Rivian R1T Damage Repairs Cost More Than A Brand-New Car

The Rivian R1T Truck isn’t an affordable vehicle, but as it turns out, the repair costs owners have to face when they get their electric pickup damaged are equally expensive. In a post on Reddit by one user tortito, a damaged R1T underwent repairs via a Rivian-certified shop, only to be met by a bill that costs as much as $21,149.16. That amount of money is enough to buy the owner a brand new, top-spec Nissan Versa SR (with some change) and nearly a quarter of a specced-out R1T’s price tag (before Earth Day discounts).

According to the owner, who shared photos of the damaged R1T on the Reddit thread, he was hit by a semi while parked, sustaining obvious damage to the left rear quarter section of the EV. The LED lamp housing was broken, while the body received substantial dents and deformation. A photo of the repaired R1T was also shared by the owner; good thing it looks good as new.

Expensive Labor Charges

The owner also shared an image showing the final repair bill, which included line items that made up the exorbitant amount. The part along was priced at $4,580.95, which we assume to be for the lamp housing. What caught our attention were the labor charges, which varied depending on the part the shop worked on. The job on the body and refinishing both cost $120 an hour, while structural repair was priced at $165 an hour. Mechanical work was the most costly, at $195 an hour, though the shop only spent an hour on it. In total, more than half of the repair bill went to labor charges.

Before taxes, the total was $19,209.05 (again, enough to buy a good sedan). The good news was that the owner of the semi had to pay for the bill, but not without a two-month “battle,” according to the owner.

Related

Rivian Gets $827 Million Cash Injection From Illinois To Produce New R2

The automaker will use the funds to prepare its Illinois facility to build the R2 SUV. Has the company learned from past production challenges?

Expensive EV Repairs

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen expensive repair bills on EVs. A Ford Mustang Mach-E was previously hit with a $28,000 repair bill a few years ago, while expensive repair costs on Teslas had the automaker and insurance companies debating between repairing and writing the EVs off.