Buying a pre-owned Air directly from Lucid - A cautionary tale

[PaulPS]

I waited awhile to post our pre-owned Lucid Air ownership experience as I wanted to give Lucid plenty of time to correct the situation, but want to share this as a cautionary tale for those considering it:

1. We Ordered a pre-owned Lucid Air Touring in February 2025, placing a $2500 deposit on the car to be delivered to the Costa Mesa delivery center. During delivery on March 12th, the car arrived in Costa Mesa with significant damage (dimples) on the Roof Bow, Appliqué, Cantrails (R & L), and rear silver lower trim. These dimples were not visible in the pictures of the Vehicle that Lucid supplied us. The delivery specialist told us that if we rejected the car, we would lose our $2500 deposit, but offered to have repairs made to the vehicle and noted them on the DUE BILL. In addition to the physical damages, we immediately had ongoing electronic issues with the car, including problems unlocking, unable to turn off, profiles not recognized, and a dead screen. We noted all these issues in an issues log along with pictures that we provided to the Costa Mesa Service center. The car was at the facility from March 29 to June 6 (39 days out of service).
2. After the above service, we continued to have significant electronic problems. Some of these issues were recurring, others were new/different. These issues required 2 mobile repair services, the service dates above, and the most recent service when the car was at the Costa Mesa service center from September 8, 2025 to September 25, 2025 (18 days out of service).
3. The Vehicle registration & car title took 5 months for Lucid to process. This required multiple calls over severals months to the Customer Care team to resolve the issue. From June 14 to August 14th, the temporary registration had expired and the car could not legally be driven. This meant the car was legally out of service for 60 days while we constantly called trying to get updated registration and title.
4. During this time period (February through the beginning of October) we had owned the car for 207 days, of which, 57 days the car was in the Costa Mesa Service Center and 60 Days the car had expired registration and could not be driven - basically 56% of our ownership.
5. We documented everything along the way with Lucid, and asked them to buy the car back under the California lemon law. After reviewing our documentation, they refused, and referred us to getting a third party arbitrator or legal representation to pursue the matter. To this date, they Lucid has offered us nothing as compensation for these issues and loss of use. It should be noted that when you purchase a pre-owned Lucid, they do not add a CPO warranty, you just get the balance of the original warranty - which is very different than other premium automakers.

We understand that Lucid is a new car company and were patient with them, but feel our experience was extremely disappointing. We waited to share this story until we were certain that Lucid had done all they were intending on doing.

 

[socktucker]

After reviewing our documentation, they refused, and referred us to getting a third party arbitrator or legal representation to pursue the matter.

This is normal for lemon cases though. I had to lemon am Infiniti. It goes like this (pretend these are real numbers cuz maybe they were)
1. Infiniti this is a lemon take it back
2. “Yeah too bad”
3. Infiniti I want compensation
4. “No”
5. Get lawyer. He says it always goes like this we will as for double what we will accept.
6. File BBB complaint (you have to do this)
7. Have your lawyer do the arbitration
8. Infiniti we want $18,500
9. “How about $250 and an oil change”
10. Infiniti we will keep the car if you give us $8500
11. ”ok”

Lawyer said it always goes like this. Infiniti already knew they were gonna settle for that amount we just play the game. You have to or everyone would just return cars they didn’t like.

In this regard they are exactly like every other car company

 

[L-Dude]

The Vehicle registration & car title took 5 months for Lucid to process. This required multiple calls over severals months to the Customer Care team to resolve the issue. From June 14 to August 14th, the temporary registration had expired and the car could not legally be driven. This meant the car was legally out of service for 60 days while we constantly called trying to get updated registration and title.

I've got this problem going on right now. I had to email a VP in order to get an extension to my temp plate. I call every week to follow up to see if my title/registration paperwork has been issued. I've got two months left on my (extended) temp plate, and I just feel in my bones that I'm going to have to get my lawyer on this.

 

[socktucker]

I've got this problem going on right now. I had to email a VP in order to get an extension to my temp plate. I call every week to follow up to see if my title/registration paperwork has been issued. I've got two months left on my (extended) temp plate, and I just feel in my bones that I'm going to have to get my lawyer on this.

are you guys both in califiornia?

 

[L-Dude]

are you guys both in califiornia?

No, other coast.

 

[PaulPS]

are you guys both in califiornia?

We are in California

 

[socktucker]

We are in California

Oh ok. I ask because one time I did buy a car from California and have it shipped and it was such a mess that a local cop finally pulled me over and asked why I had temp plates for three months. He didn’t believe it could take that long. It can.

 

[gaskiller]

I waited awhile to post our pre-owned Lucid Air ownership experience as I wanted to give Lucid plenty of time to correct the situation, but want to share this as a cautionary tale for those considering it:

1. We Ordered a pre-owned Lucid Air Touring in February 2025, placing a $2500 deposit on the car to be delivered to the Costa Mesa delivery center. During delivery on March 12th, the car arrived in Costa Mesa with significant damage (dimples) on the Roof Bow, Appliqué, Cantrails (R & L), and rear silver lower trim. These dimples were not visible in the pictures of the Vehicle that Lucid supplied us. The delivery specialist told us that if we rejected the car, we would lose our $2500 deposit, but offered to have repairs made to the vehicle and noted them on the DUE BILL. In addition to the physical damages, we immediately had ongoing electronic issues with the car, including problems unlocking, unable to turn off, profiles not recognized, and a dead screen. We noted all these issues in an issues log along with pictures that we provided to the Costa Mesa Service center. The car was at the facility from March 29 to June 6 (39 days out of service).
2. After the above service, we continued to have significant electronic problems. Some of these issues were recurring, others were new/different. These issues required 2 mobile repair services, the service dates above, and the most recent service when the car was at the Costa Mesa service center from September 8, 2025 to September 25, 2025 (18 days out of service).
3. The Vehicle registration & car title took 5 months for Lucid to process. This required multiple calls over severals months to the Customer Care team to resolve the issue. From June 14 to August 14th, the temporary registration had expired and the car could not legally be driven. This meant the car was legally out of service for 60 days while we constantly called trying to get updated registration and title.
4. During this time period (February through the beginning of October) we had owned the car for 207 days, of which, 57 days the car was in the Costa Mesa Service Center and 60 Days the car had expired registration and could not be driven - basically 56% of our ownership.
5. We documented everything along the way with Lucid, and asked them to buy the car back under the California lemon law. After reviewing our documentation, they refused, and referred us to getting a third party arbitrator or legal representation to pursue the matter. To this date, they Lucid has offered us nothing as compensation for these issues and loss of use. It should be noted that when you purchase a pre-owned Lucid, they do not add a CPO warranty, you just get the balance of the original warranty - which is very different than other premium automakers.

We understand that Lucid is a new car company and were patient with them, but feel our experience was extremely disappointing. We waited to share this story until we were certain that Lucid had done all they were intending on doing.

That’s why I NEVER buy used cars, no matter what the depreciation….you never know what problems the car has.

 

[Jwutt]

That’s really unfortunate, and I do appreciate how you just laid out the facts and avoided going all caps screaming about it in an unhinged rant. Reading various forums and this sub, it looks to me that people’s experiences in how Lucid responds to issues and concerns varies greatly. I ended up purchasing new, and living in a state that doesn’t allow direct manufacturer sales, there were a lot of extra hoops I had to jump through, but in the end, the paperwork went through and we got our plates in the mail within 4 or 5 weeks, well within the 90-day AZ temp tag. We’ve run into a few odd issues here and there, but a quick text to our sales person or calling customer service has been helpful. We are a couple hours away from the nearest service center, and recently had them reach out to us about an alert they received from our car about a failing pump. The car was picked up for transport to the center and is there now, waiting to get in for repair, and in the meantime, Lucid arranged for an Enterprise “exotic” rental car (it’s a BMW 540i, not a Ferrari or Lamborghini like the rental classification might suggest lol).

 

[Steveinarizona]

This is normal for lemon cases though. I had to lemon am Infiniti. It goes like this (pretend these are real numbers cuz maybe they were)
1. Infiniti this is a lemon take it back
2. “Yeah too bad”
3. Infiniti I want compensation
4. “No”
5. Get lawyer. He says it always goes like this we will as for double what we will accept.
6. File BBB complaint (you have to do this)
7. Have your lawyer do the arbitration
8. Infiniti we want $18,500
9. “How about $250 and an oil change”
10. Infiniti we will keep the car if you give us $8500
11. ”ok”

Lawyer said it always goes like this. Infiniti already knew they were gonna settle for that amount we just play the game. You have to or everyone would just return cars they didn’t like.

In this regard they are exactly like every other car company

I went through a quasi lemon law transaction with a prior BMW. It kept going into the shop. I finally showed up at the dealership with a letter to BMW stating that I am invoking the lemon law. I had copies for the GM and Service Manager. When I handed the letter to the service manager he said he agreed with me and asked me to give him an hour. I agreed and when I came back an hour later (the dealership is very close to my house) he told me that BMW had agreed to buy back the vehicle.

Under Arizona lemon law, the manufacturer is entitled to a reduction for actual usage of the vehicle prior to the repurchase. BMW made me what I thought was a very fair offer and I accepted. BMW even agreed to let me order a new one from the factory which I did and took several months to arrive. BMW never asked to change the compensation arrangement for the additional time I was driving the car.

So...it doesn't always go like this.

 

[socktucker]

I went through a quasi lemon law transaction with a prior BMW. It kept going into the shop. I finally showed up at the dealership with a letter to BMW stating that I am invoking the lemon law. I had copies for the GM and Service Manager. When I handed the letter to the service manager he said he agreed with me and asked me to give him an hour. I agreed and when I came back an hour later (the dealership is very close to my house) he told me that BMW had agreed to buy back the vehicle.

Under Arizona lemon law, the manufacturer is entitled to a reduction for actual usage of the vehicle prior to the repurchase. BMW made me what I thought was a very fair offer and I accepted. BMW even agreed to let me order a new one from the factory which I did and took several months to arrive. BMW never asked to change the compensation arrangement for the additional time I was driving the car.

So...it doesn't always go like this.

Yeah in my case the car functions as designed, it’s just their service department damaging it now. They just had to replace the roof and rear glass due to technician damage. I’m out of car for two weeks, but it’s not a manufacturing defect I’ll just see how it goes I guess.

 

[L-Dude]

We are a couple hours away from the nearest service center, and recently had them reach out to us about an alert they received from our car about a failing pump. The car was picked up for transport to the center and is there now, waiting to get in for repair, and in the meantime, Lucid arranged for an Enterprise “exotic” rental car (it’s a BMW 540i, not a Ferrari or Lamborghini like the rental classification might suggest lol).

I find this to be pretty impressive.

 

[Charmed59]

Out of the car for only two weeks sounds pretty fast. I leased the brand new Air Pure in June, turns out I didn’t test the windshield wiper until it started to rain recently. Only the driver’s side works. At first I tried to convince myself that these cars only had one wiper. Nope, there is another one nestled against the bottom of the windshield, just too shy to come out.

Logged into my Lucid account, the San Diego center does not come up. Called in for an appointment in San Diego, no answer, transfered to Customer Care. Nope, can’t get a mobile guy out for that, you need an appointment. They will have them call me. Called again the next day, left a message for a call back in the service mailbox, called again the next day and got through. They had an appointment available a week out. Sounds good. I bring the car in, they send me to Enterprise for a complimentary stripped down Audi. After a week I called to ask how the car was doing. They hadn’t looked at it yet. So I’m out a week.

I’m leasing a Lucid, I’d like to be driving what I’m paying for. Ok, we just got a loaner, come on in. Drive the Audi back to Enterprise, have them take me back to Lucid. As I sign that the car only has a few scratches I tell him I’d need my car back for a road trip in two weeks. He says I could take the loaner. Now, the Lucid Air they gave me was two years older than my car, with crappy seats, no cameras, but it did come with cherry pits in the dash storage compartments. Everytime I tried to find a non-sticky place to set my garage remote I found more sticky. And after driving a few minutes it became apparent the reason the car was parked with the windows down was because a smoker had it last, and it reeked.

Turns out the cameras were the only way I could get this car into my garage. I can’t park this car. So tomorrow I’m bringing the smoke infused sticky car back and bringing my car home. I’ll make an appointment for when I’m out of town in a few months. Maybe their service garage will be caught up enough to be able to look at cars they make appointments for. And I’m hoping for not too much rain.