I'll preface all of this by saying I'm an enormous fan of the drive/ride quality and aesthetics with this car and the service and support teams have been responsive and generally very good to deal with. I just want to throw out some general thoughts on overall ownership thus far.
Good
Bad
Ugly
Overall, I find the car to be a joy to drive, but the fact that I'm likely going to have it spend roughly a month (out of the 10 months I've owned it) in a remote service center to correct issues has been a lot to swallow.
Has anyone else had a similar experience, or am I the outlier?
Good
- It's beautiful, the thought that went into the design is apparent and it's the biggest "head turner" I've ever owned.
- Impressed with overall build quality in terms of body, interior, and aesthetics.
- Drive quality is outstanding in terms of ride, handling, and acceleration.
- Audio system has been excellent.
- The range, while not quite as advertised, still blows away my Tesla and other EVs I have experience with.
- Charging speeds have been good, relative to other EVs I've owned/driven.
Bad
- The software is sub-par (which may even be generous). It's slow, buggy, and frankly does not seem like enough of a point of emphasis. There is simply not enough to it for a car in this price range and is something that is going to continue to hold this car back until they begin to give it more attention. It's a shame, since the screens are beautiful and well designed.
- This car is LOW, which I realize plays a big role in its aerodynamic profile. However, leaving out things like grab handles above the doors really emphasizes how low it actually is. I'm 5'10" and still relatively spry, so I've had few issues getting in, but I have friends and family members who have serious trouble getting into and out of the vehicle, which for a touring sedan, is rare IMO.
- The driver safety features are buggy and inconsistent. I frequently get driver awareness alerts ("Pay attention to the road") while I'm staring directly forward at the road, this happens more often when I'm wearing sunglasses, so it may be a bug they're working on, but it happens often enough on long road trips that it becomes quite annoying.
- The GPS system is awkwardly designed and buggy. On long road trips it will randomly announce to you to "Continue on the road" when there is no maneuver upcoming. This happens like clockwork every 15-20 mins and I find it quite aggravating.
- The driver identification system is iffy at best, my wife and I have both the facial recognition and separate key-fobs registered, yet the car misidentifies us about 1/3 of the time.
- This is getting nit-picky, but shows the lack of thought given to software design. When I pull out of my garage, the backup cam and overhead view activate and block the ability to view the garage door controls. The geo-fencing component of the garage door controls actually work quite well, which makes this design flaw even more annoying.
Ugly
- Roughly 2 months after taking delivery, the overhead view function stopped working completely after a software update (this was determined to be coincidental). This necessitated hauling the car to the Richmond service center, which is the closest to me in Asheville, since they needed to replace some components and re-calibrate. Unfortunately, the car was scratched during transit (my PPF did it's job!) and Lucid arranged to pay for the PPF replacement. While the car was with Lucid, the rear glass broke, so a replacement needed to be ordered, and installed. This all culminated in 3 weeks with the car in Richmond. Again, Lucid's support and service staff were top notch, they communicated well, laid everything out, and paid for a loaner. But 3 weeks for a barely 2 month-old car is a lot.
- About 6 weeks ago, the window controls on the driver's seat door stopped working completely (all other window controls were operational), this issue self-resolved after appx 2 days, but Lucid mobile service came out and replaced the window control module. 2 weeks later the issue returned, and the mobile tech returned, after diagnosis determined that the control module in the drivers side mirror would need to be replaced, which means another trip to Richmond for the car (this is scheduled for next week).
- In between service visits for the window controls, both my driver door and the back passenger-side door seemed to get stuck, meaning the exterior handle would remain out and was non-functional. This actually happened twice while I was away traveling, which required me to crawl into the car from the passenger side to open the drivers-side door, and to ask my passengers to enter the back seat from the driver's side. Needless to say not a stellar advertisement for Lucid for those who were with me.
Overall, I find the car to be a joy to drive, but the fact that I'm likely going to have it spend roughly a month (out of the 10 months I've owned it) in a remote service center to correct issues has been a lot to swallow.
Has anyone else had a similar experience, or am I the outlier?