Lease return excess wear & tear

[FA14]

I fully agree this is the most likely reason for this maximum effort to claw back as much as they can. I just receive my invoice as well after returning my 23 Air Pure AWD (one of the first ones delivered in Texas) with 9700 miles. Got a $5,800 invoice. Cant see the reason yet as I cant log in with the credentials I was given and no one has answered my calls yet. The Lucid rep taking in the lease even said it was one of the cleanest lease returns she'd seen and I didn't do a lease return inspection because I went off their guidelines thinking at worst it would be a couple hundred bucks for one wheel scrape. I fully expected to order a Gravity Touring once those became available but now I'm buying a Cadillac Vistiq and saying goodbye to the brand.

$5800 invoice after a clean lease return is crazy bad and infuriating - what’s the breakdown of charges in the invoice and how long it took after vehicle turn in to get this invoice?

 

[kort6776]

Are you going to pay?

apparently B of A is aggressively going to collections, their making it next to impossible to communicate with them is problematic.

 

[BenTexas]

Are you going to pay?

Like others have reported in the thread, I'll attempt to appeal it but I fully expect to pay it as their tactics are quite aggressive and I'm not willing to sacrifice my credit etc over the amount. I will try though. The real protest is the Cadillac Vistiq lease I'll be signing this weekend.

 

[BenTexas]

$5800 invoice after a clean lease return is crazy bad and infuriating - what’s the breakdown of charges in the invoice and how long it took after vehicle turn in to get this invoice?

I still cant log in to the page with the breakdowns. After holding for 15min, I dropped both calls. I'll probably call Lucid directly next.

 

[FA14]

I still cant log in to the page with the breakdowns. After holding for 15min, I dropped both calls. I'll probably call Lucid directly next.

Good luck and hope you can sort this out. I just returned my leased 2023 Air Pure AWD with 6k miles last week in Tyson’s VA and it was in perfect condition. The Store Rep told me that the 3rd party inspection will happen soon and I’ll get the final invoice if any. Let’s see what surprises are in store for me there.

 

[fisheral]

I really think Lucid needs to step up to the plate here. This is terrible for brand reputation and is a big FU to those who supported the company as early adopters.

If there's anyone with connections at Lucid I would urge you to really push this issue for the sake of all of us who got trapped in these leases. No one can really recommend a lease in good conscience at this point. @marqie

I would consider banding together to file a class action lawsuit. If everyone who has experienced this can DM me, I can speak to a class action lawyer.

 

[thyname]

I am in my month 6 of my 39-month lease, so plenty of time for Lucid to come around, but this thread is making me very nervous, and giving me cold feet. I don't blame people for giving up on Lucid as a brand after such a horrible lease-return experience. And this is just the beginning of first leases being returned. Imagine when / if the word spreads down the road in 1-2 years: nobody is leasing a Lucid again. This is terrible.

I leased many times before (other brands), and never experienced what you guys are experiencing with Lucid.

 

[kort6776]

I really think Lucid needs to step up to the plate here. This is terrible for brand reputation and is a big FU to those who supported the company as early adopters.

If there's anyone with connections at Lucid I would urge you to really push this issue for the sake of all of us who got trapped in these leases. No one can really recommend a lease in good conscience at this point. @marqie

I would consider banding together to file a class action lawsuit. If everyone who has experienced this can DM me, I can speak to a class action lawyer.

I agree, lucid has damaged their brand with this poor showing.

 

[Leftlane]

Question - can you not demand to be present when the final inspection takes place? Why is there a two step turn-in process where the customer is totally out of the loop until they get the bill? I can’t believe the way this is going - this is absolutely terrible for customer service and right in line with BofA’s reputation. If Lucid thinks this has nothing to do with them, they are going to be sorely mistaken.

 

[pyle112]

I fully agree this is the most likely reason for this maximum effort to claw back as much as they can. I just receive my invoice as well after returning my 23 Air Pure AWD (one of the first ones delivered in Texas) with 9700 miles. Got a $5,800 invoice. Cant see the reason yet as I cant log in with the credentials I was given and no one has answered my calls yet. The Lucid rep taking in the lease even said it was one of the cleanest lease returns she'd seen and I didn't do a lease return inspection because I went off their guidelines thinking at worst it would be a couple hundred bucks for one wheel scrape. I fully expected to order a Gravity Touring once those became available but now I'm buying a Cadillac Vistiq and saying goodbye to the brand.

That's incredible! Please share as much detail as possible- hoping to avoid that situation as well. Will definitely influence my perspective if I'm in the same boat.

 

[JoshG]

I fully agree this is the most likely reason for this maximum effort to claw back as much as they can. I just receive my invoice as well after returning my 23 Air Pure AWD (one of the first ones delivered in Texas) with 9700 miles. Got a $5,800 invoice. Cant see the reason yet as I cant log in with the credentials I was given and no one has answered my calls yet. The Lucid rep taking in the lease even said it was one of the cleanest lease returns she'd seen and I didn't do a lease return inspection because I went off their guidelines thinking at worst it would be a couple hundred bucks for one wheel scrape. I fully expected to order a Gravity Touring once those became available but now I'm buying a Cadillac Vistiq and saying goodbye to the brand.

Wow... guess I shouldn't complain then about my $200 repair due on my Touring lease return for the tiniest single blemish on one wheel.

But it remains clear that there are enormous risks leasing from Lucid, and they are the pickiest and most greedy leasing company I've ever dealt with in decades of pretty flawless experience across German, American, and Japanese brands.

I'd caution all buyers to avoid Lucid Leasing as people like OP and @BenTexas and me are getting unexpected bills at the end of the lease for hundreds or thousands of dollars that other companies would not have assessed.

My car was perfect after just 9100 miles at my lease return. But still they found this:

(their photo, not mine, from the official inspection)​

and decided despite everything else being perfect, that this "gouge" (I'd say blemish) on one wheel needed "replacement" according to their report (more likely refinishing) and I must pay $200. That's their photo, and it's the ONLY thing wrong on my car that they're claiming is excess wear and tear. Kinda petty.

I appealed, and have pointed out to them that this doesn't even come up in their definition of "excess wear and tear"... and if it's literally the ONLY thing they could find on my car, then shouldn't my car fit the definition of "expected wear and tear"? There's not a door ding, hairline scratch, or windhield chip on the car, nor any interior damage.

They came back to me yesterday and said my appeal is denied and the photo is their justification.

It's only $200 and I'll pay it just to be done, but I'll be sure to spread my warnings about the way Lucid is operating here. Some will point out it's BofA, not Lucid, but Lucid picked them as their partner and we as consumers have no other options to choose for leasing, so Lucid must accept responsibility of their partner's treatment of their customers.

In the interest of fairness and complete disclosure, they did agree to waive my $450 lease termination fee saying it was because I leased a new Touring at the same time as this return. They said it has nothing to do with this damage. That's nice, and pretty standard in repeat-brand leasing. So my total bill at the end of this is just $200. I'll be fine with it.

To be honest, I think they made a tactical mistake with me... they should have said they accept my appeal and are going to waive the $200 fee on the tiny wheel blemish and they're also reducing my lease end fee from $450 to $200 as a goodwill gesture. Same overall cost to me, but a better explanation. For some reason, I'd have been happier with that explanation than what they said to me.

 

[chork]

BoA has completely ignored the Lucid guidelines so far.

Sad to hear, I am all ears on this thread as my lease is up in 2 years. What is being said here is not so great.

 

[Andretex]

well remember, usually in these types of forums, people tend to post negative comments because usually when people are happy with their car they don't look for a forum to post nice things. i hope that is the case here and these are the exceptions.

 

[HC_79]

well remember, usually in these types of forums, people tend to post negative comments because usually when people are happy with their car they don't look for a forum to post nice things. i hope that is the case here and these are the exceptions.

Fair point but most of the examples given aren’t people exaggerating or being over the top. BoA is being extremely petty.

 

[wa_lucid]

I wonder how much cost it is for Lucid to actually finance its own leases backed by the SPIF. The capital required looks to me - naively - a relatively small fraction of the investment it has poured into the company so far, and probably with a lower risk threshold.

 

[californiaboy935]

I wonder how much cost it is for Lucid to actually finance its own leases backed by the SPIF. The capital required looks to me - naively - a relatively small fraction of the investment it has poured into the company so far, and probably with a lower risk threshold.

That would require a lot of work. Financial institution backing makes it easy for Lucid. It might be smart to switch financial institutions. Or incentivize BofA by somehow improving their back end lease value.

I think that the used market for Lucid is poised to go up in price. So hopefully that will give BofA a reason to loosen up on these petty lease return situations.

 

[liggy]

I received a marketing email from Lucid this morning. Just for the helluvit I decided to reply with this. Unsure if anything will come of it but it can’t hurt.

Hello Team Lucid -

As a shareholder I feel compelled to write this email regarding leases and more specifically the lease return process that BOA is engaging in.

Love the aggressive lease pricing. Horrified to read that BOA is treating customers horribly upon lease returns - even customers that turn around and lease a new Air or Gravity.

Here is a sampling. I’m a member at this site along with many enthusiastic owners.

D

Thread 'Lease return excess wear & tear'

Jun 3, 2025

Hi all. I was a happy lessee of a 2023 Lucid Air Grand Touring. Great car. I just turned it in last week, after a short 18 month lease. Today I received my lease end bill. Curious what the crowd here thinks of these Lease Turn in fees... I've leased many luxury cars, and this is the first time I have seen what I would call petty / minor wear listed as Excessive Wear and Tear. Perhaps I need to adjust my expectations going forward?

First we have the windshield, which apparently has 3 very small chips from rocks. See three images attached of the "Excessive Wear and Tear" on the...

• dapellegrini
• Replies: 220
• Forum: Ordering / Pricing / Production / Delivery

• 
• 
• 

None of this is good for LCID. A long and successful career in sales and marketing has taught me that it’s more cost effective to take care of your customers than saving a few dollars and angering them.

I understand that it is BOA and not Lucid handling the returns but you should work with them and get this fixed ASAP.


Lifted the following from Inc. for brevity but it nicely illustrates the point:

“
Here’s the ratio: It takes roughly 40 positive customer experiences to undo the damage of a single negative review. The ratio is derived from a combination of human behavior, math, and logic. Here’s how I discovered it:

A customer who has a negative experience is highly likely to share that experience by leaving a bad review.
A customer who has a positive experience, on the other hand, is unlikely to leave a good review. In my experience, only one in 10 happy customers leaves a good review.
Your company or product rating (typically out of five stars) reflects an overall average of good and bad reviews. So if your goal is to maintain an overall rating of four stars, you’ll need four five-star reviews to make up for every one-star review.
Assuming that only one of every 10 happy customers leaves a positive five-star review, and knowing that it takes four five-star reviews to make up for each one-star review, you can figure it takes 40 positive customer experiences to make up for a single bad review.
All of this makes for a good-to-bad review ratio that is virtually impossible to ignore. I’ve witnessed this firsthand with my company, and it increases the importance of getting great reviews by providing great customer experiences.”

 

[audiojerry]

I received a marketing email from Lucid this morning. Just for the helluvit I decided to reply with this. Unsure if anything will come of it but it can’t hurt.

Hello Team Lucid -

Well done - thanks!

 

[kort6776]

I received a marketing email from Lucid this morning. Just for the helluvit I decided to reply with this. Unsure if anything will come of it but it can’t hurt.

Hello Team Lucid -

As a shareholder I feel compelled to write this email regarding leases and more specifically the lease return process that BOA is engaging in.

Love the aggressive lease pricing. Horrified to read that BOA is treating customers horribly upon lease returns - even customers that turn around and lease a new Air or Gravity.

Here is a sampling. I’m a member at this site along with many enthusiastic owners.

D

Thread 'Lease return excess wear & tear'

Jun 3, 2025

Hi all. I was a happy lessee of a 2023 Lucid Air Grand Touring. Great car. I just turned it in last week, after a short 18 month lease. Today I received my lease end bill. Curious what the crowd here thinks of these Lease Turn in fees... I've leased many luxury cars, and this is the first time I have seen what I would call petty / minor wear listed as Excessive Wear and Tear. Perhaps I need to adjust my expectations going forward?

First we have the windshield, which apparently has 3 very small chips from rocks. See three images attached of the "Excessive Wear and Tear" on the...

• dapellegrini
• Replies: 220
• Forum: Ordering / Pricing / Production / Delivery

• 
• 
• 

None of this is good for LCID. A long and successful career in sales and marketing has taught me that it’s more cost effective to take care of your customers than saving a few dollars and angering them.

I understand that it is BOA and not Lucid handling the returns but you should work with them and get this fixed ASAP.


Lifted the following from Inc. for brevity but it nicely illustrates the point:

“
Here’s the ratio: It takes roughly 40 positive customer experiences to undo the damage of a single negative review. The ratio is derived from a combination of human behavior, math, and logic. Here’s how I discovered it:

A customer who has a negative experience is highly likely to share that experience by leaving a bad review.
A customer who has a positive experience, on the other hand, is unlikely to leave a good review. In my experience, only one in 10 happy customers leaves a good review.
Your company or product rating (typically out of five stars) reflects an overall average of good and bad reviews. So if your goal is to maintain an overall rating of four stars, you’ll need four five-star reviews to make up for every one-star review.
Assuming that only one of every 10 happy customers leaves a positive five-star review, and knowing that it takes four five-star reviews to make up for each one-star review, you can figure it takes 40 positive customer experiences to make up for a single bad review.
All of this makes for a good-to-bad review ratio that is virtually impossible to ignore. I’ve witnessed this firsthand with my company, and it increases the importance of getting great reviews by providing great customer experiences.”

their treatment of lease returns convinced me not to lease another lucid next month when my air gt leased car goes back to them.

 

[liggy]

Well done - thanks!

Thanks - with luck it might have some impact. Fingers crossed.

their treatment of lease returns convinced me not to lease another lucid next month when my air gt leased car goes back to them.

This is exactly why I feel that it’s urgent for Lucid to get this fixed pronto.

It just doesn’t feel like one or two isolated incidents that they might be blowing off as being way outside the norm. I’m guessing a number of short term leases are coming up and if they blow this - it’ll be bad for everyone.