- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
- Messages
- 353
- Reaction score
- 479
- Cars
- AGT, R1S, M3
I thought I’d post my first day experience. To some of you, this is old hat. To others, your hopefully near future.
I got a call and text earlier this week from Alex at the Short Hills, NJ studio that the car would be ready 9/10. I asked about home delivery, since it’s 110 miles from me and was told “We don‘t do that any more”. I realize it was an unsustainable model, but they really should have set a date, after which orders would not qualify for home delivery. To promise it and then later decline, doesn’t add to the luxury experience Peter said he’s striving for.
They did send a Lyft for us. Our driver was friendly, but spoke only Spanish, listened only to Mexican dance music and was evidently a prior dirt track racer. Again, not so luxurious.
We arrived alive and 15 min. late. Billy greeted us and took us up to the top level of the mall parking garage to see our car. I did the perfunctory inspection. Thanks to all who contributed to the checklist. Issues were relatively few. The weather stripping on the top of the driver’s door bulged outward a bit, the top and bottom panels behind the front wheels didn’t meet as cleanly as I would have liked and the plastic liner at the driver’s side of the frunk near the hinge was loose. (We later found the accent lighting in the passenger door wasn’t illuminating) All were promised to be fixed.
Billy gave us a nice rundown of functions and features. Having been on this forum since Spring, I was pretty familiar already. A wave of the pen and it was ours. I had requested the wheels be modified by removing the aero covers and installing the hub caps and lug covers as others have done, but was told that would be handled by service at a later date. Also, no tire inflator yet, despite requesting it. We did get a nice tote bag, Lucid hat and water bottle. Ok, time to drive this beast…
The mall parking garage has one of those tight spiral exit towers. Having never driven an EV before (can you say leap of faith…?) I set it in standard regen, hold, smooth and inched my way down. I could just imaging accidentally lurching forward and grinding my brand new car against the concrete wall. Once I made it to terra firma, things improved. The nav system performed well, I managed to get Spotify playing some classic tracks from Heart, and we made it to I-78. That’s where I started to feel at home in the vehicle. Despite being surrounded by Jerzey drivers intent on my demise, the car felt solid and composed. I didn’t have to try to accelerate…it just happened effortlessly. I had to fine tune my steering wheel and seat positions a bit to see the blind spot images, but otherwise, visibility was quite good. The larger than normal front pillars are noticeable in close, slow speed maneuvering, but the 360 camera more than makes up for them. I did a few hard dashes around trucks, just because I could. Hopped off the highway prematurely and took a very rural back route for the final 15 min of the drive. Equally satisfying.
Arrived home and parked her in the garage spot formally reserved for my wife’s Audi A8. Tested out the level 2 charging, to make sure both the car and the circuit worked. Yup.
A few friends stopped by later for a little wine event. Got the obligatory oohs and ahhs. Good day…
I got a call and text earlier this week from Alex at the Short Hills, NJ studio that the car would be ready 9/10. I asked about home delivery, since it’s 110 miles from me and was told “We don‘t do that any more”. I realize it was an unsustainable model, but they really should have set a date, after which orders would not qualify for home delivery. To promise it and then later decline, doesn’t add to the luxury experience Peter said he’s striving for.
They did send a Lyft for us. Our driver was friendly, but spoke only Spanish, listened only to Mexican dance music and was evidently a prior dirt track racer. Again, not so luxurious.
We arrived alive and 15 min. late. Billy greeted us and took us up to the top level of the mall parking garage to see our car. I did the perfunctory inspection. Thanks to all who contributed to the checklist. Issues were relatively few. The weather stripping on the top of the driver’s door bulged outward a bit, the top and bottom panels behind the front wheels didn’t meet as cleanly as I would have liked and the plastic liner at the driver’s side of the frunk near the hinge was loose. (We later found the accent lighting in the passenger door wasn’t illuminating) All were promised to be fixed.
Billy gave us a nice rundown of functions and features. Having been on this forum since Spring, I was pretty familiar already. A wave of the pen and it was ours. I had requested the wheels be modified by removing the aero covers and installing the hub caps and lug covers as others have done, but was told that would be handled by service at a later date. Also, no tire inflator yet, despite requesting it. We did get a nice tote bag, Lucid hat and water bottle. Ok, time to drive this beast…
The mall parking garage has one of those tight spiral exit towers. Having never driven an EV before (can you say leap of faith…?) I set it in standard regen, hold, smooth and inched my way down. I could just imaging accidentally lurching forward and grinding my brand new car against the concrete wall. Once I made it to terra firma, things improved. The nav system performed well, I managed to get Spotify playing some classic tracks from Heart, and we made it to I-78. That’s where I started to feel at home in the vehicle. Despite being surrounded by Jerzey drivers intent on my demise, the car felt solid and composed. I didn’t have to try to accelerate…it just happened effortlessly. I had to fine tune my steering wheel and seat positions a bit to see the blind spot images, but otherwise, visibility was quite good. The larger than normal front pillars are noticeable in close, slow speed maneuvering, but the 360 camera more than makes up for them. I did a few hard dashes around trucks, just because I could. Hopped off the highway prematurely and took a very rural back route for the final 15 min of the drive. Equally satisfying.
Arrived home and parked her in the garage spot formally reserved for my wife’s Audi A8. Tested out the level 2 charging, to make sure both the car and the circuit worked. Yup.
A few friends stopped by later for a little wine event. Got the obligatory oohs and ahhs. Good day…
