Electric Vehicles

First of all, full disclosure: I own a Gen 1 R1T, my VIN is sub 10K.

You're right in that I don't believe in CR's methods (for almost anything, not just vehicles). Many of their reviews have left a bad taste in my mouth, and their methodology for testing EVs is sub-par.

Also, squeaks snd creeks don't automatically mean that the vehicle itself is "unreliable". Sure, it shouldn't have them since its an expensive EV, but you can still drive it with most of those issues, it doesn't inheritly mean your vehicle is going to break down if a panel squeaks.

That being said, transmission and battery issues are alarming, however not very widespread as if this were the case you'd hear a lot more about it via the media.

You also have to remember people are more likely to complain than say nothing is wrong - you can't use forum posts to gauge reliability because of that. For example, I have not had any issues related to battery, transmission, or anything integral to driving. The only issue I have personally had was a speaker rattle, which was easily fixed. I haven't posted anywhere that I have had no problems (until now). It goes both ways of course, just because I haven't had problems doesn't mean other people haven't, but that's kind of my point: forum posts mean nothing when it comes to gauging reliability.

Once again, I want to emphasize that I definitely have some bias here because I own one and have for about 3 years. It's the best vehicle I've ever owned.