I was never interested in the Rivian, but it has been mentioned on this form numerous times, with many posters indicating that they have pre-orders for one. With the recent revelation concerning the total recall of over 13,000 vehicles I’m glad I never strayed from my original pick of my Defender 110.

 

Right with you. I was brave enough to order a new JLR model (Defender) when it first came out. But ordering a new vehicle from a somewhat new company is taking a far bigger chance even if Ford is a major owner.

The last thing I want is an electric vehicle until I have no choice. I can barely find a parking spot at Stowe after driving 4 hours into VT. So where will I find a charging station there and how long is the wait? I'd rather spend 5 minutes filling up the gas tank to get back home.

 

You are tracking that Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008, right?

 

Ford has dumped quite a bit of money into Rivian and owns 11.4% of them.

 

Yes, I was noting that Ford being a major owner of Rivian is a good thing given Ford's 100+ years of experience building vehicles. I read that when Ford executives first toured the JLR Solihull plant in 2000 they were shocked to see workers wearing leather aprons and welding by hand. Ford proceeded to invest billions into that plant in robots and automation before selling JLR to Tata in 2008.

The 2004 Discovery 3/LR3 was a huge leap in build quality over the Discovery 2, largely due to Ford's investments. But then again, many of the LR3 and LR4 parts that commonly failed were stamped with FoMoCo. (LR3 brake switches and LR4 plastic coolant lines)

 

Saw 2 Rivian pickups yesterday in Portland. I kind of think they look ... a bit bland and "garden variety". That said, an interesting product.

Ford I think owns 9% now (Amazon 17%). Ford dumped a bunch of Rivian stock earlier this year FYI.

 

Umm, that was 14 years ago. Quality is much better now. The last, and only Ford I’ve ever owned was a 1966 Mustang convertible. Wish I had it now. Wouldn’t think of buying a Ford these days, much less a Rivian. Somehow can’t get with the Rivian’s cartoon character look. Somewhat goofy looking, but just my opinion.

 

My bad, misunderstood the message there.

 

I'm with you. I'd want no part of that. What was the design inspiration for that front end, Hello Kitty?

 

I’m witcha. I have a reservation for a new vehicle from a new company, but at least it looks good.