u/Nox_Ocean_21

• Reservation: seconds after the announcement
• Order: August 1, 2026
• VIN: August 8, 2026
• Delivery date confirmed: August 17, 2026
• Config: Midnight, black interior, 21" wheels
• Pay: 3rd party lender (credit union 4.5%) via check in hand
• Down payment: wire
• Insurance: car added to policy active the day of
• Location: Service center, California.

I asked Rivian what the order of operations would be for payment, down payment, insurance, etc. with these parameters in mind: lender is 3rd party, my down payment will be made through wire, the remaining is done through a check from the lender that I'll have in hand to bring the day of

This is what they said:

1. Wire downpayment before 3pm day before delivery
2. Upload photo of the wire transfer for down payment (3pm day before delivery)
3. Upload photo of the check for final payment (3pm day before delivery)
4. Upload photo of ANY car insurance under your name (3pm day before delivery) - they don't even need proof that the actual R2 is insured. So I just uploaded my current car's insurance now to get that checked off. I'll have the car insured by the policy by the day of delivery, active that day.
5. Bring the final check with me to pickup

Pretty simple, but it was a pain to get the answers to the above. There's so many different FAQ and emails with different instructions. I really had to get to the bottom of it by calling.

Of course, everyone's delivery may be different depending on state and pickup location/situation.

I have some bunker industries traction boards, and was wondering if the Maxtrax mounts would work with them? And yes, I already ordered the crossbars for the R2.

My Bunker Industries boards:

https://a.co/d/05whcKGG

Rivian Maxtrax mount:

https://gearshop.rivian.com/products/rivian-x-maxtrax-recovery-board-mount?_pos=32&_fid=56bc13701&_ss=c

I've seen some discussion recently from redditors talking about their current or planned dog car crate setups, and I've been planning on a couple (crash tested) options and wanted to see if anyone else has looked into this or has done it yet.

1. My dog is pretty big, so I'm looking to maximize the space with the absolute largest crate that can fit the hatch area. Even though I don't need the biggest one (to my calculations) to fit her, the slightly smaller ones aren't that different, so I might as well.
2. I'll leave the crate in semi-permanently, so that means I'll need to keep the backseats up for the occasions (there are some) where I have people in the back seat.

Based on some initial measurements:

• Depth: 36" (seat back to hatch)
• Height: 29" (opening)
• Width: 41"

The hatch is pretty boxy, and the crates that I'm looking at have a slight taper to them towards the top, so I think I don't need to worry about height/width front to back varying too much.

These two crates are the ones that are crash tested and can maximize the space that I've found:

1. Thule Allax Double L (compact) - Depth: 34.4 - 36.6in, Width: 37.8in, Height: 27.2in
2. Variocage Double Extra Large - Depth: 31.89 – 40.55in, Width: 38.97in, Height: 28.14in

The Thule Allax Double L (compact) is the largest one Thule carries. It would be nice if they had a non-compact one to see if it would slightly increase the width and height, but I guess this works fine. It's about $100 cheaper than the Variocage, but the price has fluctuated quite a bit this year already.

The next size up on the Variocage increases the width to 41.73", so I think that would actually fit between the wheel wells, as it seems exactly 41". Maybe you can squish it in, but that's kind of risky. It is about 2.75" of extra space, which is relatively quite a bit. I'd be tempted to try to see if it would snuggly fit, but the risk is high. Anyone with a R2 wanna see if something that wide could cram in there?

Say 41.73" wide crates could fit, then the next size up has a height of 30.71". I'm pretty sure the hatch opening is 29", but again, maybe the headliner could squish a bit.

The point is, since there really isn't any good usable space once you put a double car crate in the car, might as well take up as much space as you can. Costco runs without the dog, I can just shove everything inside the crate.

Anyway, I hope some of the above helps others, and I'd love to hear if anyone else has considered this in their setups.

ALSO: I don't mean for this thread to be a discussion about pet safety and "why would you pay so much for your dog." Let's just drop that and assume we're past that and this is happening.

Waiting on my R2 delivery, but curious for those who do longer trips where there's plenty of RAN and Tesla chargers on the route: do you try to use one over the other?

I know you can get better rates if you pay $13 for a tesla membership to charge the Rivian, but is there an advantage to that over RAN?

I will be going on a handful of pretty long (500+ mile) drives soon. I've done them in my 2020 Model Y Performance no problem with plentiful superchargers. I checked the RAN network map, and there's RAN chargers wherever I need them. Should I save the tesla membership and just go with RAN on these drives? If for some reason I need a backup, I"ll just suck it up and pay the extra at a Tesla supercharger.

Is this a good idea? If a VAR takes more than 5 minutes figure out, from potential offense to the ref reviewing the screen, then just drop it.

Maybe it’s a bad idea in ways I don’t understand, but one thing I do hate is the fact that with enough scrutiny and subjective interpretation of rules, ANYTHING can be called back.

I usually buy my cars outright, but I'm curious about shopping for car loans to see what my options are. Given the 8-12 weeks window of the car getting delivered, and that loan shopping usually locks 30 - 90 days, how do I time this?

I could just go with Rivian's own loan provider, but there's some credit unions near me that I qualify for that advertise pretty good rates with high FICO scores.

Anyone know if there's good timing?

I also just ordered the car tonight, so maybe I will know more once I get contacted by Rivian.

Just put in my order, Midnight!

Any other Midnight folk out there?

I know it’s not a popular color, so this will get downvoted and comments about how it’s impossible to keep clean 😆

I have always had black cars, even from the very first car I ever had. It’s so shiny and beautiful for about 30 minutes after a wash. Glorious.

What’s up with Hutton? Every time she has the ball, it’s magical, and then she passes it and that’s it. She also seems to pass so often. Maybe that’s what the coaches want, but it confuses me. If she wants to sett the pace and be a big impact, shouldn’t she handle it a lot more? I feel like she almost plays more of a CDM role. Or am I missing something?

This last game Bebar seemed to have the ball more and I just don’t think she can distribute as well.

I didn't see any time limit. I got my email to order (I'm august/september timeline) but I'm out of town and unable to really do anything for a bit.

I want to start the Angel's Landing hike as early as I can to beat the heat. We'll be going next week (if lottery doesn't work, we'll just goto that last lookout). I'm fine waking up at any time, as long as we can safely get to the trailhead. So within an hour of sunrise would probably have enough light? Also, can I drive to where we start, or do we have to take shuttles?

Last question: I plan on bringing 2L of water... is this enough or should I bring more?

I'm thinking of adding a Vaucluse backpack ventilation frame on a couple of hikes this summer with my GR1 Heritage (21L). I know I'll get sweaty no matter what, but if it helps and is comfortable, I'm going to try it. I just ordered one, but was curious if anybody else has tried it on their heritage!

Or any regular model. Just make it an EV. We already love these models, just make it EV. Not some weird thing that’s just not at all what we’re used to.

I loved my Outback. One of my favorite cars. My dogs loved it.

Give it 300 mile range and the ability to charge at Tesla or Rivian chargers and it’s going to be huge.

I may be naive and stupid, let me know if I am. But it boggles my mind like crazy why these companies all try to do some weird ass shit with their new EVs. The best BEV I’ve seen is from VW. They made an EV golf, they made an ev a4. Etc. it’s so amazing.

This may be a Toyota partnership limitation?

How do you use a hydration pack/bladder in a GR1 if you use one?

I'm considering bringing my GR1 Xpac on a 5-8 mile day hike during my trip, leaving the laptop at home, and using a hydration bladder, but wanted to see if anyone else has a good solution for it.

I'm planning on just putting the hydration in the main compartment and feeding the tube through an opening of the zippers, then pray the zippers stay together through the hike.

The interior molle will be covered by a GR2 field pocket, but I'm sure I can try to squeeze a little carabeaner in there to keep the bladder in a hanging position.

I ordered a CPL 16L xpac (haven't recieved it yet) and want to use it on a trip. It'll be used to carry some personal items with me on the plane, including a laptop. But I'm visiting and hiking a bunch in the heat, where I'll leave my laptop at the hotel and use a hydration bladder. The CPL 16L seems perfect for me, at least in theory. It allows me to travel with my laptop, and when hiking I can just use a hydration bladder. The XPac should be pretty light. I have a goruck xpac kit bag that I use for the gym, and I love that material.

The thing is, the CPL seems like it could be a lot more geared towards commutes than day hikes (5-9 miles).

anyone use it for hiking?

In your opinion, is the game still fun if you don't go to new game/unity at the end of the main storyline?

I kind of want to build out awesome outposts and really explore that for no reason other than it being fun to discover new places and built out really cool buildings. (I wish PS5 had better creations for outposts).

I'm thinking of getting Molle webbing on the straps of a GR1 X-Pac, but I heard GoRuck/Scars won't do it on xpac? Has anyone else tried this?

I may also go to a local shop to get it done but wanted to be sure.

I know that if you sew through xpac, it's not really waterproof anymore, but on the shoulder pads that doesn't really matter.