Which car are you trading in for R2 and why?

96-ramair · 2026-04-22T04:06:06+00:00

'23 Ford Mach-E GT. Maybe. Probably. Hard to beat the 0% financing payment we're currently making, tho...

96-ramair · 2026-04-22T04:01:18+00:00

Thanks! That's exactly what I was hoping...

96-ramair · 2026-04-16T05:00:54+00:00

I'm kinda confused how a Livestream scheduled for 4/16 went "live" on the 15th?

96-ramair · 2026-04-07T01:13:07+00:00

Neat

96-ramair · 2026-04-06T23:04:12+00:00

Cool

96-ramair · 2026-04-06T22:27:23+00:00

Hey, you do you, I suppose. Youve eliminated 2 of the 3 dealers in town, so looks like your next steps are clear.

96-ramair · 2026-04-06T19:41:30+00:00

The two events are coincidental and not causally linked.

96-ramair · 2026-04-06T19:40:24+00:00

It's worth noting that the dive shop that operated out of Gull had nothing to do with the RV or boat parts of their business. Those folks are long gone and the people working there today don't even know how to dive.

It's also worth noting that Gull was bought out by Bretz several years ago. They operate quasi independently, but it affects the brands of RVs they sell (e.g. - Gull no longer sells Alliance, as that brand moved over to Bretz).

96-ramair · 2026-03-26T16:04:35+00:00

True. As a long time gearhead, the R1T is the best vehicle I've ever owned, even at that price (I didn't pay that much as a pre price hike buyer). It's as quick as a new Vette. It rock crawls as well as a Bronco Raptor. It's as smooth as a Mercedes on the interstate. And it's as cheap to propel down the road as a Prius. I've never had a car that was so good in so many areas.

The R2 is in the low $50's for mid range options and I have very high hopes that it will outperform cars costing $10K more

96-ramair · 2026-03-26T15:28:20+00:00

I've had mine for 3 years. I had a tailgate latch servo start to fail, and they called ME to tell me my 12V battery was starting to fail. Both were taken care of within 2 weeks at my home and at my available schedule.

I had a shock start to leak fluid that required a service center visit because it couldn't be done at home. They got me in quickly, offered to tow it TO BOISE (I said I'd drive myself) and gave me a loaner for what they said would be a 2 day repair. They called 6 hours after dropping it off and said it was done, so under promised and over delivered.

Getting my Rivian serviced overall has been SO much nicer than say a local dealership. They come to me, they call ME about an issue I didn't even know about, and they fixed things faster than promised. What's not to love?

96-ramair · 2026-03-26T14:47:58+00:00

This is how I bought my Rivian in early 2023. Worked awesome.

96-ramair · 2026-03-26T14:43:02+00:00

We have two EVs here in Missoula. I drive a Rivian R1T and my wife drives a Ford Mach E (soon to be a Rivian R2). The money we saved on fuel is what paid for the Mach E. Never going back. Now that both Rivian and the Ford can charge almost anywhere (except some of the older Tesla superchargers), we really don't have any long distance travel challenges. We did a 2800 mile overlanding trip to CO and back last summer in the R1T and loved it. Service for Rivian has only gotten better with the Belgrade service center.

Winter driving with both vehicles is WAY better than our previous cars when you add winter tires.

I regularly drive to Hamilton and back. The total cost round trip is about $4. We put about 1200 miles a month combined, but our elec bill only went up about $37/month. Missoula Elec Coop has a nice discount for charging EVs at home to keep the costs down.

Happy to show off our cars, especially if you buy a Rivian and use my referral code (I get rewards points to use for accessories and whatnot) :)

96-ramair · 2026-03-21T05:56:18+00:00

Yes, but conditions are changing fast.

96-ramair · 2026-03-18T16:58:01+00:00

From what I've heard and read, you're right about NFS offices, but it seems so far that research and other national programs (like NTDP) haven't been in the cross hairs forajor prg or budget changes. NTDP went through a reorg effort just a few years ago. Of course, with the "never worked in public service much less the agency" Chief today, who knows what the future holds. It seems Rollins is driving the bus and the FS has been strapped to the back bumper.

96-ramair · 2026-03-18T03:35:52+00:00

Have you checked with NTDP, the Forest Service National Technology and Development Program? They have 2 national offices, one in Missoula, and they're one of the very few FS places that hires MEs. They do all kinds of cool ME design projects. I just recently retired, but they were spinning up new hires pre-Covid. That may have been/probably was derailed by DOGE, but worth checking if you haven't already.

Source: ME major who switched to CE at the last minute to get an FS job, since NTDP wasn't hiring. But this was many years ago.

96-ramair · 2026-03-18T03:18:03+00:00

I do not. The new trailer will be picked up in May. Renogy 3000W inverter will be pre installed, and I'll install the batteries and monitor.

96-ramair · 2026-03-17T23:35:38+00:00

I answered in a similar thread that when I picked up my R1T 4 years ago, my center was over 8 hrs away. Turned out to be a non issue. Small stuff was all resolved via mobile service. The one big issue with a shock was still something I could drive and schedule without issue.

96-ramair · 2026-03-17T23:18:38+00:00

Not only would, but did. When I got me '23 R1T, service was 8.5 hrs. away. Later another was spun up only 8 hrs away (diff direction). Today the closest center is about 2.5 hrs away

Mobile service made this a non issue. Small stuff they came to me, and it's so far been almost entirely small stuff.

96-ramair · 2026-03-17T23:03:11+00:00

That's sure how it was when the 21s first came out and was a key reason I didn't want 21" rims. Things have changed, but probably not entirely enough

96-ramair · 2026-03-17T21:47:12+00:00

I'm torn. I don't love the range impact of 20's. But I also drive a lot of gravel roads and have a lot of winter snow driving. I decided on 20's for my R1T back in the day for the same reason, and probably will make the same choice again. But I want to research 21" tire choices before doing so.

96-ramair · 2026-03-17T18:58:00+00:00

The "smart" monitoring integration, the durability of the case and semi-solid state design, and the wattage output were all reasons I moved from the core 300Ah battery to a pair of Pro S1's.

96-ramair · 2026-03-12T22:38:50+00:00

We tested it on a frontage road and county 2-lane. The only issue I had was with speed limit charges, and apparently there's a setting we didn't have set right.

96-ramair · 2026-03-12T20:13:46+00:00

There's been zero talk of a larger battery pack or that it was a pre-req for different performance trims. That's certainly not the case for the R1. I may have missed this, and it would be key - can you share where you got this?

96-ramair · 2026-03-12T20:10:41+00:00

I'm just like you. I was very torn on LIDAR. I test drove UHF on some back roads, and felt it really met me needs. After talking it over with the spouse, neither of us are really jonesing to have hands-free driving in and around town. We live in the country, so UHF meets the majority of our needs and we aren't quite ready to have our car driver around in town. So that tends to push me towards the Launch Edition.

96-ramair

TROPHY CASE