New member here, and I would have to agree with OP
As a car guy, I’ve been following Lucid for 2 years. I was itching to get one but decided not to be an early adopter, but rather wait a bit to see how reliable the car is in the real world (based on owner feedbacks,)
This past December I decided to get a Lucid and started the process to get a 2023 GT in silver . I placed the deposit online Dec 27. My DA advisor reached out to me via email a couple of days later to introduce herself and walk me through the process (she was exceptional). Met with the DA in person on Dec 30. I was hoping to fill out paperwork for a lease and walk out with the car. Not so. Apparently the financial rep only works M-F and if I was going to finance or lease, it would take 7-10 days
Long story short….after 10 days of paperwork, proof of income, down payment wired, Lucid realized the car had a chip in its roof..After a painful review of my options, I got cold feet and walked away from it…The irony is….. I went to an Audi dealership the following Saturday… and an hour and a half later I walked out with a 2024 Audi RS etron GT.
I have a lot of affinity for Lucid - I like the design, the technology, and the build quality is light years ahead of Tesla. However, for Lucid to thrive (not survive) they need to thoroughly assess and correct the glaringly obvious holes and pitfalls in their operation. Here are a few issues I see:
- A car company should do everything possible to allow a customer to walk out with the car THAT day. Impulse purchase is a powerful emotional state and all car companies acknowledge this. This is losing money for Lucid.
- The Financial services as it is setup currently is horrible…in competence and service (This is likely BOA and not Lucid) …it is just plain horrible. After 5 days of email exchanges and providing them with statements and paperwork similar to what a mortgage company wants, I got an email saying my application was denied because my credit was locked. I had forgotten I had my credit frozen and it has happened a few times in the past. Previously, they would just ask me to unfreeze it and they would proceed. Just last month, my wife bought a BMW IX and the same things happened, and once she unfroze it, the BMW financial manager proceeded. In the case of Lucid, the application was denied and I was told to unfreeze it first and do another application all over again.
- When they told me the car has a chip in the roof, they said they can reassign another car from another region with delivery estimated in 5 days, but I wouldn’t qualify for a $1500 discount (that only applies to cars in the studio) This is a customer service failure on the part of Lucid, when the mistake was theirs to begin with.
- A common problem with disruptive technologies is companies can often identify the problem that exists in an industry, I.e “WHY” to enter a particular market, but often lack personnel with experience in the industry ->domain space experts. An example, would be an uber driver who is glued to his/her phone navigation driving 5-10 mph below speed limit vs. a NYC cabbie, or a London cabbie. Legacy car makers have established systems, such as regional VPCs and have various systems to identify issues with cars before a customer takes delivery. The chip on this car should have been picked up earlier, and there should be a replacement part in the studios to make these repairs .
I do really hope Lucid thrives. I still see myself getting one some day, when I know there is an in-house financial department, there is trade-in possible, and there are no logistical bottlenecks to getting a car. Wishing you Lucid drivers a happy a safe driving in your beautiful cars.