My comparison is for a Lucid rear bumper cover only vs. a much, much more involved GLS 450 front-end repair. I saw what they took apart on my Lucid and there was absolutely no comparison. There was nothing intrusive that they had to do with the Lucid, they had it apart in a day. They sent me pics of it taken apart. Only parts purchased on the Lucid were the bumper cover, the small trim pieces on the outside of the bumper and a piece of insulation. Part of what took so long to repair was actually getting to the vehicle and verifying they only needed those few parts. It was a week to start taking it apart, one day to get it apart, three weeks to get the parts in, another week to actually get back to the car, another week to redo the PPF as they had to transport the car from Hickory, back to Charlotte for PPF, back to Hickory for inspection and then I had to drive to Hickory to pick up the car. I was able to monitor the location of my car and it was very, very clear when the car was inside the shop vs parked in their lot.
It may actually just be the Lucid approved shop here in NC taking advantage of the situation. The labor "plug" in the billing was a big red flag when I looked at the billing, but I guess GEICO did not have an issue with it. Like I said, not my insurance paying for it.
As far as price range, it really doesn't hold true as the same repair on a Pure would not have cost any different and the GLS 450 is in the same price range as a Pure. I also had a similar repair on my M5 where it was actually hit at a low speed almost head on by a high school student not paying attention, replaced the front bumper cover and headlight. The cost of that was around $3k and the work involved quite similar to the Lucid at 25% of the cost. Also at a similar price point.
I disagree with your assessment and we can leave it at that.
