Experience with Damage during service transport...

kristiandg

Member

Verified Owner
Joined
Dec 24, 2022
Messages
37
Reaction score
28
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cars
Lucid Air Grand Touring
All, I'm interested in hearing from any Lucid customers who's cars were damaged during a service transport. No, this isn't some competitor phishing, or anything like that.

My Air GT was damaged on it's return trip from one of the service centers (the only time Lucid transported it on an open carrier instead of a closed one). It all stemmed from the driver keeping the keyfob in his truck so he could silence the alarm. He triggered the hood to open while on the freeway, turning the hood into a giant wind sail. Just short of shattering the windshield, the damage was extensive to the hood panel, the body, the front doors, and even the A pillars. The initial round (yes, "initial") of body work was around 20k, with another 8k in accessory work that needs to be replaced because of the body work.

To make matters even more clustery, Lucid hires a 3rd party, who then subcontracts it to another 3rd party. This happened at the end of April and Lucid's handling of the matter has been a nightmare to say the least. I only JUST got my car back yesterday, and there are significant problems with it still that I really can't drive it (I know - then why pick it up, right? More on that below).

Because this has been so mis-managed, the logistics around who pays for what, was deferred until about a month ago. And for that past month, Lucid (and the transport carrier's representation) have been trying to coerce me into signing the transport carrier's waiver, which is... legally questionable/sketchy at best... When I pointed out those issues, rather than representation properly addressing the matter, they tried to con me into believing that their insurance liability limit is an actual legal remedy limit (which, anyone with a brain knows that just isn't the case). I gave them 2-3 chances to address those aspects, and they chose to continue misrepresenting those facts. So, I had to escalate with Lucid. Well, that apparently angered the Lucid representation, who I've had repeated "measuring" contests with ever since.

At a complete standstill with the "Head of Customer Care", I was forced to escalate to a C-suite representative who seemed very nice at the time, claiming he'd forward the matter so that it was taken care of. "Taken care of" ended up not happening, and that only angered Mr "Head" (of Customer Care). His treatment has been atrocious, passive aggressive and ultimately pathetic for a supposed "luxury EV brand", and it is astounding that Lucid is complacent in such representation with their customers.

Mr "Head's" poor handling left me with no procedural alternative than to follow Lucid's own dispute notification process (via their Legal department's "disputes" intake workflow). Confusingly, Legal instead forwarded the matter right back to Mr "Head", who, now portraying as speaking on behalf of Legal (supported by Legal being CC'd and choosing not to intervene), summarily rejected to honor Lucid's own dispute process printed in all of our sales contracts. Amazing this one guy is gifted the authority to speak on behalf of Legal, but even more astounding is Legal's complacency to such absurd customer treatment (as they were CC'd in on every exchange at that point). Mr "Head's response: take the loaner away, attempting to extort that signature on the release. By taking the loaner away while the matter was still very much unresolved, I was left with no choice but to pay for the repairs to the damage while under Lucid's care, myself.

It's a good thing I didn't sign that ridiculous form though, because picking up my car yesterday, it is still seriously screwed up. There are multiple sensor warnings I've never seen before (but passed diagnostics), and enough of the body is so misaligned that it's nearly impossible to drive due to the wind/road noise. That's why I said "initial round" of body work - because It's true what they say: once it's been to the body shop, it's never the same after. So, Monday I'll be getting a handle on what all can and can't be fixed with the shop (It is a highly-respected Lucid-authorized shop, but it's 2.5 hours away). Because of the distance, and my car's lack of drivability for extended periods of time, there's now going to be even more transport and now (apparently) rental fees because Lucid, in an act of attempted coercion, took the loaner away, leaving me without any vehicle.

I'll be posting the email threads and various correspondence at some point, but right now, I've got to see what all is involved in next steps.

Unfortunately, Lucid allowed it's "representation" to mishandle/escalate this matter to such a degree, that there are only a couple doors left in terms of a path forward. And, it is now clear that this damage has made a permanent impact on my car.

So, yeah, I'm definitely interested in hearing from others who have had their Lucid damaged during this "remote service transport" model. By all means, DM me.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Sorry to hear such a frustrating incident.

It's a good reminder to disable the alarms before towing/transporting.

Lucid should provide the check list to a transporting/towing company to make sure they personally disable the alarms.

Lucid should take responsibility to make it right in the aftermath.
 
Honestly, the car is smart enough to know it's being towed (it says so on the app alerts because, you know, it's go that circular motion thing going on when it's being towed). A couple days after it happened, I emailed the software department giving them a very brief description of the incident and saying they really need to have a "towing mode" that would ignore trunk/frunk controls and alarms (similar to service-mode). The whole car is software, so it can do whatever someone writes the code to make it do. Seems like a "no-brainer" and an easy win.

But I agree with you, though I'd prefer the automatic route since people are the root cause of "human error" :)
 
I think it is better to always give the key card to any one whom you do not trust with the car including the tow truck driver.
the FOB has its own mind of how to behave and it will get people confused.

also, the car will keep opening and closing since the FOB will be with the driver and the car is literally behind his back.

I notice that Shock and Tilt feature will auto defeat to ON if the car being open and close. it is better to give key card and turn off the feature from the App.
 
UPDATE: And the latest.. The body shop contacted Lucid today explaining that the car continues to have issues and will be back in their shop. I guess they asked (on my behalf, which was nice of the body shop) if I could keep the loaner for that additional time, and Lucid actively rejected that request. So, now, damage that occurred while in Lucid's care (pseudo, their transport), that requires additional shop time and out of my possession - Lucid refuses to even provide the loaner back to me.

Customer Service down the tubes...
 
Sorry to hear about your woes with the car. From what you relayed, I'd feel that I had no option but to bring in a lawyer. This is an expensive vehicle, and it sounds like your economic losses far exceed what could be covered in small claims court.
 
Shouldn't your car insurance company be handling these negotiations with Lucid? Sorry to hear you are going through this.
 
Shouldn't your car insurance company be handling these negotiations with Lucid? Sorry to hear you are going through this.
It actually depends on the details of the situation. The carrier's insurance actually tried to get me to file a claim with my insurance for items they were refusing to cover (which, of course, would then be my insurance paying for their damage - I don't think so).

Insurance is usually only equipped to address a limited set of remedies - things like: physical expenditure for repairs, loss of use, etc. Not usually other legal remedies surrounding such an issue, of which it turns out there are a few - the list grew a bit more when "Mr. Head" decided to (effectively) reject arbitration with a seemingly complaisant Lucid Legal department CC'd on the thread...
 
I would think you would file a claim with your carrier who would then establish fault (theirs, easy) and then subrograte the charges back to them. They would handle all of this negotiating. I'm not sure what other "legal remedies" you are talking about, but loss of use, collision repair are no brainers. Pain and suffering is something they also handle but would be a stretch in this situation I would think. However now that you are this far down the road with them and have already had their lawyers on a back and forth email your insurance company may be less willing to jump in. You should consider it though and perhaps discuss with them. I don't think you have much to lose if anything.
 
That is a valid point. I'll circle back with them as well.
 
Also chiming in to say that I think you should get your insurance involved. This is why you pay money to them so you don't have to go after the other party's insurance when they aren't playing ball. I would rather have my insurance companies lawyers involved in a large matter like this than not.
 
I would file a claim with my own insurance and let them subrogate later against Lucid and the transport co. They got better lawyers than me.

Source: am insurance guy
 
I would file a claim with my own insurance and let them subrogate later against Lucid and the transport co. They got better lawyers than me.

Source: am insurance guy
This is what I did when I had my car damaged during transport. My insurance co paid for the repair, less the deductible, and the carrier reimbursed me for the deductible. Then my insurance company dealt directly with the carrier's insurance company. I don't know how that was resolved, but my car was repair at no cost to me, my premium didn't increase and I don't show any kind of incident on my insurance records related to this.
 
Sorry you are being treated this way - what a PITA. Some good advice up above - or get an attorney and let them go full karate on them as it seems pretty cut and dry as to liability.
 
? That’s just literally how subrogation works. You can do the same if someone hits you.
Borski! I’m the guy who messaged you because your Tidal account was logged in on my loaner. Small world. Logged you out.
 
Borski! I’m the guy who messaged you because your Tidal account was logged in on my loaner. Small world. Logged you out.
Thank you, btw!
 
Well I am kind of scared, but certainly more informed, after reading this post. I just had something very Singapore to my car. It was being transported from Chicago back to my home in Minnesota. I was receiving a whole bunch of shock and tilt alerts. Then I received a trunk open alert. After receiving it I texted Lucid of Chicago and let them know. Later that day they said the car was back with them and that the frunk had opened during my transport and the hood flipped back and broke the windshield.

As of right now (This happened this past Thursday) I have yet to receive pictures of the damage, which I had requested. The maintenance guy who called me said it was going to be a long process (they were already starting the paperwork claim against the transport company). He said it could be 3-4 months to get my car back. I am a little unhappy about the incident as a whole, and only have 4,500 miles on my car. It is a lease, only because Minnesota doesn’t allow direct sales of vehicles. Was planning on buying out the lease, was just waiting for the right interest rate. Now questioning my options, especially after reading all of this.
 
Very sorry to read that. I think that happened to someone else as well - you may want to search the forums. I've definitely heard this story before. They should set you up with a loaner that's comparable to your car while they fix your vehicle. Sorry again.
 
Back
Top