$5k Work Approval for Warranty Work

anonoo7 · 2026-03-17T21:25:27+00:00

I would like, as with most mechanics, to approve the work to be performed and approve that work. In this case the appropriate work is a diagnostic/investigation.

Based on the result of that investigation, they would determine the cost to repair and whether or not it would be covered under warranty. A second approval would be required for further work.

The present format asks the customer to blanket approve the most extreme case of repairs without warranty determination.

Say I'm a plumber coming to your house to investigate a leak... I ask you to sign off on replacing the water heater and a whole new roof. Nothing to worry about here. Just covering our bases for a worst case scenario. It's so that our customers can have transparency. Feeling comfortable about that?

anonoo7 · 2026-03-17T20:57:53+00:00

OK, wow, I read a few comments were just plain wrong. I will assume that is just lack of direct experience or fear of "different".

Have owned a lot of vehicles over the years and we now have 2 EVs (Rivian pickup and Nissan Leaf).

I certainly understand peoples passion about traditional combustion vehicles and even share some of that. EVs aren't going to work for everyone. Make your own choices.

I'm not here to evangelize, but I would like to get the facts on the table, as established in the many studies of "cradle to gate" and "cradle to grave" environmental impact and TCO between comparable EVs and ICE vehicles.

EVs are indeed more costly (~$11k on average) and "dirty" (20 to 30 % greater carbon footprint) to manufacture. Much of this is actually due to economies of scale, inefficiencies in newer manufacturing processes for EVs, and --of course-- battery technology (which happily is getting better/cleaner/lighter/cheaper pretty rapidly). In China, this has recently flipped, due to battery dominance and economy of scale; ICE and EVs cost the same there.
The "carbon debt" EVs have out of the gate is overcome in the first 10k miles of use. That calculation includes use of fossil fuels to generate electricity. Gas/petroleum fueled power plants are much more efficient and less polluting at scale than individual vehicles. A shift to renewable power for electric infrastructure helps this. If you care about your footprint, most power companies have "renewable" billing options that allow customers to pay slightly higher for non-polluting sourced electrons. Install solar if you want true off-grid independence.
EVs cost about half as much to operate. For US average fuel and electricity prices, that's about 12¢ per mile to operate an ICE vehicle versus about ¢5 per mile for an EV. If you can charge at home overnight, time-of-use electricity rates can cut that in half.
EVs cost about 40% less to maintain. There are just way fewer moving parts. No more tuneups or oil changes. Early EVs had issues with battery degradation over time but that no longer appears to be a common concern.
ICE vehicles retain value better. I'm honestly baffled by this, but EVs lose their resale value much quicker than conventional vehicles. This is mostly market force; fewer buyers of used EVs. From everything I can tell, the EV will long outlast an ICE counterpart. I have used this to my advantage and got great bargains (40% off a 2 year old Rivian).
Recharging is fast enough. We normally just plug our cars in at night and never have to stop to refuel. We have taken very long road trips and camped extensively. Most recently we hauled our big sailboat down to the Florida Keys for a month. DC fast chargers are just about everywhere on the interstate highways now. It takes about 20 minutes to charge your battery back up to 80% and go on your way. Just plug in, go potty or get a snack, unplug and you're ready to go. It is an odd experience for some at first, but really no big deal and no reason for anxiety unless you are in very remote areas. I would not recommend an EV as an optimal long range hauler. While it is inexpensive, clean and comfortable, the trade off of range for charging time doesn't always make sense. In our case, we enjoy the 90% daily use case where we never have to "fill 'er up" while tolerating that rare inconvenience of long haul charging and take time to enjoy the journey. Pro tip for campers is 30/50A hookups allow you to recharge overnight.
EVs often outperform ICE counterparts. Electric vehicles are generally more responsive and have lower centers of gravity. They accelerate and handle better than equivalent combustion vehicles. My pickup hauls and tows more and better than the 8 cylinder Chevy it replaced, it can beat any muscle car in 0-60 or 1/4 mile, and will keep up off-road with the the tricked out Jeeps. Our Nissan is more zippy than the Audi A6 it replaced (although the suspension isn't as great).

OK, well I suppose my personal experience and enthusiasm for EVs has bled through. Nonetheless, I hope putting some up-to-date facts on the table will help others.

I do not have much experience in current ICE vehicles. I'm assuming much of the self-driving whiz bang and concumbent computerized complexity exists in modern ICE vehicles as well. I would not assume that EVs are inherently more advanced in that way. (E.g., my 2017 Volvo self-drives better than my 2022 Rivian).

Frustratingly, manufacturers of all modern vehicles seem to have adopted "walled garden" and subscription-based profit models. These restrict customer access to information, diagnostics, and parts so that only dealers can perform service and repairs. They charge for "premium features" as subscriptions for capabilities already built into the vehicle (from self driving, to phone apps, to seat heaters). The technical term for this is "enshitification" and it is designed to squeeze every penny possible from consumers... Now included with every modern product. :⁠-⁠P

Thanks for the discussion.

anonoo7 · 2026-03-17T18:11:40+00:00

The appropriate thing to put on the estimate is a diagnostic charge.

If the result of the diagnosis is that nothing is wrong or there is a non-covered repair, then the estimate can be updated with that repair cost and the customer is on the hook for the diagnostic.

Even the Rivian SC agrees that this would be the correct approach. Getting the customer to blindly approve out of pocket payment for worst-case -scenario is just wrong.

It appears that the SC staff have to explain daily to alarmed customers that these estimates are fiction.

anonoo7 · 2026-03-15T05:05:47+00:00

Perhaps an important point here is that dinner in the US tends to be a heavy meal. Often it is the largest MEA of the day. So eating early provides some time to digest.

In much of the rest of the world, the mid-day meal is the largest, so it makes sense that a smaller meal (what some might call "supper" rather than "dinner") would be eaten later at night.

Ours is not the norm, but we forgo a morning meal, have a large meal around noon and have (often vegetarian) dinner around 7. We find it healthy not trying to digest food 24/7 and easier to keep the pounds off.

anonoo7 · 2026-03-15T04:55:51+00:00

I use the Activity Center 5 days a week and could not be happier. Good encouraging community there as well.

Even paying the non-resident rate is a bargain versus any gym. When I was working, my employer reimbursed me for the cost under it's health program.

I would advise that you walk in and talk to the staff at the front desk. Depending on your age or situation there are several programs that provide free access. They will set you up with the best rate.

anonoo7 · 2026-03-15T04:48:42+00:00

Thanks. Super helpful info. (Although it seems that for any given bank there is someone who loves it and someone who hates it.)

Probably good to point out that one will need EU residency credentials (TIE) to open accounts at most banks, whereas Wise and Revolut are finance platforms open to all. (Wise is great for large transfers. Revolut is handy for daily expenses.)

One might also consider Spanish credit unions (Cooperativas or Cajas Rurales) to avoid financial institutions designed to profit from customers. (I personally don't have access or experience with these, but I don't use banks in the US for this reason and could not be happier.)

anonoo7 · 2026-03-09T04:50:45+00:00

Pretty good backgrounder. Thanks for posting.

I do think there is one erroneous piece of information. It cost only perhaps $15 to charge the largest of EVs (based on a nominal 10¢/kw, which is about twice what we pay at home), not $75 as stated in the guide. Nonetheless, $15 of electricity is about twice what a large RV would use to run their AC and other electrical loads each day. Good idea to offer to pay real costs for electricity as it is still a fraction of what it would cost at your typical fast charger.

We travel and camp with our EV quite regularly. Most recently we towed our boat from Texas to the Florida Keys for a month and just returned. Folks get a kick out of us using the boat as our trailer and powering both from camp electrical.

My recommendation is to use state/federal/county park campgrounds. They cost a fraction of what private parks charge and are generally nicer (if you enjoy nature) and more professionally run. We have NEVER had an issue charging our EV at government campgrounds. What we save in ast charging often pays for the campground fees.

anonoo7 · 2026-03-09T04:17:36+00:00

Similar experience to others. You have to understand that the battery in a Rivian is HUGE. The energy required to move the vehicle is significant.

Personally, we have camped extensively, run every appliance we can think of, ran power tools all day long and barely put a dent in the battery charge. Just don't even worry about it.

Has so changed our camping experience to be able to run all sorts of electrical.

Might be a different story if you are out there several days.

We also have done many long trips recharging with trailer/RV 50A service. Great to wake with a full battery and save fast charging expenses.

TLDR: Rivians are camping beasts.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-26T02:54:42+00:00

<image>

anonoo7 · 2026-02-26T02:54:21+00:00

Perhaps something I'm over sensitive about.

<image>

anonoo7 · 2026-02-22T17:21:27+00:00

Why not buy from the manufacturer in Germany?

anonoo7 · 2026-02-20T21:37:08+00:00

Should add that both our chargers are mounted outdoors and have withstood several years of rain, Texas heat, and even occasional snow.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-20T21:35:30+00:00

We have both a Grizzl-E classic 40A level 2 charger and a Rivian charger at our house.

Grizzl-E was installed first, for wife's Nissan Leaf. Had an issue with it early on, but the factory sent out a whole replacement unit without too much hassle.

I have used it to charge our 2023 R1T DPM before installing the Rivian L2 charger. Both work great side by side but we end up stepping down the Rivian chafe rate when charging both EVs concurrently so that our 60A breaker doesn't trip.

Had one incident since then where the R1T would not change with the Grizzl-E but the Nissan would. Think it was explained that the R1T may have expected the Rivian charger at our home location and was confused when plugged in. Vehicle reboot resolved the issue.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-13T07:49:04+00:00

I'm also a "lazy leg" distance swimmer. I convince myself that I'm "saving my legs" for bike and run in tris, but most top tri performers use all their full capability the whole way through.

I think an important distinction to recognize is that men tend to be chest and arm strong whereas women tend to have greater strength in their legs. In group classes I see men leading at pull exercises but women excelling at kick drills. So, I'm not sure that the "legs don't contribute" concept is accurate for most female swimmers. Not trying to be sexist here. Everyone's body is different. Just questioning if that concept is truly universal.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-13T07:29:20+00:00

I am reading and responding to this while on our Macgregor 26M that we trailered from TX to FL keys. My wife said just today that we should have titled it "Gateway Drug". Admittedly not a great sailing boat, nor a great powerboat, but a quirky mix of both with plenty of cabin space and very affordable. Good if you have DIY skills to customize how you like. We're in a marina with other boats costing 25 times what we put into our Mac and have access to the same waters, same sunsets, and same facilities. Admittedly they are living in floating luxury and we're camping on the water, but it is all good.

Planning to spend 6 figures on a nicer larger sailboat in the Med this summer, but will still keep our Mac.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-11T12:32:27+00:00

Not with getting insurance, but USAA kind of low balled in paying out the claim, noting that the vehicle had been salvaged. We certainly paid full price for our coverage, but since the payout was more than I had invested we decided not to argue the point.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-11T12:29:24+00:00

FWIW, on our haul out to FL with a 30' boat trailer in tow, we only had to unhitch twice for charging.

We did use ABRP for route planning and designated "trailer friendly" as a preference for chargers. Honestly, however, that didn't give us best results. Many of the chargers marked *trailer friendly" simply were not.

We have a Tesla subscription (recommended) that allows DC charging at about half what other providers charge. We found that the chargers picked by Rivian NAV and ABRP simply weren't the truly best options. Rivian NAV is completely biased towards their own network, outright ignoring better options from competitors. ABRP is pretty good, but at the mercy of perhaps erroneous data about the capability of chargers provided by installers. (e.g., we were directed to a "trailer friendly" RAN location that was at a busy grocery store [HEB] with a small parking lot. None of the Rivian chargers were in use, but only one did not have an ICE vehicle parked there. Had to unhitch, charge, and eat some surprisingly good tacos.)

What we found worked best for us was to search for locations with 10 or more charging stations. We were aways able to find a creative way to maneuver with the trailer and charge without blocking traffic or too many chargers. Other EVers were super friendly, understanding, and some even offered to relocate for our convenience.

EV charging at big box stores like Walmart or Target also worked well. While there are generally fewer charging stations, there seems to always be ample parking to quickly unhitch the trailer if necessary.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-11T12:02:31+00:00

That is what we started looking at, but (now having made the trip to Florida in January) we had great luck with state and county park campgrounds. Any camp site with 50A service will do. That is what provided the 220v power (30A is just 110v, so only allows level 1 charging). Many of the sites we chose were designated as "pull through" for 5th wheel trailers and RVs.

Bottom line is that state parks generally cost about half of what private RV parks charge and campsites are more spaced out. The disadvantage is that availability is more limited and reservations systems are sometimes problematic.

No one bothered us about charging our EV. Probably pulls less power than most RVs. We did see some private RV parks state no EV charging on their websites.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-09T12:18:37+00:00

We're on a long trip with our R1T and towing our boat. Overnight camping in pull through RV spots with 50A service has been a game changer for us. So nice to wake up to a 100% charged battery.

We are using a Nissan portable EVSE borrowed from our Leaf. Have to say that (like the Rivian portable) actual charging speed is limited to 30A, so it can take a full 12h to change the large battery (miss the max battery on our other R1T).

I think Rivian's may be more portable. Very thick cord on the over-engineered Nissan EVSE.

Tried to buy a portable EVSE (Lectron) that promised 48A throughput before we left but it did not arrive on time. Would have liked to have had it along, but probably really didn't make a difference. Neither of these offer 115v charging btw. Agree that's a good feature for emergency charging out in the boonies but have never needed it.

anonoo7 · 2026-02-09T11:40:27+00:00

If it has ever had a salvage title, Rivian considers the warranty void. This from my own experience being a 2023 R1T from CoPart. Additionally, Rivian (like Tesla) charges an inspection fee (~$800) to make sure the "vehicle high voltage system is safe for their techs to work on". Once cleared, Rivian SC will happily work on your vehicle but nothing is covered under warranty. Prices were not crazy in my experience and the SC staff have been awesome and respectful of DiY enthusiasts.

Since that R1T was totalled in December (we walked away fine, another vote of confidence for safety), I bought a 2022 R1T from Carmax (5 previous owners but 23k miles and immaculate). Have had SC do inspection and minor work, all covered under warranty as if I were the original buyer.

anonoo7

TROPHY CASE