Photo: Kyle Conner via YouTube
Rivian spooked investors when it recalled every vehicle ever produced due to a steering knuckle problem. It turns out that the market has overreacted to the news, as the problem only takes two minutes to fix.
When Rivian announced that it’s recalling almost all the vehicles it ever produced to fix a “whompy wheel” problem, everyone freaked out. Rivian shares tanked, probably because everyone expected a Takata-like recall, costing the company a huge amount of money to fix. It was far from it, as revealed by owners who had already stopped by Rivian Service Centers to have their vehicles repaired.
According to Rivian’s recall notice, “an insufficiently torqued steering knuckle fastener could cause excessive wheel camber, or, in rare instances, a separation, affecting the driver’s ability to control the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.” The voluntary recall was issued after several Rivian owners got their front wheels falling off, which led people to talk about a “whompy wheel” problem.
Recalling more than 12,000 vehicles is no small thing, though. Rivian is a new carmaker, and any setback could affect its credibility and, ultimately, the bottom line. The day after the recall was announced, Rivian shares dropped almost 10% in value. That happened even though the recall notice mentions that the fix consists of tightening the loose fasteners, no parts required. Everything was expected to take no longer than 10 minutes, and owners living near a service center could even show up without making an appointment.
As more Rivian owners drove in to have their vehicles fixed, we learned that the fix actually takes less than two minutes, and the passengers didn’t even need to get off the car during this time. As Kyle Conner, the founder of Out of Spec Reviews, said, it took more time to do the paperwork than it did to tighten the suspension bolts.
This shows that investors tend to overreact sometimes, even when the problems are less serious than they appear. In all fairness, there are cases when carmakers downplayed concerns and announced fixes that turned out not to be adequate. The Chevrolet Bolt is a prime example. Hopefully, Rivian’s recall would not fall into this category, especially as the startup EV maker still has a reputation to build.
According to Rivian’s recall notice, “an insufficiently torqued steering knuckle fastener could cause excessive wheel camber, or, in rare instances, a separation, affecting the driver’s ability to control the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.” The voluntary recall was issued after several Rivian owners got their front wheels falling off, which led people to talk about a “whompy wheel” problem.
Recalling more than 12,000 vehicles is no small thing, though. Rivian is a new carmaker, and any setback could affect its credibility and, ultimately, the bottom line. The day after the recall was announced, Rivian shares dropped almost 10% in value. That happened even though the recall notice mentions that the fix consists of tightening the loose fasteners, no parts required. Everything was expected to take no longer than 10 minutes, and owners living near a service center could even show up without making an appointment.
As more Rivian owners drove in to have their vehicles fixed, we learned that the fix actually takes less than two minutes, and the passengers didn’t even need to get off the car during this time. As Kyle Conner, the founder of Out of Spec Reviews, said, it took more time to do the paperwork than it did to tighten the suspension bolts.
This shows that investors tend to overreact sometimes, even when the problems are less serious than they appear. In all fairness, there are cases when carmakers downplayed concerns and announced fixes that turned out not to be adequate. The Chevrolet Bolt is a prime example. Hopefully, Rivian’s recall would not fall into this category, especially as the startup EV maker still has a reputation to build.
Getting our recall done on the Rivian and it took more time to do paperwork than the 1min it did to tighten the suspension bolts
— Kyle Conner (@itskyleconner) October 10, 2022
Great to see some viewers here as well who were also getting their trucks done. No appointment, just rolled up unannounced and we were out in 3 min! pic.twitter.com/uAJEudMOLj
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