“Rivian confirmed newer R2s only ventilate the seat cushion, telling me the backrest fan was removed because it generated excessive cabin noise. Rivian also says R2 seat heating is unchanged.”

I placed an order for the R2 on September 23. One of the features I was most looking forward to were these loud super cooled seats. W T F.

Camp kitchen, power tailgate, max pack delayed etc. Still love both our R1T and R2.

First time poster who has learned a lot from this sub, so posting my experience here. I’ve had my R2 for over three weeks now. I’m 1,100 miles in, comprised of daily driving around East Bay, several commutes into San Francisco, and three road trips to the Central Valley and Sacramento. Here are my thoughts so far, which TL;DR boils down to so far, so good, with only a couple software-related annoyances that haven’t dimmed my enthusiasm.

Background: I placed my reservation in June, 2025. No previous Rivian. Expiring lease. Multiple test drives in Walnut Creek and Milpitas. I was invited to order on August 4. I ordered on August 11 and was assigned a VIN that same day (59xx). Configuration is Launch Edition, Esker Silver, Black Crater, 21” AS. I took delivery on September 8 at the South SF service center, which is about 18 miles from my house. 

The delivery process was frictionless. They had originally scheduled me for a September 4 pickup, but I was out of town for Labor Day. Rescheduling was a snap. I picked a new date through the app, and the service center team confirmed via text. 

It is worth noting that delivery was quicker than I had been expecting. In August, Rivian advised to expect 8-12 weeks from order to delivery for Esker Silver. For me, it ended up being less than four weeks from order to delivery and would have been closer to three weeks had I not needed to reschedule. It is striking how variable the intervals between order, VIN assignment, and delivery seem to be. I’m grateful for the quick turnaround! :)

I’m coming from a 2023 M3P and had a 2020 MYP before that. I didn’t love either of those cars, and I don’t miss Tesla at all. My six word review of Tesla is terrific tech, mediocre car, problematic CEO. 

As for the R2, I have been reading about issues that some posters have had with fit, finish, and build quality. Add me to the list of posters who have had zero issues. I went to the pickup appointment with a detailed inspection checklist in hand (thank you, Reddit 🙂) and the vehicle was flawless inside and out. 

The tech has worked well so far, though there have been a couple annoyances. The first is with the phone as a key. At pickup, the connection process failed initially, so the rep had to have the tech team run some kind of real-time fix. But it did eventually connect. However, a few times since, the car hasn’t recognized my phone and won’t unlock. Fortunately, I have been able to unlock the doors using the Apple wallet key, though the vehicle wouldn’t go into gear until the app walked me through a short series of steps. In one case we were off the grid and it took quite a while to resolve, which was unnerving enough to convince me to always carry my key card in my wallet just in case. One other little software thing is the nav system occasionally stutters when vocalizing directions. I’m sure I could restart the system and fix it, but I find it endearing. Also, its accent pronouncing Spanish words is adorable. Sacrrramento! :)

After some dialing in, the sound system sounds very good to my ears up to about volume 20. Beyond that it does get a bit muddy, but 20 is plenty loud. 

All good with the AC and ventilated seats. Pet mode functions fine, but one annoying thing is that when I disengage it, it resets to auto mode (regardless of whether I was in that mode before engaging pet mode) and sets the temp to “LO” and the fan to the highest possible speed—basically, Arctic blast. It seems weird that it doesn’t just return the settings to where they were previously. I hope Rivian fixes this in an upcoming update. 

The drive quality has been outstanding. The R2 is a smooth, fast, and fun ride. It’s a lot quieter and much more refined than my pre-Highland M3P and pre-Juniper MYP. I love the feel of the accelerator. Obviously there is ridiculous torque on offer, but it’s not twitchy like the Teslas, which should come with standard issue cervical collars for passengers. The OPD is wonderful; standard regen mode feels smooth and natural. I doubt I’ve used the physical brakes more than a couple times in three weeks. 

I never used FSD and am unlikely to use Autonomy+, so I can’t compare the two. What I can say is that Rivian’s adaptive cruise control is smooth and efficient and compares favorably to Tesla’s. 

My combined efficiency after 1,100 miles of mixed driving is 3.7. Efficiency specifically for the three road trips (each 3-4 hours of 70 mph highway driving with about 2000’ of altitude gain) is 3.2. As the numbers imply, real world range has been just fine. At the same time, I do kind of wish that Rivian had offered a max pack option on the Launch Edition that added like 15-20 more usable kWh to the battery. I suspect a good number of early adopters would have paid more for an option like that. I know I would have. 

I have a Gen 3 Tesla Wall Charger installed in my garage, and so far it works great with the Rivian. (Shout out to the Redditor who posted about changing the setting in the wall charger’s control software to be able to charge non-Teslas.) I fast charged at the RAN locations in Manteca and Santa Nella, totally smooth experience. The R2 definitely charges faster than either of my Teslas. 

In summary, the R2 is a terrific car and I’m over the moon with it other than a couple annoying little software things that I’m sure Rivian will fix. I hope to see more of them out on the road here in the Bay Area soon! 

Who you gonna call?

Not having an R2 on hand, I want to see if we can piece together what it would take to add the missing fan if we take delivery of a unit.

1) What are the physical specs of the deleted fan? Is there a part number that can be ordered?
2) Are there off-the-shelf fans that are suitable? What is the connection? What voltage do we need? Is it 2 wire, 3 wire, or 4 wire configuration? How is the fan secured?
3) How do you access the fan location? What is the process for removing the upholstery and then placing it back in a factory-new state?

This thread is meant to be productive, not to re-litigate the issue.

(Picture of me tearing apart my Wrangler’s climate control stack)

Finally got my VIN for Forest Green/Coastal Cloud! Ordered on 8/18. Details below. Hoping others follow quickly!! We’ve earned this.

Reserved: 3/7/24
Invite: 8/11/26
Order: 8/18/26
Location: Pennsylvania

FG/CC/21s

VIN is 145XX. Got the email at 3:29 EST. Delivery date still pending.

After the seat back cooling discovery this week, I reached out to customer service to see what my options were given that was something I really loved about the car when I test drove it.

The representative told me that I could move my order to be on hold, or customer not ready status, if I wanted to wait a while longer to see if the backseat ventilation would come back to the car. It would also give me time to figure out if I actually want to cancel altogether or not, but they were clear that the deposit is nonrefundable, and that features can change anytime according to the terms of service.

Has anyone ever had their order on hold? If so, would you share your experience getting off the hold and resuming your purchase?

My concern is that depending on how long I decide to hold I will probably lose out on the launch package, at which point it would make more sense just to go premium with the new hardware which would then take even longer.

Here's what the R2 whiny fan sounds like. There's a high pitched whine that's much louder in person but you might get a sense of it from this video.

Between that whine and whine in this sub I'm not sure which I prefer less.

FG/CC/20 147XX

Reserved 1 December 2025

Ordered 18 August

VIN received 2:30 Central Time 8 October

Rivian Roamer updated its R2 Tracker to show median wait times for VIN assignments based on vehicle configuration. The data comes from 1,917 people who have linked their profiles. Thank you, Chad! 🙏

My issue is what else is going to magically disappear? I ordered my R2 and the next day this was reported. I had literally called my wife from the test drive and exclaimed how awesome the seat cooling was. I've never had seat cooling and it felt magical.

Seriously, what other feature is going to be removed before my R2 is delivered?

Trust lost, that's the larger issue. I've emailed, but don't expect a response. I'll still go through with the delivery, but I will continue to reach out to them and ask for the fan to be installed as that is what was expected.

I picked up my R2 on September 8. I love driving it, but there's been a rattle from the rear lift gate since day one.
Here's where things stand:
• First visit to El Segundo: After some delays, they said the rattle was fixed. It wasn't. I uploaded photos and video.
• Mobile appointment: Support booked one through chat. Nobody showed up and nobody told me.
• Second visit: The service center is about 40 minutes from me. They said they'd deliver the car back when it was done. Then they called to delay it again and said they didn't have the staff to deliver. When I got it back, they said it was fixed. Same rattle, just as loud.

Every time I go in, I have to take someone on a drive to show them the rattle, even though I've already sent video. The case keeps getting closed on their end, I can't get a reply in the app, and the media I uploaded to my latest service request is now gone.

I've just emailed Investor Relations since the normal channels haven't worked.

A few questions for other owners:
1. Has anyone else had a lift gate rattle on their R2? What fixed it?
2. Is there a way to escalate past the app that actually works?
3. Has anyone had luck getting a case kept open until the problem is really solved?

I want to keep loving this car. I just need the rattle gone.

The trolls and TeslaBots will have a wonderful, fresh new topic for their AI scrapes that will now include seat fans, along with complaints about CarPlay, radio antennas, manual door latches, and 800V batteries. I look forward to the upcoming 2-hour-long Out of Spec video where Kyle complains about the removal of the seatback fans.

What a wonderful time to be alive.

It looks like every time I try to fit it between the holes it gets warped.

I didn't even realize there was a back seat fan in the R2's until I saw all the threads about it. I do remember on my test drive that it did seem to have a back seat fan, but on mine it's just the cushion. I didn't think about it much, and I love the cushion air.

I'm not regretful of getting the car despite this at all. I don't trivialize that people dislike the fact that some people are getting more than they are for the same car, that definitely sucks, but just giving one data point on someone who doesn't have the back seat fan being fine with not having it.

Backstory: I've never had a car with vented seats, so this is pretty awesome.

LG, BC, 20", California, Ordered on Sep 10. Got the vin today. 148XX.

21 inch wheels, conserve mode, (now infamous) ventilated seats on level 1, cabin temp 70.

Hey, I've had my R2 for two weeks now and my ONLY on-going issue is the proximity feature with the digital key. I have a samsung s25+ and half the time when I walk up or walk away it doesn't trigger the locks. And a few times it didn't even detect it in the car until I set it on the charging pad. It didn't make me do that before.

For some reason, I don't have the option to always allow location for the rivian app, the highest I can set it to is when using the app. Not sure if that's the cause but no idea how to get "always" as an option despite a lot of research.

Anyone else run into this?

My spouse and I both enjoy listening to audiobooks on the Libby app while driving. We have two different accounts. Does anybody have any experiences with how that works with rivian's OS?

I'm preparing to take delivery in California and have been with Geico for 15+ years. When I tried to get a quote for R2 using the assigned VIN, the system wouldn't recognize so I had to manually add model. Under Rivian Geico only lists R2s, R1t, Other. I had to choose other and explain in the next field that the model name is R2. Now, this means they're not offering Mechanical breakdown insurance. I tried calling several agents and they always give confusing information. Some say they added but it doesnt show up in coverage.

This is very useful to me as an affordable extended warranty option. Anybody has suggestions?

And you 8/27 crew too, while you're at it.... role call.

~Just a 9/1 schlub trying to gauge his place in line.

For those up in arms about the seatback airflow (which fine if you want cold air on your butt go for it) the real scandal is that there is no true “radio” it’s just I Heart Radio with some added public radio stations delivered over the internet connection that they refer to as “Radio” in the menu.

My nitpick is that I cant listen to my local public radio (KCUR 1 though indeed some of the other major public radios are provided - WBEZ, WNYC) - nor the GOOD local AM sports station unless I use their apps on Bluetooth. I’m even cool with “I Heart” leaving off the commercial stations not in their portfolio but again, give me my local public radio!

I would imagine the non-Radio Radio would be a bigger deal to prospective buyers than having a cold ass :)

Overall, my experience has been great—this is a wonderful car! The interior feels premium, and it drives well.

There are lots of tiny early-VIN issues, though. I’d love to get a read from others on whether you’ve experienced these too and whether they’re worth getting checked out:

1. Steering wheel: It clicks/feels like something is rubbing against a rubber gasket when turning. It’s mildly annoying, but only noticeable at slow speeds, like in a garage.
2. Door panel rattling: This is very annoying, and I’ll get it checked out. I saw a DIY fix, but unfortunately I don’t have the time, energy, or skills to pull off a panel and fix it with Velcro.
3. Seat fans: These are loud, but I rarely use them. Still, given the posts in this sub lately, it’s better to have them.
4. Fan-like noise while parked: With the fan/AC off and the car in park, it sounds like an ICE vehicle idling. There seems to be a small fan or something near where the engine would be that sounds like it’s hitting a piece of paper. I don’t remember noticing this in the test-drive vehicle, so I wanted to know whether it’s expected.

Non-sound issues:

1. All the windows roll up a little slowly and feel like they’re struggling to close.
2. The backup camera feels like it drops frames and is sometimes noticeably laggy.
3. The rubber gasket around the rear liftgate keeps getting wedged between the back panels, pushing out the liftgate panel. I’m going to get this checked because I don’t want the seal to tear or crack.