- Joined
- Apr 21, 2026
- Messages
- 68
- Reaction score
- 71
- Location
- San Diego, California, USA
- Cars
- 2023 Lucid Air Touring
On April 17, 2026 the gas prices had finally gotten to me so my wife I decided to see what Lucid was all about at the San Diego Lucid Studio. I really knew nothing about the Lucid other than it wasn't Tesla. After a 4 mile test drive through some neighborhoods but no freeways I really liked the experience so we sat down with the salesman. He immediately started to write up a purchase agreement for a new Air. I told him that if I were to buy anything, it would be a Certified Pre Owned 2 year old off-lease (I had had a great experience doing that when I bought my 2016 Lexus 300H in 2018). So he started showing us the CPO inventory. Our must-haves were a white car with an aluminum roof (Stellar White Metallic-Platinum Aluminum Roof), single tone upholstery (Mojave Leather) and adaptive cruise control with lane centering (DreamDrive Pro). This criteria lead us to only one vehicle that met these criteria was a 2023 Lucid Air Touring that was delivered in January 2024 with 18,078 miles at $53,988. It was in Millbrae (next door to SFO) and would take 2 weeks.
I explained that we were leaving town in 11 days for a 7 week trip. They said it might be difficult but they would try to get the car here in time. So we pulled the trigger and ordered the car on the spot (classic potentially stupid impulse purchase). But I justified it due to the shortage of inventory and fear that it wouldn't be available when we returned. Then I had my first negative experience with Lucid. Just when everyone thought the car would be ready for pickup the day before I left, the transporter did not pick up the car when scheduled. It eventually arrived a couple of days after I left and I had to ask Tesla owner friend to pick it up, park it in my garage and hook it up to Wi-Fi and the charging cable to a 110 outlet. The good out of all of this was that I got a credit $1,000 for my troubles. I have since given that back to Lucid for the computer upgrade. Shout out to Mark Sulak, Studio Manager, San Diego.
I did spend most of my time on the trip devouring every post on this site, YouTube videos and Facebook groups. From this forum I was prepared for the issues the Air had so my expectations when I finally began to start driving the car on June 21. I will say I have been pleasantly surprised by the San Diego service center and even when I had to leave the car for couple of times, once an appointment scheduled 3 months in advance for the computer upgrade and 2 year service (2 days) and once to fix an airbag sensor issue (11 days), the Air loaners were a completely satisfactory substitute for my car. Kenji, the service manager has been great and gave me his direct line to call before I call Customer Service.
I will admit that in 8 years, I never had to leave me Lexus for more than a day and it was only for regular service, not a repair. However, thanks to this Forum, I understand that I can't have the same expectations for this company that an automotive legacy brand can provide. Especially for a car that is a much better riding car than the Lexus and a great value.
On a side note about the purchase experience, Lucid connected me to KBB to handle the Trade-In process. They offered my $11,400, CarMax and Carvana offered 12,000. Driveway.com, an upstart out of Medford, Oregon gave me $15,000 for the car. They used an AI app to analyze the car's physical condition. The app guided me through taking a series of photos my phone. KBB had a live person do the same thing.
On the biggest surprise: Insurance. I had an at-fault fender bender last year. My USAA insurance had been $3,000 per year as a result. They quoted me $7,000 for the Lucid. AAA insurance, my homeowners insurance, charged $8,660 per year. I saw in one of the forums that Costco has car insurance. I checked with them and I got it for just under $3,000 per year. Full coverage on all of them with $1,000 deductible. It was pretty scary until I got the Costco insurance with American Family Insurance.
I love my Lucid.
I explained that we were leaving town in 11 days for a 7 week trip. They said it might be difficult but they would try to get the car here in time. So we pulled the trigger and ordered the car on the spot (classic potentially stupid impulse purchase). But I justified it due to the shortage of inventory and fear that it wouldn't be available when we returned. Then I had my first negative experience with Lucid. Just when everyone thought the car would be ready for pickup the day before I left, the transporter did not pick up the car when scheduled. It eventually arrived a couple of days after I left and I had to ask Tesla owner friend to pick it up, park it in my garage and hook it up to Wi-Fi and the charging cable to a 110 outlet. The good out of all of this was that I got a credit $1,000 for my troubles. I have since given that back to Lucid for the computer upgrade. Shout out to Mark Sulak, Studio Manager, San Diego.
I did spend most of my time on the trip devouring every post on this site, YouTube videos and Facebook groups. From this forum I was prepared for the issues the Air had so my expectations when I finally began to start driving the car on June 21. I will say I have been pleasantly surprised by the San Diego service center and even when I had to leave the car for couple of times, once an appointment scheduled 3 months in advance for the computer upgrade and 2 year service (2 days) and once to fix an airbag sensor issue (11 days), the Air loaners were a completely satisfactory substitute for my car. Kenji, the service manager has been great and gave me his direct line to call before I call Customer Service.
I will admit that in 8 years, I never had to leave me Lexus for more than a day and it was only for regular service, not a repair. However, thanks to this Forum, I understand that I can't have the same expectations for this company that an automotive legacy brand can provide. Especially for a car that is a much better riding car than the Lexus and a great value.
On a side note about the purchase experience, Lucid connected me to KBB to handle the Trade-In process. They offered my $11,400, CarMax and Carvana offered 12,000. Driveway.com, an upstart out of Medford, Oregon gave me $15,000 for the car. They used an AI app to analyze the car's physical condition. The app guided me through taking a series of photos my phone. KBB had a live person do the same thing.
On the biggest surprise: Insurance. I had an at-fault fender bender last year. My USAA insurance had been $3,000 per year as a result. They quoted me $7,000 for the Lucid. AAA insurance, my homeowners insurance, charged $8,660 per year. I saw in one of the forums that Costco has car insurance. I checked with them and I got it for just under $3,000 per year. Full coverage on all of them with $1,000 deductible. It was pretty scary until I got the Costco insurance with American Family Insurance.
I love my Lucid.
