2025 Rivian R1T Owner Review: Here’s What Broke After 28,000 Miles

• A 2025 Rivian R1T owner recaps the good and the bad after one year of ownership.
• The owner previously had a Gen 1 R1T, so he can compare the two easily.
• After 28,000 miles, the electric pickup is still in great shape, but some unexpected problems had to be fixed.

Rivian’s second-generation R1T electric pickup has many improvements compared to the old model, even though it might not look like it from the outside. That’s because most of the upgrades happened under the skin, where new motors, new hardware and better software were implemented.

That said, if you happen to own an older R1T that doesn’t have all of these goodies, does it make sense to upgrade to a newer model? Thankfully, Dominic Wilkerson can answer this question, as he used to own a first-gen R1T but upgraded to a Gen 2 model last year, according to a recent video he uploaded on YouTube.

His previous ride was a quad-motor pickup, while the new R1T has a tri-motor setup coupled with the Max battery pack, which is rated for 371 miles on a full charge. Wilkerson paid roughly $107,000 for the truck last year, but if he were to trade it in right now, the market value is around $74,000, according to Rivian.

The owner uses the EV for his real estate photography business. It’s a job that often requires him to travel between 200 and 300 miles every day, so the odometer has already passed the 28,000-mile mark. It’s a lot of driving, so a comfortable ride is more than welcome. Thankfully, the R1T’s air suspension and comfy seats can more than cope with the demands.

On his previous R1T, the owner counted no fewer than 13 issues, but they were all fixed by Rivian’s service centers. The 2025 R1T has performed better so far, but it’s not without fault. The first issue that popped up had to do with the tire pressure sensors, and the car spent about three weeks at a service center to get a fix. It’s better now, but the problem still comes back sporadically because, as the owner says, there’s radio frequency interference from the two electric motors at the rear of the car.

The second-gen R1T also needed an alignment straight away, despite the fact that it had just rolled off the factory floor. The AC outlets in the bed went out after one weekend of having a small fridge plugged in, and the front subframe has also been replaced, with Rivian’s technicians saying the car was too close to the maximum weight limit. The owner installed several accessories, including a bed cover and roof rack.

However, Wilkerson’s biggest complaint is the Premium sound system, which he says is nothing to write home about, mainly because there’s not enough bass. He does recognize that other owners might find the audio system perfectly adequate, but not him.

Would he buy it again, though? “Yes, but no,” he said. It’s not that he doesn’t like the car—it’s because he would rather have an R1S instead of an R1T, or even an R2. That said, if someone is looking for a used first-gen R1T, Wilkinson reckons they should go for it and save some money in the process, as pre-2025 models are priced well under $60,000 on the used market.