Buying a Used Dream Edition Performance in 2024

[XiRN]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and looking for input from current and/or former owners (specifically DE owners if any are around) as I am weighing a decision on if I'll be pulling the trigger on a used Dream Edition Performance.

Mostly I'm wondering, how are these vehicles "aging" at this point? One fear that is pulling me away from buying is that this available model has a sub-100 DE number, so I'm worried about whether early production build quality issues have started to crop up on dream editions. I currently own a 22 Model Y LR that was an early model from Tesla's Austin factory, so I've lived through the frustration of having various issues that can or cannot be fixed.

The model I'm looking at is a lease return with about 20K miles on it, so I'd basically only have about half of the warranty left (assuming Lucid would honor it as I wouldn't be the original owner) and on test drive I definitely noticed a few worrying signs - i.e. the creaking steering wheel (which appears to be a common issue based on other threads I read here), scratches around the perimeter on the main (pilot?) screen, blind spot indicators/cameras not turning on, signs of wear in the interior, etc.

The car is in very good, but not excellent shape, and thus far all of this is enough to give me pause, though I definitely can't stop thinking about how amazing the DE drove and the performance and range boost I'd be getting from my Y.

TL;DR: How are Dream Edtions currently holding up and are nagging build issues starting to pop up more and more?

I welcome thoughts and opinions from anyone who wishes to offer them.

Thanks!

 

[hydbob]

Is the car up to date on software? I have 35k miles and DE#33. The interior wear seems odd, my car feels like it did when I first got it. Steering wheel is fine after a felt tape fix. Everything else is silent. How did they scratch the pilot panel? I had 3 kids and I still haven't developed scratches anywhere besides the back foot wells.

 

[scal_air]

Blind spot cameras not turning on? When you used the turn signals, did you not get a view from the cameras and/or is the 360 view not on when in reverse? If you are worried about the warranty, it is worth your time to go to your nearest service center and talk to them.

 

[XiRN]

Is the car up to date on software? I have 35k miles and DE#33. The interior wear seems odd, my car feels like it did when I first got it. Steering wheel is fine after a felt tape fix. Everything else is silent. How did they scratch the pilot panel? I had 3 kids and I still haven't developed scratches anywhere besides the back foot wells.

Car is up to date on software updates, I did make sure to check that during the test drive. I'm not sure how the pilot panel was scratched, but for me it was really noticeable on the passenger side/lower right corner of the screen. Generally, it felt like the initial lessee wasn't as interested in keeping the interior as pristine as I would be, especially considering the initial prices of the dream!

Blind spot cameras not turning on? When you used the turn signals, did you not get a view from the cameras and/or is the 360 view not on when in reverse? If you are worried about the warranty, it is worth your time to go to your nearest service center and talk to them.

Correct that blind spot camera views didn't turn on when using the turn signals during the drive. I checked the settings and from what I can tell, these features where turned on, though the sales associate and I couldn't figure out why the blind spot views weren't coming up on the screen (since this is a lease return, the associate wasn't familiar at all with Lucids, I knew more about the car than they did thanks to all of the youtube research I've been doing thus far!). 360 camera view worked fine when in reverse.

Thanks for the tip on contacting a service center, I believe there is one in my location (Dallas-Fort Worth), so I'll see if I can get any info/insight there on the warranty.

 

[borski]

My DE-P is basically mint, minus one small scratch in the leather on the passenger door (which might’ve been my dog).

Zero other long-term issues; trunk groans when opening/closing a bit, but that’s about it.

 

[Bill55]

My DE-P is basically mint, minus one small scratch in the leather on the passenger door (which might’ve been my dog).

Zero other long-term issues; trunk groans when opening/closing a bit, but that’s about it.

Similar for me. DE#40 had a few mostly minor issues early, but has been very reliable.

 

[xponents]

@koflo (he has a used DE-P now, and similarly to you, he used to own a Model Y!)

 

[MJAir23TheGoat]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and looking for input from current and/or former owners (specifically DE owners if any are around) as I am weighing a decision on if I'll be pulling the trigger on a used Dream Edition Performance.

Mostly I'm wondering, how are these vehicles "aging" at this point? One fear that is pulling me away from buying is that this available model has a sub-100 DE number, so I'm worried about whether early production build quality issues have started to crop up on dream editions. I currently own a 22 Model Y LR that was an early model from Tesla's Austin factory, so I've lived through the frustration of having various issues that can or cannot be fixed.

The model I'm looking at is a lease return with about 20K miles on it, so I'd basically only have about half of the warranty left (assuming Lucid would honor it as I wouldn't be the original owner) and on test drive I definitely noticed a few worrying signs - i.e. the creaking steering wheel (which appears to be a common issue based on other threads I read here), scratches around the perimeter on the main (pilot?) screen, blind spot indicators/cameras not turning on, signs of wear in the interior, etc.

The car is in very good, but not excellent shape, and thus far all of this is enough to give me pause, though I definitely can't stop thinking about how amazing the DE drove and the performance and range boost I'd be getting from my Y.

TL;DR: How are Dream Edtions currently holding up and are nagging build issues starting to pop up more and more?

I welcome thoughts and opinions from anyone who wishes to offer them.

Thanks!

DE and GTP are quite rare compared with the rest of the Air lineup. Not sure if it’s the same car but a lease return DE just went through Mannheim auction at 74 about a month ago on the West Coast. Car had 13K on the dial.

Used Air’s are great car value for the price they are at, this goes for the entire air lineup. You can’t go wrong in the used market at current pricing. I’m moving my GT and looking at DE or GTP.

 

[koflo]

@koflo (he has a used DE-P now, and similarly to you, he used to own a Model Y!)

Thanks for the tag in. Yeah I owned 2 MY's, a MYLR and MYP.

I would categorize the Lucid problems that I have had in two camps, ones that are fixable and ones that are not or have not been fixed:

Fixable/fixed:

• Frunk would not open and when I tried it would rip the front lip trim off
• As a result, the front trim piece needed to be fixed
• Driver side door alignment is not flush with the car
• Trunk alignment - Trunk had huge uneven gaps
• Charge port panel had a gap I could stick my thumb through
• Rattle coming from the back seat (not fixed yet or asked about but its also random and hard to produce)
• Headliner in the back is starting to droop a little bit and you can see it especially from the back window (not fixed yet or asked about)

Most of the above was fixed with some level of success but some were definitely marked as "good enough" after a couple of service visits.

Not Fixable (or little faith in them fixing):

• Steering wheel squeaks, especially when its hot outside
• Car unlocking and locking is very hit or miss - I've had my car in so many times for this issue. They have replaced the antennas on the car. Keyfob 100% unlocks and locks the car but you can be waiting by your car anywhere from 0-120 seconds before the handles present. Phone key is atrocious especially compared to Tesla. Another nitpick of the keyfob is if Im not in range (my key fob range is extremely short, like if I can't touch my car then Im out of range. In fact my car will lock sometimes before I can make it to the charge port) then none of the buttons work. The amount of times I try to pop the frunk from maybe 10ft away or 5ft away and nothing happens is frustrating.
• Phone app is pretty bad. Its not responsive, waking the car takes a very long time, your actions do not queue thus you have to wait for the car to respond before pressing any buttons, you can't start your seat warmers, coolers, or steering wheel heater via the app. There are other limiting things but the basics are there I just rarely use it as it takes about 30-60 seconds to get anything done with the mobile app. This could be improved but I have very little faith that I will see it in my cars lifetime.
• Weak AC - I live in AZ so I am the worst sample there is but having recently taken delivery of a Taycan that I can now place the two back to back has proven to me that indeed my AC is weak in the Lucid. I try to keep the AC around 70 degrees and even that in the summer has tanked my efficiency from 3.5mi/kw to 2.3-2.5 depending on the day... and thats with me being slightly hot within the cabin.
• On the flip side, the car does not have a heat pump so expect similar efficiency losses during heavy winter months
• Software of the car and updates - This is truly the achilles heel of the car. There is a lack of features and control of the car. Tesla gives you some flexibility and cool features or monitoring tools that you can use (Energy app or being able to change your steering weight feel or seeing your suspension in real time, etc...). Porsche is the king of this. You can see your battery temperature, your suspension, you can customize your speedometer to show you different things on the car, you can see the PDCC at work while you turn, overall the Taycan allows you to get very nerdy with the stats. Throw all of that out with the Lucid. You have 3 modes to choose from to customize your driving experience and virtually no options to customize your infotainment experience. That mixed with bugs that have been prevalent especially in the last couple releases (like playing two sources of music at the same time or over a phone call or people not being able to hear you when you answer your phone) has made the experience very frustrating on the software front. Software updates also have slowed tremendously lately and we have been fortunate to get an update once a month. The hard part is mostly they have been small bug fixes not really feature adoption updates. Even when they do introduce features they typically will introduce a single one with an updated. Don't expect the huge Holiday type of updates that Tesla does which brings 10 new cool and useful things.

I wouldn't say overall wear and tear has been bad. Its been the same as the rest of the cars I have owned.At the end of the day, this car handles pretty dang well (second to Porsche), is a rocket in the straight line (2nd to Tesla), comfortable as hell (2nd to Mercedes), and leads the charge (pun intended) in range/interior space. If thats appealing to you then this is the car for you. If you are extremely reliant on Tesla software (or just finished good software in general) then the Lucid might disappoint you.

 

[Steveinarizona]

DE and GTP are quite rare compared with the rest of the Air lineup. Not sure if it’s the same car but a lease return DE just went through Mannheim auction at 74 about a month ago on the West Coast. Car had 13K on the dial.

Interesting. Dealers get trade-ins and either keep them for sale or send them to Mannheim for auction. Usually the dealers keep the best cars. If this were a Mercedes or BMW I would be worried that the dealer didn't keep the car for resale so there must be something wrong with it. But in the case of a Lucid Air DE, the dealer probably never heard of it and didn't know how to position it for resale so it probably just shipped it off to Mannheim.

It does sound like the original owner of the DE didn't take as good care of it as most. That also might be why it ended up at auction but at the right price, what are a few scratches?

 

[MJAir23TheGoat]

Interesting. Dealers get trade-ins and either keep them for sale or send them to Mannheim for auction. Usually the dealers keep the best cars. If this were a Mercedes or BMW I would be worried that the dealer didn't keep the car for resale so there must be something wrong with it. But in the case of a Lucid Air DE, the dealer probably never heard of it and didn't know how to position it for resale so it probably just shipped it off to Mannheim.

It does sound like the original owner of the DE didn't take as good care of it as most. That also might be why it ended up at auction but at the right price, what are a few scratches?

there are a ton of AIRS ( all specs) that go through auction Manheim / the largest by far… also
bring a trailer/ cars and bids, etc. They have to be able to move them one way or another.
Manheim moves the most in qty on a monthly basis. It’s merely a reference point.
Love my GT overall but …. I’m in the market for a DE or GTP but I’m picky probably gonna have to spend around 80K for the right one.

 

[XiRN]

Thank you all of the insight - especially @koflo for the very detailed (and very helpful) write up! I’m definitely the type of car owner that would get bothered by features not working consistently/as designed. I’ve had my Tesla phone key desync on me twice in two years and I even found that to be frustrating, so I’m not sure I’d deal well with a finicky key fob and inconsistent responses when trying to lock or unlock the car.

That plus a weak AC/limited efficiency in Texas heat means that this is probably a no go for me. I love the idea of the car and all of that power + range and especially at the price it’s being offered at for me is practically a steal, but I think I’d rather let this one go for now and hopefully re-visit Lucid in a few years to check in on the updated software and experience.

 

[Batteryman]

Thank you all of the insight - especially @koflo for the very detailed (and very helpful) write up! I’m definitely the type of car owner that would get bothered by features not working consistently/as designed. I’ve had my Tesla phone key desync on me twice in two years and I even found that to be frustrating, so I’m not sure I’d deal well with a finicky key fob and inconsistent responses when trying to lock or unlock the car.

That plus a weak AC/limited efficiency in Texas heat means that this is probably a no go for me. I love the idea of the car and all of that power + range and especially at the price it’s being offered at for me is practically a steal, but I think I’d rather let this one go for now and hopefully re-visit Lucid in a few years to check in on the updated software and experience.

Rather than a used DE, why not get a new LUCID air Pure? You get the 4 year warranty and brand new car . Lucid software is not as bad as some people say, it’s 90% there and they are improving continuously , OTA updates are a big plus, even Porsche doesn’t offer that with the Taycan. Simplicity is better than complexity….do you really need to know battery temp, real time suspension data etc?

 

[xponents]

Simplicity is better than complexity….do you really need to know battery temp, real time suspension data etc?

No, you don’t need to. But what is the problem with wanting to? People can have their own preferences…

 

[Batteryman]

No, you don’t need to. But what is the problem with wanting to? People can have their own preferences…

We both agree, we don't need it...