Gravity build quality impressions?

[plastex]

What do you think about the Gravity’s build quality in general?

I've driven many different cars, and I would personally say that the Gravity is extremely well built, though it's still not as good as German cars.
Compared to a Tesla, it's a night and day difference.
However, I also own an Audi e-tron SUV, and I've noticed that Lucid tried to save costs in areas where it wasn't really necessary, specifically with things like rubber seals and plastic clips.

I've brought my car to the Service Center twice for various concerns, and both times I asked them to fix the kinked rubber seals that run across the body.
They definitely worked on them both times, but the seals are still kinked, lol. It’s not as bad as it was initially, but there's still room for improvement.

Another example is the underflush spoiler. They adjusted it, but it's still not perfect.

Even after two appointments, the frunk doesn't give me much confidence, it often requires me to press the button twice to get it to open properly.
Additionally, the charging port door was loose because two out of the four plastic clips were broken. I keep noticing small things like this here and there.

On the other hand, I have no issues with the interior at all!
In comparison, my Audi has been rock solid since the day I got it, with absolutely no exterior or interior build quality concerns.

 

[HC_79]

For its second model and only producing cars for around 5 years the Gravity build quality is actually quite good. I also noticed a big improvement from early Airs compared to early Gravity’s.

The most noticeable issue for me has been trying to address a squeaking 2nd row seat that’s now on its 3rd service center visit to address but apart from that everything else has been pretty solid.

Software has been Gravity’s major downfall.

 

[hmp10]

What do you think about the Gravity’s build quality in general?

We have bought three Gravity Dream Editions, each delivered at almost exactly 3-month intervals (June 30, September 29, December 16).

Our own anecdotal experience has been that build quality varies in direct relationship to how far into the production run they were built.

The first Gravity has had to have the rear drive unit, the HUD unit, and the steering wheel replaced. It had a loud rattle/squeak in the second row seat. Several exterior trim pieces were misaligned. In the next two weeks a warped underbody panel and a faulty dashboard LED light strip are being replaced. It was also delivered with a non-functioning GPS and navigation system. It also experienced significantly more software problems than other early-production Gravities and still does. It is going back to a service center week after next for a deep diagnostic dive to see if issues with the computer hardware are contributing to this abnormal level of software bugs. This is suggested by the fact that two service centers had difficulty getting the car to accept software downloads as part of other service work. This visit will also check out an 8-item list of continuing malfunctions that at this point are being reported by few, if any, others on this forum.

The second Gravity (which was wrecked after two months with only 908 miles on it) had fewer initial hardware problems as well as being more in line with the software issues other owners were experiencing contemporanesouly.

The third Gravity, which also has seen little road time thus far, was delivered with no apparent hardware problems, good trim alignment, and only two tiny paint defects that were only caught and easily rectified when prepping the car for a full PPF wrap.

Except for the noise in the second-row seat of the first car, all three cars have had superb interior fit and finish except for sill plate weatherstrips that keep trying to roll under in spots (something that you also seem to have in your car).

 

[che2cbs]

I'm pretty happy with the build qualith of my Gravity GT (manufactured in November). I have one minor issue but I have not yet had a chance to open a service request. The top right corner of the rear lift gate is visibility out of alignment by several millimeters. Can't believe I missed this when I picked up the car last month. Otherwise, I haven't found any other hardware issues. I'm pretty happy consideing it's the Gravity's first model year.

 

[plastex]

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this car despite its flaws!
What Lucid did is truly outstanding, and I really hope the new Gravities will keep getting better over time.
Surprisingly, mine was also built in November, and there were a few issues I described above.

So far, the frunk finally fixed itself and stopped acting up, and everything else was resolved during two SC visits.

Fingers crossed I won't find anything else, lol. Although, I admit I'm nitpicking purely because it's an expensive car.

 

[TahoeMichael]

...

Fingers crossed I won't find anything else, lol. Although, I admit I'm nitpicking purely because it's an expensive car.

I think it's quite reasonable to nitpick. When there are great EVs that cost half what a GGT goes for, I think it's eminently reasonable to expect a very very high level of quality.

 

[jered]

I asked them to fix the kinked rubber seals that run across the body. They definitely worked on them both times, but the seals are still kinked, lol. It’s not as bad as it was initially, but there's still room for improvement.

This is my biggest pet peeve on the interior fit and finish. Service looked at it when I had it in and said it was currently within spec (and all the showroom vehicles have the same problem). This is going to be an issue until there is a part revision for the seals.

Overall I'm happy with the finish except for those seals, the alignment on the trunk details (their mistake for having tight-tolerance badging on the sides), and the 2nd row persistent squeaks and creaks. I agree it doesn't feel like a Mercedes or Porsche, but it's definitely way better than Tesla.

 

[RajD]

Can someone post a pic of the rubber seal issue you are seeing? Thnx.

 

[TakTical]

I’ve been very happy with mine. Maybe it’s because I am used to model X from back in 2018 until now, but I’ve very few issues. There are several small nitpicks if I wanted to really be picky, but I’ve learned with my time with my Tesla that it’s not worth it and if I don’t focus on the little things, they don’t even bother me.

I picked up my gravity on 12/30 so I may have gotten lucky that they may have worked out some of the kinks by then.

I don’t have experience owning German cars, but I think Lucid has done a pretty good job if you’re not looking for defects with a magnifying glass.

 

[hmp10]

Well, we've had our newest Gravity on the road a bit now. By and large it's going pretty well.

But two issues have cropped up. The rear hatch lid is malfunctioning. It will lower automatically, but the latch doesn't catch and the lid immediately reopens. When it's doing this the only way to close it is manually. It will stay closed, but the latch still doesn't engage fully -- just makes a grinding noise. To close it tightly you have to push very hard on the sheet metal at each side of the hatch. Then today when opening it automatically, it stopped about a third of the way up. The key fob would neither lower it back from there nor raise it any further. I had to finish opening it manually, and it took a lot of oomph. It was resisting much more strongly than when closing it manually.

Also today, as I approached the car with the key fob, the door handles did not extend, nor would they respond to a push inward. The car was sensing the fob, because it made a prominent boing sound every time I pressed the fob button. Finally I had to use my key card to get in the car. Before leaving the house, I went back in and replaced the battery. At the first stop afterward, the fob opened the car but would not start it until several tries.

New Gravity; same old story.

 

[dbsb3233]

I'm getting used to mine, but yeah, even though I love 80% about the car overall, there's some things beyond the flaky software that aren't as good as I expected. Or at least as good of a fit for my preferences in what I was hoping to be my "most perfect" car yet (and probably my final car). These are more design than build quality tho.

For one thing, the view out the back window is the worst I've ever had in any car. The wiper motor kills any chance of seeing anything other than the grill of the car behind me. Which would have been iffy even without the motor.

The accelerator pedal is the stiffest I've ever used. And it doesn't have much play to it. I prefer a softer pedal and more range in it to to better tweak the speed I want.

The steering wheel pads/buttons are well document to be... challenging. They certainly live up to that reputation.

My charge port door is a little sloppy. Sticks out a tad on the top. Not horrible or anything, but one of those little things that always looks off.

The rear liftgate usually works, but it makes a noise when opening that just seems off. Not sure if it's the rubber seals "popping" loose, or whether it might be catching on something. Again, not bad, but just sounds like something louder than I'd expect.

Speaking of liftgate, I have to be really careful walking around it in my garage so I don't hit my head. The clam shell design that hangs down on the sides always has me ducking when I take something out to carry into the house.

The HUD issues are well-documented. Just seems like they didn't take the time to get the placement right. It's tilted and doesn't go low enough. Just sloppy execution, as though they never though to try it for multiple seat positions.

The cup holders are annoying to use. Take a lot of force to get a standard Yeti cup in/out of. In fact I don't even push it all the way in now.

Just a lot of small little annoyances for a luxury car.

 

[Saksak]

I'm getting used to mine, but yeah, even though I love 80% about the car overall, there's some things beyond the flaky software that aren't as good as I expected. Or at least as good of a fit for my preferences in what I was hoping to be my "most perfect" car yet (and probably my final car). These are more design than build quality tho.

For one thing, the view out the back window is the worst I've ever had in any car. The wiper motor kills any chance of seeing anything other than the grill of the car behind me. Which would have been iffy even without the motor.

The accelerator pedal is the stiffest I've ever used. And it doesn't have much play to it. I prefer a softer pedal and more range in it to to better tweak the speed I want.

The steering wheel pads/buttons are well document to be... challenging. They certainly live up to that reputation.

My charge port door is a little sloppy. Sticks out a tad on the top. Not horrible or anything, but one of those little things that always looks off.

The rear liftgate usually works, but it makes a noise when opening that just seems off. Not sure if it's the rubber seals "popping" loose, or whether it might be catching on something. Again, not bad, but just sounds like something louder than I'd expect.

Speaking of liftgate, I have to be really careful walking around it in my garage so I don't hit my head. The clam shell design that hangs down on the sides always has me ducking when I take something out to carry into the house.

The HUD issues are well-documented. Just seems like they didn't take the time to get the placement right. It's tilted and doesn't go low enough. Just sloppy execution, as though they never though to try it for multiple seat positions.

The cup holders are annoying to use. Take a lot of force to get a standard Yeti cup in/out of. In fact I don't even push it all the way in now.

Just a lot of small little annoyances for a luxury car.

Spot on. Every car has a “personality” and this is the Gravity. You learn to accept the things you can’t change, appreciate the attractive bits (which are fantastic and numerous), and continue the love affair - and yes, I’m still talking about the Gravity.

 

[socktucker]

I've kinda boiled it down to how your particular Lucid is depends largely on whether or not your delivery center takes pride in their work. Not judging, but the factory let's junk through that never should be, and then service fixes it. If your service center has high turnover rate and a case of the Mondays, you're getting crooked doors, creaky seats, etc etc. If your service center feels a sense of dignity in their work, you get a perfect car. I experienced both situation. Lucid, on a macro level, makes a great car. On a micro level...crapshoot. But they do make it right.

Or the old saying "don't buy a car built on a Friday"

 

[dbsb3233]

I've kinda boiled it down to how your particular Lucid is depends largely on whether or not your delivery center takes pride in their work. Not judging, but the factory let's junk through that never should be, and then service fixes it. If your service center has high turnover rate and a case of the Mondays, you're getting crooked doors, creaky seats, etc etc. If your service center feels a sense of dignity in their work, you get a perfect car. I experienced both situation. Lucid, on a macro level, makes a great car. On a micro level...crapshoot. But they do make it right.

Or the old saying "don't buy a car built on a Friday"

Perhaps, but the idea that the factory can let junk through kinda rubs me the wrong way. And the delivery center (i.e. showroom) is a store in a shopping mall. They don't do anything but sell the cars. That's the downside of using showrooms rather dealerships. The service center is usually nowhere close.

For a Ford or Chevy, ok, since they have service centers at the dealership to fix things if they deliver from the factory with something wrong. But Lucid doesn't. They need to get it right at the factory before shipping it out. Or 99.9% right, anyway. Anything they let through means the customer has to deal with it by scheduling service. Even though mobile service is better than a long drive, it's still a pain.

 

[socktucker]

hey need to get it right at the factory before shipping it out. Or 99.9% right, anyway. Anything they let through means the customer has to deal with it by scheduling service. Even though mobile service is better than a long drive, it's still a pain.

Oh you can read my big thread about my feelings on that.

 

[Bdr100]

Perhaps, but the idea that the factory can let junk through kinda rubs me the wrong way. And the delivery center (i.e. showroom) is a store in a shopping mall. They don't do anything but sell the cars. That's the downside of using showrooms rather dealerships. The service center is usually nowhere close.

For a Ford or Chevy, ok, since they have service centers at the dealership to fix things if they deliver from the factory with something wrong. But Lucid doesn't. They need to get it right at the factory before shipping it out. Or 99.9% right, anyway. Anything they let through means the customer has to deal with it by scheduling service. Even though mobile service is better than a long drive, it's still a pain.

Fortunately, here in Houston, the Showroom and Service Center are in the same building. As for factory shipping cars with known issues with idea that they can be fixed at service centers, there might be some validity. With a standard manufacturer, if a dealership sells a car that has issues that need to be repaired, that dealership is compensated by the manufacturer. But for something like Lucid (as well as Tesla, Rivian) all service is in-house, so not as big of a deal for service centers to be repairing issues that could have been caught by factory - other than reliability reputation.

 

[dbsb3233]

Fortunately, here in Houston, the Showroom and Service Center are in the same building. As for factory shipping cars with known issues with idea that they can be fixed at service centers, there might be some validity. With a standard manufacturer, if a dealership sells a car that has issues that need to be repaired, that dealership is compensated by the manufacturer. But for something like Lucid (as well as Tesla, Rivian) all service is in-house, so not as big of a deal for service centers to be repairing issues that could have been caught by factory - other than reliability reputation.

If they catch it and fix it BEFORE the customer takes delivery, I'd agree.

 

[HC_79]

Even though mobile service is better than a long drive, it's still a pain.

Mobile Service? 95% of my issues have never been dealt with by mobile service. In fact, I enjoyed 2 hours in LA traffic getting my car to Beverly Hills at 9am last Thursday only for it to be sitting in a parking garage to this day, collecting dust while it waits for a technician to be assigned to it. If they weren't going to look at it the day I dropped it off they could've let me drop it off later where a 2 hour trip would've only been 45 mins.

I honestly don't understand Lucid's logic of hoarding cars in a garage for days on end before they even attempt to start working on them. This is the 3rd time its in to address the 2nd row squeak, a job that should be done in a day or two max, not keeping the car the for 1 to 2 weeks which is what I'm being told.

 

[hmp10]

While the Gravity seems to be solid as a vault structurally, body panel fit and finish can be somewhat iffy. I caught this shot with sunlight washing down the side of the car this morning:

 

[hmp10]

Fortunately, here in Houston, the Showroom and Service Center are in the same building. As for factory shipping cars with known issues with idea that they can be fixed at service centers, there might be some validity. With a standard manufacturer, if a dealership sells a car that has issues that need to be repaired, that dealership is compensated by the manufacturer. But for something like Lucid (as well as Tesla, Rivian) all service is in-house, so not as big of a deal for service centers to be repairing issues that could have been caught by factory - other than reliability reputation.

I wonder about this. The Miami Service Center is in a busy downtown location with zero parking for customers or cars waiting for service. They lease space for both in a garage a block away (and customers have to pay to park there). If a car needs a series of repairs, as mine have, they have to get shuttled to and from the garage for each step, as there is no room to hold them in the Service Center. (I know this because I have been erroneously billed storage fees by the parking garage for finding my car parked outside Lucid's leased space, and Lucid had to intervene.)

And there are many other issues associated with doing work in any Service Center that should have been done at the factory: necessary tooling is not always on hand (I've encountered this); repairs that require two techs, such as dashboard removal, sometimes have to wait prolonged periods in Service Centers for two techs to become free for a lengthy job (I've encountered this); shipping parts from the factory for certain repairs is expensive time- and transport-wise (I've encountered this), sometimes repairs have to wait for a Lucid specialist who "travels the circuit" of Service Centers to arrive (I've encountered this), etc.

Letting cars with easily knowable manufacturing / assembly defects leave the factory strikes me as a very poor business practice on many fronts.