2022 Rivian R1T pre-purchase inspection checklist

Do not read a Rivian VIN the way you read a Ford or a Toyota VIN. On the R1T the 8th digit is the trim/series character — A for Adventure, E for Explore, L for Launch Edition — and it tells you nothing about the drive units. The motor configuration sits at the 6th digit instead: A for the quad-motor AWD, B for the dual-motor AWD. Anyone quoting you an ‘engine code in the 8th digit’ on a Rivian is applying a domestic-brand habit to a VIN that does not work that way. For a 2022 truck specifically the 6th-digit read is confirmatory rather than decisive, because every MY2022 R1T left Normal as a quad-motor car on the 135 kWh Large pack: Rivian did not build a customer dual-motor R1T until May 2023, and the 149 kWh Max pack and 105 kWh Standard pack both arrived after the 2022 run. So if a listing advertises a ‘2022 dual-motor’ or a ‘2022 Max pack’ R1T, the listing is wrong about the year, the configuration, or both — decode digit 10 for the model year before you go further. Two honest limits. Rivian has re-mapped several VIN positions across model years (the 2025 cars renamed Explore to Entry and added a Premium code), so a decoder table written for a current car can mislead on an early truck; and because the software-defined drive units have been re-flashed over the air since launch, the VIN fixes the hardware but not the power figure the truck is currently making. Confirm the pack and motor count on the vehicle information screen and in the Rivian app, not from the badge or the window sticker alone.

Planning the upkeep this car will need? Our step-by-step guides cover oil changes, brake pads & rotors, battery replacement, transmission fluid, coolant flushes, and spark plugs — each with the tools, parts, torque specs, and common mistakes that matter. Browse all repair guides →