$40,000 minor dent repair = Rivian. Just Say No.

Posted on 11 October 2023 by E.M.Smith

Uncle Tony’s Reaction:

Nobody, with even 1/2 a functioning brain, should ever buy a Rivian…

About E.M.Smith

A technical managerial sort interested in things from Stonehenge to computer science. My present "hot buttons' are the mythology of Climate Change and ancient metrology; but things change...
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10 Responses to $40,000 minor dent repair = Rivian. Just Say No.

  1. Canadian Friend says:
    11 October 2023 at 10:43 pm

    Rivian the company in which Ford invested a lot of $$$ and if I am not mistaken lost a lot of $$$ also…

    Ford the company that in the last few years is making the strangest bad decisions and lost many Billions of dollars because of it

    —They lost I think it is $ 4 Billion ( so far ) with their electric vehicles

    —They stopped making and selling very popular cars ( Focus, Fusion, etc…side note; the Taurus in the 1990s used to be the best selling car in the world…and then in 2005 was in 4th place which is still not bad at all ) Apparently Ford did not like it that so many people were buying their cars,…so they stopped making cars ( except the Mustang )

    —Although they still make and sell the Mustang they gave the Mustang name to an electric truck that looks like a Hyunday soccer mom SUV; the Mach-E Mustang and insulted Millions of people who have loved the Mustang for about 50 years…the Mustang is probably the most recognized car name in the world so they tarnished its name those geniuses at Ford…

    —they now only make and sell trucks ( except the Mustang ) but why ??? The Taurus, the Fusion and the Focus were very popular because not everyone wants to drive a truck…isn’t that obvious ???

    —They made a tv ad in early 2023 in which a definitely LGBTQ looking truck ( to not say gay looking ) wins the race against a regular truck; the message was clear very clear; Ford felt like they had to insult straight white men to show their support for the raging Trans Movement. ( shaking my head in disbelief at that much imbecility )

    and this is not even the complete list!

    I don’t know what is going on at Ford but They are making very bad decisions lately.

    What will they do next ? Make a car that has square wheels and be surprised they are losing Billions of $$$ ???

  2. jim2 says:
    11 October 2023 at 11:24 pm

    Mythbusters actually outfitted a car with square wheels. It’s a rough ride until the car is going so fast the flat part doesn’t touch the ground. The faster the better.

  3. Canadian Friend says:
    12 October 2023 at 12:11 am

    jim2,

    By the time you get used to the rough ride, after maybe 5000 miles , the square wheels have become round from wear…

    … … …

    E.M.Smith,

    How much did it cost to repair the dent the paintless way? if they said it, I missed it…

    I would guesstimate it at $5000 maybe ?

  4. Graeme No.3 says:
    12 October 2023 at 12:14 am

    Insurance companies now right-off EV’s with minor dents near the battery. With the latest fire at Luton airport parking station (near London where EVs are popular with the well-heeled) they are unlikely to keep insuring these dud vehicles.

  5. Canadian Friend says:
    12 October 2023 at 1:19 am

    About the Luton airport fire

    It is hard to get good information

    but…

    Many are saying it looks like an EV fire,

    and some sources say it was diesel range rover

    so I googled “diesel range rover” and guess what? they are diesel hybrid cars !

    They do have electric motors and a large battery

    So even though the ” official” story in the MSM is that a diesel vehicle caught fire, since diesel cars extremely rarely catch on fire but electric ones do relatively often, it is almost certain it was the electric part of the Range Rover that caused the fire that has destroyed over a 1000 cars and destroyed a good deal of the multi level airport parking.

    Of course the MSM will hide the fact it is a semi electric vehicle !

  6. E.M.Smith says:
    12 October 2023 at 1:55 am

    @Canadian Friend;

    I think a lot of that is the result of a concerted effort by Government to screw around with cars (in particular, CAFE standards that killed the large sedan) and Political Motivated Shareholders (i.e. Blackrock / Vanguard shoving their PC Directors onto boards).

    CAFE also put trucks in a different category, so if you want a big vehicle, the only way to get it is a truck.

    Per the “Diesel Hybrid”: Great Catch!

    Per Paintless: It was 2 full days. Figure about $100 to $150 / hour for an 8 hour day. So $1600 to $2400 plus tax. Max about $3k.

  7. Canadian Friend says:
    12 October 2023 at 2:16 am

    $3000 US would be for me, about $ 4200 Canadian…I was close …

    About the hybrid diesel I admit I am proud of my catch !

    About the Luton fire that burned over 1200 cars, destroyed a multilevel parking, and caused 40,000 travelers to be grounded for hours…

    of course they will never admit that ONE SINGLE semi electric car caused all that as it would be horrible publicity for EVs!

    the global warming cult would lose a few followers !

    you can see the floor of the parking melt like ice cream here,

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12618033/started-London-Luton-car-park-fire-moment.html

    and about those Range Rover that the MSM lying trough their teeth call diesel vehicles, they have been HYBRIDS , and have had a LITHIUM battery since about 2013

  8. David A says:
    12 October 2023 at 10:47 am

    I do not know what model the range rover was, yet according to this…
    “…according to AA technical expert Greg Carter. He added that diesel is ‘much less flammable’ than petrol, and in a car it takes ‘intense pressure or sustained flame’ to ignite diesel.”

    and certainly their were other evs in the garagewith those fires burning far hotter and longer.

  9. Nic. says:
    12 October 2023 at 10:53 am

    Luton is my local airport. Early 2020 when lockdowns first happened, I would go out cycling in the mornings and would time it to watch the 7am departures. The best vantage point was the top deck of that car park. I could do this because there was literally no other vehicles on the road.

  10. E.M.Smith says:
    13 October 2023 at 3:59 pm

    Looks like Tesla started this “one giant part” movement, but that Toyota is hopping on the trend as well. So far it looks like it is just EVs, but watch out for any car that claims “GigaCasting” or “Giga Press” in the assembly:
    https://www.torquenews.com/1/toyota-goes-gigacasting-teslas-idea-irreparable-parts-spreading

    Toyota Goes Gigacasting as Tesla’s Idea With Irreparable Parts Is Spreading
    Posted: October 10, 2023 – 2:34PM
    Author: Armen Hareyan

    At a technology workshop in Japan, Toyota, among other things, presented a new production technology that can produce a complete car body in a short time from just three parts. This is made possible by the use of the so-called giga-casting process – an aluminum die-casting technology that Tesla is utilizing in its electric vehicle production, which produces large shell components in one operation in gigantic presses.

    What delivers huge cost and time advantages in production could end up costing customers dearly, notes Markus Shonfeld in Auto Motors Sports. Because if the entire rear end of a car consists of just one part, individual parts can no longer be repaired individually after a rear-end collision, for example. Either the entire rear end has to be reinstalled and painted or the car has to be written off as a total loss.
    […]
    Series production of Toyota electric cars as early as 2026

    Meanwhile, Japanese media reports that the technology will be used for the first time on a mass-produced electric vehicle, which will be launched in 2026 with cast front and rear body structures. Toyota is planning gigacasting as an integral part of its own electric strategy.

    The aluminum die-casting process became known at the latest due to quality problems at Tesla. At that time, the Americans delivered the first Model Y cars, although upon closer inspection, light even shone through the cracks in the frame. The technology now seems to be establishing itself as a new industry standard, and not just at Tesla. Volvo also wants to produce large aluminum body parts in one piece in the future.

    Toyota is repositioning itself for electromobility. Part of the production strategy is the use of so-called gigacasting. Large components of the vehicle body are manufactured in one piece using an aluminum die-casting process. This creates enormous advantages in terms of production costs and time. However, if the car is damaged later, such die-cast parts cannot be repaired.

    And it goes on from there…

    So, note to self:

    For any car newer than about 2005 look up the average repair costs before you buy one, new or used, as some of these are going to be horrific. A “Minor rear-ender” can now mean your car is totaled.

    Me? I think I have enough cars for the rest of my driving life, but if not, I’ve put my “cut off date” at about 2005 – though with the caveat that anything newer than 2000 will require specifically asking about “Gigacasting” and “CAM Networks” and avoiding them.

    Only things I can see me, MAYBE, wanting are an old RV (like 1990s or earlier) and / or an old XJ Jeep (6 cyl inline was a rugged low trouble engine) – prior to the anti-theft system that most people rip out as it tends to brick the car… But that would only be after my Subaru dies (IF it ever does ;-)

    I do note in passing that Toyota, Tesla, Volvo, and Rivian EVs are all on my “Don’t even think about it” list (so far, more TBD); since the repair costs look to be astronomical (especially once the Gigapress thing catches on…) I don’t need no disposable sparky car…

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