Posted on 07/17/2023 9:29:20 AM PDT by Red Badger
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I just feel like there's some stuff they're not telling us about these electric cars...
A Rivian owner said his R1T electric pickup truck cost about $42,000 to fix after it was hit at a stoplight earlier this year, according to a report The New York Times.
Chris Apfelstadt told the publication that while he'd expected the repair wouldn't be cheap, it was a "shocking number."
The incident, which occurred February in Columbus, Ohio, was at first believed to be somewhat minor, according to the Times report, which said the other driver's insurance offered to pay about $1,600. But, after the electric car was taken to a repair shop that was certified to work with Rivian products the cost jumped to $42,000, the publication said.
Yeah I think it goes beyond that. "Shocking" is when you get the bill for dinner at La Guccia's and you find out that glass of wine cost $80. This is something else entirely.
The price tag was so high in part because the very minor accident "affected a panel that reaches from the back of the vehicle all the way to the front roof pillars of the truck," and the repair required the removal of both the ceiling and front windshield.
The extremely limited number of licensed Rivian repair centers also drives the cost up.
This is a cautionary tale, ladies and gents. If you ever find yourself ready to drop $90K on a robot-looking electric truck ... make sure you've got another half of that socked away in case someone looking at their phone bumps into you at a red light. 🤷♂️
Insanity. EVs are just not there yet, man.
My 99 Firebird was nearly that way.
Late 80’s and 90’s Corvettes are that way, I hav eheard.............
“Insurance companies will be adjusting their rates accordingly”
Not just the suckers, Due to the rise in average repair costs, the liability rates will see an increase. As a precautionary step, I modified my policy’s property damage coverage to $100K in anticipation of potential accidents involving electric cars or trucks valued at $100k.
The other guy's insurance company low-balled you?
Unprecedented!
I’m beginning to understand why 70’s pickup trucks in good condition fetch such high prices. Never mind an $89K Ford F-250, which is simply insane. On the other hand, you’re buying a 20 year old vehicle if you go this route.
I am pondering buying a Ford Ranger (one of the little guys) as my car (22 y/o Toyota) is beginning to show signs of overall failure. The good news is that they are cheap, in the $4k-$8K range. The bad news is that they all have 200+K miles on them. But if they go that long, I have to consider that a good indication.
Funny that I’ve seen several here.
Bizarre looking Vehicle.
Wait, that’s the front of the vehicle?
Another “electric world” story.
A relative of mine in California had solar electric panels installed on his roof, for providing all the elecricity to his house, under a deal where his out of pocket was nil, and the panels and their electric control panel are leased to him for 25 years. The solar outfit gets the majority of the money from selling back to the grid any electricity the panels generate above his house’s consumtpion.
He was happy.
Until the first time extreme heat and nearby wild fires caused his home solar service to shut down. Why? The solar system did not include a full house battery backup system, and when the grid operator has to shut down, his system has to shut down so it will quit sending power to the grid.
Seems to me it should be an easy fix in the control unit, to keep the solar power working and not sending excess power to the grid, but that is one fix the solar provider did not include and claims they do not have for his system. So, with summer heat, great solar panels, and no electricity, he was boiling.
The long of the short of it is MANY “green solutions” have not been fully thought out, or engineered all the way through but are making money on “green” virtue signalling regardless of actual costs to individuals, taxpayers or the economy.
The rubber is all ready meeting the road. When will the breaks be applied?
The Tesla’s have unibody construction. The frame comes out of a casting machine in two pieces. So, if part of the frame gets bent, you can not just cut off the rear and weld or bolt on a new section. Plus they are made out of aluminum alloy. Not steel.
The cyber truck is supposed to be cast out of one machine. The whole frame and cab. One big piece of aluminum alloy from front to back.
it’s butt ugly coming and going
Well yeah, and that something is that they suck. They cost too much to buy & maintain & are unreliable on top of all else that's wrong with them.
Anyone who continues to buy them deserve to be swindled, because it's not like they are really hiding the flaws with EVs.
The price tag was so high in part because the very minor accident “affected a panel that reaches from the back of the vehicle all the way to the front roof pillars of the truck,” and the repair required the removal of both the ceiling and front windshield.
I’ve got news for everyone,this is not uncommon on some vehicles these days,including domestic “everyday” vehicles. That’s why Total Loss has become so common.
It seems that many vehicles today are simply being engineered to *look* a certain way, with few concessions made to ease or cost of repair. In this case, the fact that it was an EV is not a factor.
So it was totaled.
You had to lift the motor in a hoist to get at the back two spark plugs.
Isn’t the ‘at fault’ driver the one with the liability for full repair? Why isn’t it his gripe with his insurance agency that it covered so little of his liability? What am I missing about insurance and laws governing traffic collisions?
You should see what aero nose fords (AKA obs AKA 92-97) with IDI and Powerstroke diesels are doing money wise.
Makes me happy I own 4 of them :)
—”EVs are made from the cheapest and lightest materials available to save weight and they are easily damaged, ergo, expensive to repair.”
Are any new cars sold in the US made heavy to withstand damage and cheap to repair?
And do not remind me about my Ford Expedition 5.4 with 2-piece sparkplugs-— Dealer wanted $500 labor and $100 for any that come apart, but it can get worse, sometimes you need to pull the head $$$
I spent 12 hours working slowly and carefully a friend had the special tools for removing broken pugs on standby.
FORD HAD A BAD IDEA.
I thought it was stainless..
and that is worse than aluminum.
Yup. I think they are called uni-sides.. basically run from the firewall to the rear of the vehicle.
They always spread the rate increases across all policies. My homeowners went up because of the Florida hurricane and I’m not in a hurricane weather area.
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