A Rivian R1T owner in Ohio was left with a repair bill of $42,000 USD for what was initially believed to be minor damage caused by a fender bender. Fortunately the eye-popping bill was covered by the insurance company involved, but the high amount raises questions about just how expensive EV repair work actually is, and whether repair shops are inflating their costs to take advantage.
The owner posted about his ordeal on the Rivian Electric Vehicles Discussion Facebook page, initially seeking help to find a certified repair shop to carry out repairs in early February. After an investigation, the insurance company estimated the damages to be around $1,600 and sent the owner a cheque. Rivian recommends its EVs be taken to certified repair shops for collision repairs. This owner’s local shop, K-Ceps, which specializes in EVs is one of only 3 Rivian certified shops in the state and was over 60 km away. When it was all said and the repair work took over two and a half months to complete, and the owner was left with a final bill of $42,000. (via Carscoops)
The body shop documented every step with photographs to show the insurance company the process. However, some Facebook users questioned the need for extensive disassembly, like having to remove the rear glass, stating it may be a case of insurance fraud to justify the bill’s excessive costs.
“This is 100% insurance fraud on behalf of this authorized repair facility. Clearly they are taking advantage of the fact this is an extremely new platform to justify egregious costs. Unless it takes 300 hours to remove the bed and rear glass (for no reason at all it would seem) and reassemble how in the world is this a 42k dollar repair? I’ve seen [Lamborghini] Aventadors have entire rear carbon sections repaired and repainted for less than that…” wrote one user.
“The only way a fender bender would cost 42K is if the bumper was made of solid gold,” wrote another.
Many users asked the owner to post the itemized bill so that everyone could see how this repair could end up totaling $42,000, but unfortunately the owner never did, and the post has now been closed for commenting by the admins of the Facebook group.
