QUESTION Why is it so difficult to buy a Lucid?

[cajual]

This is my third Lucid purchase (lease), first Gravity. Every single time I have had to hound my sales advisor for any information, movement, contracts, updates, etc. They seem reluctant to participate and disinterested in the process. Where in a traditional dealership I am usually fending off sales interactions, I feel like the roles are reversed during this process.

I have literally NO insight into what is happening with the vehicle, the dashboard has paltry amounts of information, and any time I can't reach my sales advisor and contact the concierge, I'm told I can "just reach out to my sales advisor". Uh, duh, they aren't responding.

I ordered transpo from Cali, got stuck with a broken app (An unexpected error occurred. Error code: A3VZB5TX), no response from anyone, after 48 hours my app opened up, then it was stuck in Pending Decision for a week (usually took 1-2 hours), then I received "Fund One Unit Only" with no guidance, still don't know where my vehicle is in the transport after 12 days, no delivery date scheduled, and 11 days until EOM. I even asked about purchasing an extra Fob and some accessories prior to pick up (I live ~2 hours away), and no response. I am at a loss, because this is the third advisor I have worked with that doesn't respond.

Thankfully, the product is worth it, but I have almost walked away twice now.

 

[Aka-none]

Reminds me of years ago at a Chevy dealer. No one on the show room floor until I opened the door of a vet and the alarm went off. Someone walked out and turned off the alarm and walked away.

 

[watermelonrooste]

This is my third Lucid purchase (lease), first Gravity. Every single time I have had to hound my sales advisor for any information, movement, contracts, updates, etc. They seem reluctant to participate and disinterested in the process. Where in a traditional dealership I am usually fending off sales interactions, I feel like the roles are reversed during this process.

I have literally NO insight into what is happening with the vehicle, the dashboard has paltry amounts of information, and any time I can't reach my sales advisor and contact the concierge, I'm told I can "just reach out to my sales advisor". Uh, duh, they aren't responding.

I ordered transpo from Cali, got stuck with a broken app (An unexpected error occurred. Error code: A3VZB5TX), no response from anyone, after 48 hours my app opened up, then it was stuck in Pending Decision for a week (usually took 1-2 hours), then I received "Fund One Unit Only" with no guidance, still don't know where my vehicle is in the transport after 12 days, no delivery date scheduled, and 11 days until EOM. I even asked about purchasing an extra Fob and some accessories prior to pick up (I live ~2 hours away), and no response. I am at a loss, because this is the third advisor I have worked with that doesn't respond.

Thankfully, the product is worth it, but I have almost walked away twice now.

Lucid went with Tesla like direct to customer model. It gives them control over the whole customer experience, but has its own problems. Tesla was a pioneer and perfected this model, but this has not worked out so well for Lucid. They also have to bear the cost of holding their inventory, which is passed on to the dealers with the traditional car companies. To cut costs, they have to hire entry level sales associates, who don't have a lot of knowledge or interest in the vehicle or the sales process. Exact same thing happened with Fisker as well.

 

[Adnillien]

To cut costs, they have to hire entry level sales associates, who don't have a lot of knowledge or interest in the vehicle or the sales process. Exact same thing happened with Fisker as well.

This is a bit over the top. The salaries for the sales associates is not all that much compared to the overall cost of selling. I can tell you that all of the sales associates that I have met in Scottsdale own with an Air or a Gravity. They must be getting paid a good wage to afford that even with a good employee discount. This is exactly what you want in a sales force since. As owners they know the car very very well. I seriously doubt that Fisker sales associates owned any Fisker cars so you comparison to Fisker is way off the mark.

 

[bcjenkins]

Tesla was a pioneer and perfected this model, …

I have a friend in the Dallas area who just bought a Y for his wife. I think he’ll disagree.

Nothing outrageous, but far from smooth. One of his major gripes was the difficulty in speaking with a sales associate (or whatever Tesla calls them).

I tried to talk them into a Gravity, but she was not comfortable with Lucid’s prospects.

 

[watermelonrooste]

This is a bit over the top. The salaries for the sales associates is not all that much compared to the overall cost of selling. I can tell you that all of the sales associates that I have met in Scottsdale own with an Air or a Gravity. They must be getting paid a good wage to afford that even with a good employee discount. This is exactly what you want in a sales force since. As owners they know the car very very well. I seriously doubt that Fisker sales associates owned any Fisker cars so you comparison to Fisker is way off the mark.

I have a Lucid studio in my building, so I stop by there every now and then. None of the sales associates, even the regional sales manager drives a Lucid anymore. It might have been a program from them to get their staff accustomed to the car, but not anymore at this location. Last week at service as well, the guy I was dealing with drove a gas car.

 

[watermelonrooste]

I have a friend in the Dallas area who just bought a Y for his wife. I think he’ll disagree.

Nothing outrageous, but far from smooth. One of his major gripes was the difficulty in speaking with a sales associate (or whatever Tesla calls them).

I tried to talk them into a Gravity, but she was not comfortable with Lucid’s prospects.

Yes. Tesla was a lot different in 2018 when I got my first Tesla. Sales people will go to test drive, the store will have all the paints and finishes. Now you can just walk to a car, open it on your app and test drive yourself. To be honest, I am impressed by the efficiency and optimization. There is nothing really to talk with the staff. They see exactly what we see on the website, no inventory to pull from etc.

 

[prgarg]

One of his major gripes was the difficulty in speaking with a sales associate (or whatever Tesla calls them).

Not to defend Tesla, but there is pretty much no need to talk to a sales associate when you buy one. They really excel in the DTC format.

 

[bcjenkins]

Not to defend Tesla, but there is pretty much no need to talk to a sales associate when you buy one. They really excel in the DTC format.

His delivery slipped several times, so he felt the need to speak with someone. He was also having difficulty buying an EVSE unit, which the Tesla portal wouldn’t sell him because the Y was not yet delivered.

The main point is that, from his perspective, it was far from what he expected and he wasn’t pleased.

 

[Northpointe]

Not to defend Tesla, but there is pretty much no need to talk to a sales associate when you buy one. They really excel in the DTC format.

As Lucid looks to sell Cosmos at scale it’s a model that they will need to perfect as well. They simply don’t have enough touch points to reach a wide audience. It also will support a more simplified production process which the company is adopting.

 

[watermelonrooste]

His delivery slipped several times, so he felt the need to speak with someone. He was also having difficulty buying an EVSE unit, which the Tesla portal wouldn’t sell him because the Y was not yet delivered.

The main point is that, from his perspective, it was far from what he expected and he wasn’t pleased.

The chat in the Tesla app is really good. Atleast here, they reply to it very quickly. Also they are quite responsive with Text. Atleast in this area.

 

[joec]

I’ve been buying cars a long time. From many brands. I’ve never been to a dealer or met a sales associate that knew as much about their own cars than I did. Which is a sad commentary on the industry, but so be it.

I’ll take direct sales over dealership model every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

[watermelonrooste]

I’ve been buying cars a long time. From many brands. I’ve never been to a dealer or met a sales associate that knew as much about their own cars than I did. Which is a sad commentary on the industry, but so be it.

I’ll take direct sales over dealership model every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I am not so much of a car expert or enthusiasist, so it was good for someone to show you the car before. Especially the gas ones. And they could guide you through the options, tires etc. In 2018, it was good to have a sales person in the car when you try Tesla Autopilot for the first time. Things are different now. Especially with Tesla.Their software is so good that they are confident for people to just pick up the car and drive it. The AI knows more about the car than the people in the sales center.

 

[Aka-none]

I’ve been buying cars a long time. From many brands. I’ve never been to a dealer or met a sales associate that knew as much about their own cars than I did. Which is a sad commentary on the industry, but so be it.

I’ll take direct sales over dealership model every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Then you are younger than I am. Late 60 early 70’s muscle cars sales guys knew details.

 

[prgarg]

I’ve been buying cars a long time. From many brands. I’ve never been to a dealer or met a sales associate that knew as much about their own cars than I did. Which is a sad commentary on the industry, but so be it.

I’ll take direct sales over dealership model every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[TahoeMichael]

Then you are younger than I am. Late 60 early 70’s muscle cars sales guys knew details.

I bought used cars until the 90's, so I don't have experience with dealers from that time. But my experience is that walking into a dealership has been terrible, and so I'm not surprised by the Lucid experience. For better or for worse. My interactions with Lucid haven't been great, but they also haven't matched the worst dealership experiences either. I'd call them middle of the road. Of course, with their current line-up of expensive luxury vehicles, a middle-of-the-road experience probably doesn't meet customer expectations.

 

[dbsb3233]

I’ve been buying cars a long time. From many brands. I’ve never been to a dealer or met a sales associate that knew as much about their own cars than I did. Which is a sad commentary on the industry, but so be it.

I’ll take direct sales over dealership model every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Yeah, in this day and age of researching everything ahead of time on the internet, I don't need anyone to "sell me" on a vehicle. I know what I want. Where I want the company to provide resources is service and support AFTER we've committed to the purchase and AFTER we've taken delivery.

 

[cajual]

A sales advisor for DTC should be a communications liaison; they should reach out at your preferred cadence with any updates, to see how you are doing, ask if you have questions, and alleviate concerns. They aren't selling me anything, I know what I want and I performed the process myself. I should also be able to "tip" or otherwise reward a meaningful advisor interaction if I feel so inclined.

They receive a form of commission for sales, how many people have balked at the process?

 

[martinjlm]

Then you are younger than I am. Late 60 early 70’s muscle cars sales guys knew details.

True dat. But a lot less to keep track of. Displacement, transmission, hp, torque, paint, stripes...done. Now it's all that plus keyless entry, nav screen operation and menus, how to set launch mode, explanation of summer tire temperature sensitivity, adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert vs lane keeping vs lane centering, and so on.

 

[torvald27]

FWIW, when I was at the Chicago Lucid Owner's event, I had the opportunity to one of the customer service/sales VPs one-one. One of the things I mentioned was the difficulties folks I've referred have had buying a Lucid. He said that they have hired folks who are not passionate about the brand and those folks have treated sales like a necessary evil. They are working on fixing that in addition to service. The overall message was that the prior leadership did a great job with the tech but now they are focused on turning Lucid into a legit car company, which means focusing on fixing sales and service.