Lucid Air in Service Queue for 7 Weeks. What Does This Mean for Long-Term Ownership?

[js_pa]

I really like my Lucid Air Touring. That is actually what makes what happened this week so concerning.

I've had the car about 18 months and have approximately 16,000 miles on it. On September 30, a warning suddenly appeared while I was driving. I called Lucid immediately, they arranged a tow - which by the way arrived 26 hours later - and the car was taken to the Beverly Hills Service Center the following day.

Lucid Beverly Hills has now told me in writing:
“Hello [...], at this time your Air is checked in and in our service queue. As mentioned on Thursday when the vehicle arrived via tow, we are anticipating a service time of about 7 weeks.”
Seven weeks!

I called Customer Care and the representative was very understanding. During our conversation, she suggested that the Beverly Hills service operation may have only one or two people handling service, which could explain the delay. I don't know the actual staffing level, so I don't want to state that as fact, but it raised a larger concern for me.

Lucid is paying for an Enterprise rental, which I appreciate. Enterprise initially offered me a Porsche Panamera, but insisted in selling me insurance for $95 per day. Lucid representative had initially told me that they would cover the insurance. Once at Enterprise, that wasn't true anymore. $95 per day x 7 weeks is real money. It turns out that my own insurance would have covered that, but because of Lucid's initial representation, I had not checked. I have ended up with a Genesis G70 with about 46,000 miles, while paying the lease on a $95k car.

They say that they will switch me to a Lucid 'if' one becomes available, but I will believe that when I see it.

The most concerning, and it should concern you too, is not the rental. Until this happened, I genuinely loved the Air. I often said that it was the best car I ever had. I drove like a 911 and was smooth as a Class S. I was seriously considering buying it when the lease ends.

Now I'm asking myself a different question.
What happens if the car develops a problem another 18 months from now? Will the service infrastructure still be this constrained? Will there be any service infrastructure?

I'm not posting this to bash Lucid. I think the Air is an extraordinary car. I am posting because suddenly having a warning appear, having the car towed away, and then being told to expect seven weeks in a service queue has changed how I think about ownership.

I'd really like to hear from other owners:

Have you experienced waits like this?

How well has Lucid handled serious repairs for you?

Have service times been getting better or worse?

And perhaps most importantly, does Lucid's current service network give you confidence about owning an Air or Gravity beyond the warranty period?

 

[Leftlane]

Every bit of this story is a complete failure. The drive warning in the first place, the delay for a tow, the backlog for service and an unacceptable wait to actually have your problem addressed, the BS with the rental and the total BS about requiring insurance…..total failure as a car company. I can’t believe anyone tolerates this nonsense at all.

 

[socktucker]

Welcome to the club. At least you got a good car. I got an Equinox, a Hyundai (nice car!) and a Bronco Sport.

My car has been shipped to 2 states, 5 different times and been in service for 4 months. It’s still broken and they want to ship it to a different state again, for at least several weeks. Guess what? They denied my buy back claim too. They say time waiting for service doesn’t count for lemon law. Oh and Beverly Hills service only has…wait for it…2 car lifts! They can work on 2 cars at a time

They gave me an Air loaner and it broke down and left me stranded. They gave me a loaner Gravity and the rear steering went out. They gave me another loaner Air and it broke down too, literally came broken and stuck in Service Mode and they don’t even know how.

You’re about to experience the train wreck of Lucid Corporate. Their true colors are not a rainbow.

 

[js_pa]

Welcome to the club. At least you got a good car. I got an Equinox, a Hyundai (nice car!) and a Bronco Sport.

My car has been shipped to 2 states, 5 different times and been in service for 4 months. It’s still broken and they want to ship it to a different state again, for at least several weeks. Guess what? They denied my buy back claim too. They say time waiting for service doesn’t count for lemon law.

You’re about to experience the train wreck of Lucid Corporate. Their true colors are not a rainbow.

I dont know where you are located, but under California law, this qualifies as a lemon car and I am planning to have Lucid buy it back.

 

[socktucker]

I dont know where you are located, but under California law, this qualifies as a lemon car and I am planning to have Lucid buy it back.

Did you opt out of mandatory arbitration when you bought the car? Me neither. You’ll go to that, they’ll send a lawyer who will try and muddy the water just enough to rule against you and you’ll then have to go to court.

 

[js_pa]

Did you opt out of mandatory arbitration when you bought the car? Me neither. You’ll go to that, they’ll send a lawyer who will try and muddy the water just enough to rule against you and you’ll then have to go to court.

You are right about that. I had someone read the lease agreement and it's totally one-sided, saying that the lease has to be paid basically whether you have the car or it is in the shop forever. I won't submit without a fight. The real issue is that we are dealing with a virtually bankrupt company. I knew it was bad, but my bet was that Daddy is rich and they would throw enough money at the company that we wouldn't have to worry about it. but Daddy has its own issues these days and there is a limit Daddy is willing to throw more cash at a company that is burning money faster than microwave. The decision to rent a car for 7 weeks because you have 2 service technicians is mind-blowing, irrational, self-inflicted, and the kind of decision you make when there are no rational choices left. They literally turned me from being their biggest fan into wanting to get rid of the car ASAP and never look back. As much as I love the car, buying a Lucid today is madness.

 

[MorganB]

.

Now I'm asking myself a different question.
What happens if the car develops a problem another 18 months from now? Will the service infrastructure still be this constrained? Will there be any service infrastructure?

the Lucid CEO is well aware of the service situation and the company is in the process of staffing up. I’m sure it will be corrected in 18 months. Honestly they can’t continue as a company with the current service delays so I would say they have no choice but to course correct. If they don’t they won’t survive.

I’ve owned my Air for almost 4 years and it’s had to physically go to a service center twice. Once a couple of years ago and there was basically no wait and a quick turn around and recently when there was an excessive wait for an appointment and then it was in service for a month for something that was handled in a week once they worked on it. I had an enterprise Air for the month my car was in service.

Otherwise anything done to my car was handled promptly by mobile service.

I plan to keep my air for easily another 6 years and will be purchasing an extended warranty soon.

 

[HC_79]

I called Customer Care and the representative was very understanding. During our conversation, she suggested that the Beverly Hills service operation may have only one or two people handling service, which could explain the delay. I don't know the actual staffing level, so I don't want to state that as fact, but it raised a larger concern for me.

I think they may have mean car lifts / service bays not staff. It’s a very small service center with only 2 or 3 service bays. I do believe Lucid is opening some more Service Centers in LA area soon and are fully aware that the service lead times need to come down.

 

[BS8899]

I think they may have mean car lifts / service bays not staff. It’s a very small service center with only 2 or 3 service bays. I do believe Lucid is opening some more Service Centers in LA area soon and are fully aware that the service lead times need to come down.

As Lucid sells more cars, and we are all rooting for that, they need to look at more innovative solutions to their services. After almost 5 years of selling cars, Lucid's physical service centers are still quite sparse. Often, owners have to drive many miles to Lucid's service centers. Loaners have to be provided. Services need to be scheduled months in advance. Service is, and will continue to be, the Archilles Heel of scaling Lucid's business. I don't think hiring more service techs is the only answer.

Perhaps Lucid needs to relook at their approach to service. Not every service appointment is about a "bricked" car. To the contrary, I suspect most of the services are yearly maintenance, replacing the 12V battery, topping off fluids, tires, wheel alignment, etc.. Many of these mundane/routine tasks can be accomplished by partnering with local providers like Discount Tires. Rivian, for example, directs many of these mundane, low-tech stuff to local contractors. Most yearly maintenances can also be done by mobile techs. Mobile techs need to be trained by Lucid and adhere to Lucid's protocol, but they don't need to be Lucid employees per se and the routine maintenance tasks can be contracted out and done at the contractor's facilities.

Perhaps Lucid is looking at service as a sustained revenue source. For Lucid, as it stands today, because of its sparse service locations and heavy backlogs, Lucid's in-house service centers is the rate-limiting step to Lucid's growth.

 

[Northpointe]

To the contrary, I suspect most of the services are yearly maintenance, replacing the 12V battery, topping off fluids, tires, wheel alignment, etc..

Actually most of the services are related to quality issues that weren't addressed in production. Some of these are one off problems (fit and finish) while many are systemic problems (drive motors, known software deficiencies, battery failures). In some instances diagnoses and repair has to be done via collaboration with corporate personnel which only bogs down the process even more. It was not contemplated when the service model was built and the resources don't exist to service vehicles on the scale necessary. I don't disagree that expanding the network makes sense but having overflow for yearly maintenance won't make much of a dent in the backlog. Both the Air and Gravity have made the Consumer Reports list of least reliable EV's. And that's based on owner feedback, not influencers or social media. The company has to address the underlying problem. Otherwise they'll continue to add flawed vehicles to an overwhelmed ecosystem which will only make the problems worse.

 

[BS8899]

Actually most of the services are related to quality issues that weren't addressed in production. Some of these are one off problems (fit and finish) while many are systemic problems (drive motors, known software deficiencies, battery failures). In some instances diagnoses and repair has to be done via collaboration with corporate personnel which only bogs down the process even more. It was not contemplated when the service model was built and the resources don't exist to service vehicles on the scale necessary. I don't disagree that expanding the network makes sense but having overflow for yearly maintenance won't make much of a dent in the backlog. Both the Air and Gravity have made the Consumer Reports list of least reliable EV's. And that's based on owner feedback, not influencers or social media. The company has to address the underlying problem. Otherwise they'll continue to add flawed vehicles to an overwhelmed ecosystem which will only make the problems worse.

I presume Lucid has a pareto of all the service causes. Be good if we can see the data.

If what you said is true (and I don't doubt that), Lucid needs to drive changes in the factory QA vs pushing the snowball downstream to Service Centers.

 

[socktucker]

Actually most of the services are related to quality issues that weren't addressed in production. Some of these are one off problems (fit and finish) while many are systemic problems (drive motors, known software deficiencies, battery failures). In some instances diagnoses and repair has to be done via collaboration with corporate personnel which only bogs down the process even more. It was not contemplated when the service model was built and the resources don't exist to service vehicles on the scale necessary. I don't disagree that expanding the network makes sense but having overflow for yearly maintenance won't make much of a dent in the backlog. Both the Air and Gravity have made the Consumer Reports list of least reliable EV's. And that's based on owner feedback, not influencers or social media. The company has to address the underlying problem. Otherwise they'll continue to add flawed vehicles to an overwhelmed ecosystem which will only make the problems worse.

This. I’ve even gotten my car shipped back from service, it comes off the truck broken. Headliner not clipped back in, panels loose, parts on the floor of the car. Has to get shipped right back. Over and over again. It’s pathetic.

 

[Northpointe]

I presume Lucid has a pareto of all the service causes. Be good if we can see the data.

If what you said is true (and I don't doubt that), Lucid needs to drive changes in the factory QA vs pushing the snowball downstream to Service Centers.

My conclusions are anecdotal based on conversations with the service team and the issues reported on this site and others. One of the main selling features of EVs in general is that they don't require the level of routine maintenance and repair as ICE cars. That assumption was clearly built into the Lucid service model. And the company has more or less acknowledged this in their public statements. They know that they brought cars to market too soon and don't have nearly enough service centers and personnel to deal with the resulting problems.

If there's a silver lining in all of this it's the acknowledgment that the problem exists and a commitment to do something about it. The real question is will they achieve their stated goals while they look to cut cost and generate cash.