AutoUtility currently tracks 37 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2023 Rivian R1T. Air Bags & Restraints issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 14 complaints (37.8% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 3 filings cite a crash, 1 cites a fire.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 37 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Air Bags & Restraints (14 reports • 37.8% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (9), Electrical System (5)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 0 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
37
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
3
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
0
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2023 Rivian R1T

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 37.8% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

14 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 3 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 24.3% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

9 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports
#3 Problem Area 13.5% of complaints

Electrical System

5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 1 fire report
#4 Problem Area 13.5% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports
#5 Problem Area 8.1% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

3 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2023 Rivian R1T

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Wheels & Tires NHTSA ODI ID: #11739639
Filed: 05/22/2026

"I was driving to a restaurant and out of nowhere started hearing this metal-on-metal sound 1/4 mile before I got there. I pulled into the parking lot and it kept getting worse, so I called Rivian to tow the car. They confirmed it was a hub and shaft bolt that came loose. I have video of the sound..."

Incident Date: 05/21/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: WHEELS
Visibility, Wipers & Glass NHTSA ODI ID: #11731452
Filed: 04/15/2026

"On multiple occasions I have experienced the defrost feature of my 2023 Rivian R1T blowing cool air instead of warm or hot air, leading to a build up of ice on the windshield while driving. I have brought this concern to Rivian's attention with two service appointments, both of which resulted in..."

Incident Date: 03/03/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: VISIBILITY
Air Bags & Restraints NHTSA ODI ID: #11720146
Filed: 02/24/2026

"No changes to the car happened before the airbag system went out."

Incident Date: 01/20/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11708829
Filed: 01/05/2026

"When it rains, or water is allowed to collect on top of the roof, water seeps in through the hinges of the driver and passenger sun visors. Depending on how much water is allowed to collect, it can trickle in or gush right inside the interior of the vehicle. Not only can it come in thru the sun..."

Incident Date: 10/28/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11696263
Filed: 10/29/2025

"My truck was recently upgraded to software version 2050.38.0. After the upgrade, I drove my truck about 3 miles in about 5 minutes. When I arrived at my destination, I exited the truck to get something out of the rear seat. The rear door was locked; this is normal. I returned to the front seat to..."

Incident Date: 10/27/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Rivian R1T

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2022–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2022 Rivian R1T 64 7 11 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Rivian R1T Current Page 37 3 7 Current
2024 Rivian R1T 9 0 6 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Rivian R1T 10 0 7 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Rivian R1T 0 0 1 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2023 Rivian R1T

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 23 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 10 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEATS 2 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Lane Departure Warning NHTSA category: LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE 1 1 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 1 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (37). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)

1 OPEN

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
OPEN Preliminary Evaluation (PE) ODI Action #PE26004
Opened: 2026-05-26 • Currently Active

Rear Toe Link May Separate

Affected Component: SUSPENSION:REAR

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received two Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) reporting left rear toe link separation in certain Model Year (MY) 2023-2024 Rivian R1S vehicles. Both VOQs report component separation while driving, causing the vehicles to swerve across multiple lanes of traffic. One incident resulted in a collision with an adjacent vehicle and roadside barrier.  In both separations, the bolt that maintains the inte...

Active federal investigation. Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.