From Turtle of Doom to Turtle of Destruction!

zkhan2

Active Member
Verified Owner
Joined
Jan 31, 2022
Messages
344
Location
Northern Virginia
Cars
Lucid Air GT
And things could not get any worse? I just got off the phone with the Lucid service manager. He had called me earlier and left a message. Prior to this I was only dealing with Lucid certified service technicians.

He had bad news for me. The Lucid engineers had isolated my “Turtle of Doom” to the front motor. They had the service tech perform the electrical readings on the motor and to perform some specific driving sequences and then take another measurement.

When they were ready to measure, the process requires the cars frunk to be opened in service mode, which apparently opens the frunk much farther up than normal. As they were doing this, it went beyond where it should have and hit the windshield. The frunk is bent on both corners, the windshield is cracked in several places, and the A-pillar trims and other trims are damaged.

For some background, my car had a delayed delivery from the date they originally promised. They were upfront back then too and told me that the car was damaged during its transport from AZ to Goose Island. In that situation the frunk and fenders were damaged. They replaced the frunk and fixed and painted the fender.

So, this will be the second time my frunk is being replaced along with a host of other goodies. I asked about the PPF that was applied to the car. The Service Manager said that they can do it, or I can get it done and they will reimburse me. I am choosing the latter since I want it to be the exact Xpel that was used originally.

They do not know the timing on when the repairs will be completed. He will call me tomorrow for an update. I do know that they do not have the parts required to fix this at the location where my car is at. We didn’t even get into the original issue, and he did not address it, but I plan on asking him tomorrow as well.

BTW – tomorrow will be three weeks without my car. My co-worker, who owns a Tesla, is really adamant that I ask them for a new car. Sounds nice, but I am not sure if that will make things any better. Even if they agreed, I probably won’t see one until Q1 ’03, since their production is not going well.

The SM was very apologetic and did send me pictures of the damage right away.

It must be groundhog day or something!

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Sorry to hear that. It's a trying situation.
 
Sorry to hear that. It's a trying situation.
I figure I would enhance their trim a little bit. Have to bring humor into this, because this is really unbelievable!

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I really hate to say this, but this would be strike 3 for me. I would either demand a new car within XX days or my money back, just too much damage here that they inflicted, not you. I think the Turtle should be yellow though, as in lemon yellow.

This level of damage has probably reached the future disclosure amount and could impact the resale value.
 
And things could not get any worse? I just got off the phone with the Lucid service manager. He had called me earlier and left a message. Prior to this I was only dealing with Lucid certified service technicians.

He had bad news for me. The Lucid engineers had isolated my “Turtle of Doom” to the front motor. They had the service tech perform the electrical readings on the motor and to perform some specific driving sequences and then take another measurement.

When they were ready to measure, the process requires the cars frunk to be opened in service mode, which apparently opens the frunk much farther up than normal. As they were doing this, it went beyond where it should have and hit the windshield. The frunk is bent on both corners, the windshield is cracked in several places, and the A-pillar trims and other trims are damaged.

For some background, my car had a delayed delivery from the date they originally promised. They were upfront back then too and told me that the car was damaged during its transport from AZ to Goose Island. In that situation the frunk and fenders were damaged. They replaced the frunk and fixed and painted the fender.

So, this will be the second time my frunk is being replaced along with a host of other goodies. I asked about the PPF that was applied to the car. The Service Manager said that they can do it, or I can get it done and they will reimburse me. I am choosing the latter since I want it to be the exact Xpel that was used originally.

They do not know the timing on when the repairs will be completed. He will call me tomorrow for an update. I do know that they do not have the parts required to fix this at the location where my car is at. We didn’t even get into the original issue, and he did not address it, but I plan on asking him tomorrow as well.

BTW – tomorrow will be three weeks without my car. My co-worker, who owns a Tesla, is really adamant that I ask them for a new car. Sounds nice, but I am not sure if that will make things any better. Even if they agreed, I probably won’t see one until Q1 ’03, since their production is not going well.

The SM was very apologetic and did send me pictures of the damage right away.

It must be groundhog day or something!

View attachment 4848
View attachment 4849
My $0.02, ask for a new car. Plus XPEL.

IMO the car has diminished value and it may impact your resale. Better to be safe now, than being sorry later.

Good luck.
 
I really hate to say this, but this would be strike 3 for me. I would either demand a new car within XX days or my money back, just too much damage here that they inflicted, not you. I think the Turtle should be yellow though, as in lemon yellow.

This level of damage has probably reached the future disclosure amount and could impact the resale value.
Absolutely agree. Yes we can expect things to go awry as systems and procedures are learned in a growth phase. What you have experienced sequentially; you can adjust and be patient at each item until you look back and see: God does not like you.

I guess Lucid can't fix and resell a jinxed car, but you deserve to have a "new" car, not a "damaged several times" car.

That said, I am determined, if I ever get my car, to bend over backward to promote this company.

Remember folk... the whole world is watching.

(full disclosure: I made enough to buy this car when I sold half of an early investment as it hit 50s ... and I'm still all in).

ps: I am a trained scientist. I am not religious or superstitious. Maybe you should light a candle...change your wardrobe...get a haircut, and rotate your bed 90 degrees.
 
Damn..... that sucks. I agree with others, ask for a new car. It will be another couple of weeks before you get it back at least probably so you've crossed the Lemon Law threshold.
 
I hope you have a speedy resolution.
 
And things could not get any worse? I just got off the phone with the Lucid service manager. He had called me earlier and left a message. Prior to this I was only dealing with Lucid certified service technicians.

He had bad news for me. The Lucid engineers had isolated my “Turtle of Doom” to the front motor. They had the service tech perform the electrical readings on the motor and to perform some specific driving sequences and then take another measurement.

When they were ready to measure, the process requires the cars frunk to be opened in service mode, which apparently opens the frunk much farther up than normal. As they were doing this, it went beyond where it should have and hit the windshield. The frunk is bent on both corners, the windshield is cracked in several places, and the A-pillar trims and other trims are damaged.

For some background, my car had a delayed delivery from the date they originally promised. They were upfront back then too and told me that the car was damaged during its transport from AZ to Goose Island. In that situation the frunk and fenders were damaged. They replaced the frunk and fixed and painted the fender.

So, this will be the second time my frunk is being replaced along with a host of other goodies. I asked about the PPF that was applied to the car. The Service Manager said that they can do it, or I can get it done and they will reimburse me. I am choosing the latter since I want it to be the exact Xpel that was used originally.

They do not know the timing on when the repairs will be completed. He will call me tomorrow for an update. I do know that they do not have the parts required to fix this at the location where my car is at. We didn’t even get into the original issue, and he did not address it, but I plan on asking him tomorrow as well.

BTW – tomorrow will be three weeks without my car. My co-worker, who owns a Tesla, is really adamant that I ask them for a new car. Sounds nice, but I am not sure if that will make things any better. Even if they agreed, I probably won’t see one until Q1 ’03, since their production is not going well.

The SM was very apologetic and did send me pictures of the damage right away.

It must be groundhog day or something!

View attachment 4848
View attachment 4849
I would want to speak to someone at HQ and not a service manager.
Time to take the gloves off and raise your voice a little IMO.
They have no incentive to do anything beyond their own pace if you do not expect it.
They created this problem and need to give you priority HOWEVER I agree with the group and demand a New Vehicle.
I have a suspicion you won’t be the first one to have done this.
 
I would want to speak to someone at HQ and not a service manager.
Time to take the gloves off and raise your voice a little IMO.
They have no incentive to do anything beyond their own pace if you do not expect it.
They created this problem and need to give you priority HOWEVER I agree with the group and demand a New Vehicle.
I have a suspicion you won’t be the first one to have done this.
I have to agree with everyone here that a new vehicle is not out of bounds to ask. They've royally screwed up here, more than once.

I also agree someone at HQ should be told about this. I wouldn't count on a Service manager to do that on their own.

And given the increased production rate, and what sounds like a decent number of cancelations lately, it could very well be they can get your exact configuration replaced with a brand new car sooner than you might think.

Let them fix that one up and turn it into a test drive car, if they want. Or they can use the parts that are good for replacements / warranty issues, whatever. That's their problem.
 
And things could not get any worse? I just got off the phone with the Lucid service manager. He had called me earlier and left a message. Prior to this I was only dealing with Lucid certified service technicians.

He had bad news for me. The Lucid engineers had isolated my “Turtle of Doom” to the front motor. They had the service tech perform the electrical readings on the motor and to perform some specific driving sequences and then take another measurement.

When they were ready to measure, the process requires the cars frunk to be opened in service mode, which apparently opens the frunk much farther up than normal. As they were doing this, it went beyond where it should have and hit the windshield. The frunk is bent on both corners, the windshield is cracked in several places, and the A-pillar trims and other trims are damaged.

For some background, my car had a delayed delivery from the date they originally promised. They were upfront back then too and told me that the car was damaged during its transport from AZ to Goose Island. In that situation the frunk and fenders were damaged. They replaced the frunk and fixed and painted the fender.

So, this will be the second time my frunk is being replaced along with a host of other goodies. I asked about the PPF that was applied to the car. The Service Manager said that they can do it, or I can get it done and they will reimburse me. I am choosing the latter since I want it to be the exact Xpel that was used originally.

They do not know the timing on when the repairs will be completed. He will call me tomorrow for an update. I do know that they do not have the parts required to fix this at the location where my car is at. We didn’t even get into the original issue, and he did not address it, but I plan on asking him tomorrow as well.

BTW – tomorrow will be three weeks without my car. My co-worker, who owns a Tesla, is really adamant that I ask them for a new car. Sounds nice, but I am not sure if that will make things any better. Even if they agreed, I probably won’t see one until Q1 ’03, since their production is not going well.

The SM was very apologetic and did send me pictures of the damage right away.

It must be groundhog day or something!

View attachment 4848
View attachment 4849
Hmm..... I smell a familiar fruity odor, do you? Yes, its Lemon!!
 
To be fair the only thing that broke on its own (as in a defect) on the car was the motor. They've had a small number of these fail and have been responsive and are figuring it out. That does not deserve a new car or escalation to higher ups. Higher ups I'm sure area already aware of these small number of motor issues.

The larger problem is that they damaged your car once, and I'm very suspicious that the frunk replacement the first time led to this problem where the new frunk broke itself and the windshield. This is the first and ONLY instance of every complaint here I've heard, where I do think you MAY be owed a new vehicle. They inadvertently damaged it twice, this second time even worst than the first time, and given A pillar trim was damaged, I'd be very concerned more is damaged or bent underneath, and so I would request an independent 3rd party mechanic assess whether any damage is structural, and if so, you are owed a new car. If the force was strong enough to crack the windshield and A pillars, did it also destabilize the mounting for the dashboard? Are the electronics for the glass cockpit unscathed? Are the front speakers OK? If the damage is all superficial and non-structural, and they can demonstrate the new replaced Frunk functions as intended in both normal and service modes, as well as leak test and NVH test the new windshield after A pillar trim replacement, then I would accept the car back with PPF reimbursement.
 
To be fair the only thing that broke on its own (as in a defect) on the car was the motor. They've had a small number of these fail and have been responsive and are figuring it out. That does not deserve a new car or escalation to higher ups. Higher ups I'm sure area already aware of these small number of motor issues.

The larger problem is that they damaged your car once, and I'm very suspicious that the frunk replacement the first time led to this problem where the new frunk broke itself and the windshield. This is the first and ONLY instance of every complaint here I've heard, where I do think you MAY be owed a new vehicle. They inadvertently damaged it twice, this second time even worst than the first time, and given A pillar trim was damaged, I'd be very concerned more is damaged or bent underneath, and so I would request an independent 3rd party mechanic assess whether any damage is structural, and if so, you are owed a new car. If the damage is all superficial and non-structural, and they can demonstrate the new replaced Frunk functions as intended in both normal and service modes, as well as leak test and NVH test the new windshield after A pillar trim replacement, then I would accept the car back with PPF reimbursement.
Just to clarify, I didn’t say one lead to the other. IMHO, it’s extremely windy today and my guess is when they released the frunk powered supports the wind blew it backwards. They were doing this outside.
 
I hope Lucid are paying for a loaner or rental car? We had an Audi in the past that failed to go forward and Audi offered to replace it (order a new one and wait). We financed the original and Audi paid the bill while we waited for the new car AND provided an Audi loaner.
 
Just to clarify, I didn’t say one lead to the other. IMHO, it’s extremely windy today and my guess is when they released the frunk powered supports the wind blew it backwards. They were doing this outside.
Oh I didn’t get the part with the wind. Sounds like a total accident then and can’t be attributed to a faulty frunk replacement. Ugh man your car has the worst luck. 🤦‍♂️
 
I hope Lucid are paying for a loaner or rental car? We had an Audi in the past that failed to go forward and Audi offered to replace it (order a new one and wait). We financed the original and Audi paid the bill while we waited for the new car AND provided an Audi loaner.
I decided not to get a loaner since I have several cars already. If I did get a lux loaner the bill would have already been over $6K.
 
While they workout what they will offer me with this car, I have asked for a new car and doubt that's going to happen. I don't have the time to spend my days dealing with this, however the Lemon Law in Virginia and in Arizona are nearly identical (They may use the argument that I purchased this from AZ). If they do not come back with a reasonable solution then I will decide what next steps to do.

What I can tell you is that they are sending me a rental on Monday.

The frunk and windshield are on their way to Richmond, VA. They do not have the hood trims and A-Pillar trim and not sure what the ETA is for those.

The original powertrain issue, narrowed down to the front motor, they found a poor ethernet connection that was causing this and have replaced it.
 
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