixed in about 3 weeks mobile service will come and fix it.

I get this email today:

As you likely know, there are issues with our powered tonneau cover. While most are operating as intended, many are not.

We want you to know we are aware of the issue and are working on a solution and a process for replacing existing tonneau covers. Right now, no action is required on your part; this is simply a proactive step to let you know we are working hard on this. Our goal is to have a solution early next year. We’ll reach out at that time with next steps.

If your tonneau cover is operating properly, you should continue using it. If you have a service request currently filed for your tonneau cover or experience an issue in the near future, the Rivian Service Team will continue to be your main point of contact. We have interim solutions in place to help with the issue you may be experiencing. We’ve also created this list of FAQs to provide more detail.

We are committed to ensuring our products are incredibly durable. We appreciate all the feedback we receive as it helps make us better

A little confused how a 3 week fix has gone from 3 weeks to 4+ months (if that timeline is to be believed) it's super frustrating as I'm sure it's not high on their priority list at all at this point given getting Trucks/SUVs out the door is a little more important. I'm more frustrated in the process of explicitly being told it was a minor issue and would be resolved in a couple of weeks - months to fix something isn't minor. Anyone else get the run around?

Picked up RIT Launch Edition around the same time with the same issue. Told the same story, spoke with my Rivian rep last week, still waiting. I was told it was a issue with only a few trucks but the plan was to redesign and replace all units. STILL WAITING!