Lucid Paint

[hmp10]

I had not posted earlier about this because I was getting mixed opinions on the Lucid paint job on our Dream Edition. The person who Opti-Coated the car shortly after delivery thought the paint job was pretty good and required virtually no correction. He lightly polished the car to create the surface necessary for ceramic application, and the car is still looking good nine months and 11,000 miles later. A couple of weeks back it got a pronounced parking lot ding in the middle of a rear door. The paint was not broken, and a "dent doctor" removed the dent with no sign it had ever been there.

However, a couple of months ago a detailer put a paint gauge on the car and was surprised at how thin the paint was in some spots. He thought the paint on the hood was within normal range but found the paint on the doors abnormally thin. (This included the depth of the ceramic coating, and we have the Zenith Red which also has an extra clear coat layer over the tinted clear coat exclusive to that color.) I don't remember the numbers, but overall he was very underwhelmed by the paint job.

Then today Kyle Conner posted a video of a Lucid Air Grand Touring that had been taken to a shop for paint correction, film application, and coating. They put a paint gauge on the car and found the paint so thin in places that they are afraid to do any paint correction or polishing ahead of film application. They found the paint on the hood, in particular, to be almost "nonexistent".

Although the locations of unacceptably thin paint varied between this car and our car, the conclusion was the same as my detailer reached: the paint application is erratic, troublingly thin in some places, and never better than minimally acceptable in others.

What gives after all those videos of Lucid's supposedly state-of-the-art paint line? Conner even speculated that the paint is having to be polished too heavily in order to get an acceptable-looking finish after the cars come out of the paint shop.

 

[DJL]

I had not posted earlier about this because I was getting mixed opinions on the Lucid paint job on our Dream Edition. The person who Opti-Coated the car shortly after delivery thought the paint job was pretty good and required virtually no correction. He lightly polished the car to create the surface necessary for ceramic application, and the car is still looking good nine months and 11,000 miles later. A couple of weeks back it got a pronounced parking lot ding in the middle of a rear door. The paint was not broken, and a "dent doctor" removed the dent with no sign it had ever been there.

However, a couple of months ago a detailer put a paint gauge on the car and was surprised at how thin the paint was in some spots. He thought the paint on the hood was within normal range but found the paint on the doors abnormally thin. (This included the depth of the ceramic coating, and we have the Zenith Red which also has an extra clear coat layer over the tinted clear coat exclusive to that color.) I don't remember the numbers, but overall he was very underwhelmed by the paint job.

Then today Kyle Conner posted a video of a Lucid Air Grand Touring that had been taken to a shop for paint correction, film application, and coating. They put a paint gauge on the car and found the paint so thin in places that they are afraid to do any paint correction or polishing ahead of film application. They found the paint on the hood, in particular, to be almost "nonexistent".

Although the locations of unacceptably thin paint varied between this car and our car, the conclusion was the same as my detailer reached: the paint application is erratic, troublingly thin in some places, and never better than minimally acceptable in others.

What gives after all those videos of Lucid's supposedly state-of-the-art paint line? Conner even speculated that the paint is having to be polished too heavily in order to get an acceptable-looking finish after the cars come out of the paint shop.

Sounds to me that the early production vehicles of Lucid may have problems regarding application of paint. I wonder if the current cars being produced (under the direction of a new plant management team) have the same problem. I will be taking my newly delivered car into the detail shop in a week for its application of PPF. I will ask the owner if he can also measure the thickness of paint and his assessment of the paint job. Once I know, I will report back. I encourage others who will be taking their cars to detailing shops to do the same so we can create a basis of concern or not.

 

[Bel]

Sounds to me that the early production vehicles of Lucid may have problems regarding application of paint. I wonder if the current cars being produced (under the direction of a new plant management team) have the same problem. I will be taking my newly delivered car into the detail shop in a week for its application of PPF. I will ask the owner if he can also measure the thickness of paint and his assessment of the paint job. Once I know, I will report back. I encourage others who will be taking their cars to detailing shops to do the same so we can create a basis of concern or not.

I just ordered the same gauge as in the video amazon $67 to use for the check list and see for myself.

 

[AIR.LUCID]

I just ordered the same gauge as in the video amazon $67 to use for the check list and see for myself.

There appears to be good and cheaper non-ferrous gauge in eBay

 

[AIR.LUCID]

Here Is another YouTube video mentioning thin paint.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

It was the rear cantrail bow tie he found the worst paint thickness. But would you do paint correction on fhe cantrail? Like what is it even made out of and does it undergo some manufacturing/painting that detailers aren’t familiar with? What’s interesting is that the Lucid paint looks better than it should at that poor thickness. And so far there’s no reports of paint correction messing up the paint or making the shop unable to apply PPF or ceramic. While it’s clear that Lucid could do better with paint consistency, I’m wondering how much this will actually matter in the long run? I’ll learn it the hard way once I take this thing through a New England winter.

And @hmp10 glad the dent doctor fixed your door, I have the exact same dent from an errant door open into mine that also didn’t damage the paint. For your repair did they have to take part of the door apart or were they able to fix it only externally?

 

[hmp10]

For your repair did they have to take part of the door apart or were they able to fix it only externally?

He didn't take anything apart. With the shield protecting the window, he was able to work the tools down between the exterior of the window and the inside of the sheet metal door panel. He said it was one of the tightest spaces in which to work he had seen because of so much equipment inside the door. A front door might be easier to work on as it doesn't have the motorized sunshade. (On the other hand, it's got the soft-close mechanism, so . . . .)

 

[hmp10]

While it’s clear that Lucid could do better with paint consistency, I’m wondering how much this will actually matter in the long run? I’ll learn it the hard way once I take this thing through a New England winter.

My guess is that it won't matter much unless you compulsively polish the finish repeatedly. Even thick paint will not protect a car from rock chips and shopping carts, nor will it keep abusive washing practices from leaving swirls and other marks.

Our 2015 Tesla Model S was the only car I've kept more than four years. It was painted at the notoriously outdated paint facility at the Fremont factory that has been the source of repeated reports of shoddy paintwork. (Even Sandy Munro has said Tesla should overhaul that shop from top to bottom.) At the six-year mark a piece of paint about the size of a dime peeled off the top of an outside rearview mirror. I was shocked at how thin the remaining finish (primer, paint, clear coat, and ceramic coating) was at the edges of the spot. Yet, even after six years of frequent washings and highway trips, the paint elsewhere on the car still looked pristine.

I don't know anything about the thickness of the paint on our new Tesla Model S Plaid, but I can say that the ceramic application guy found more paint correction necessary on it than on the Lucid he coated for us a few months later.

I suspect the thinness of the paint on our car, especially with the ceramic coating, is more an abstract worry than a real-world problem. It was interesting that the rear doors were the area of the thinnest paint on our Lucid, and that is exactly where we got that door ding that dented the metal but didn't damage the paint.

 

[CLTGT]

My detailer/film installer actually made the comment that the paint was better than Tesla, and his personal Tesla Model S was parked next to my car. Take that for what it's worth. You know what they say about opinions.

 

[DJL]

It was the rear cantrail bow tie he found the worst paint thickness. But would you do paint correction on fhe cantrail? Like what is it even made out of and does it undergo some manufacturing/painting that detailers aren’t familiar with? What’s interesting is that the Lucid paint looks better than it should at that poor thickness. And so far there’s no reports of paint correction messing up the paint or making the shop unable to apply PPF or ceramic. While it’s clear that Lucid could do better with paint consistency, I’m wondering how much this will actually matter in the long run? I’ll learn it the hard way once I take this thing through a New England winter.

And @hmp10 glad the dent doctor fixed your door, I have the exact same dent from an errant door open into mine that also didn’t damage the paint. For your repair did they have to take part of the door apart or were they able to fix it only externally?

I notice that the two videos which assessed the paint of the Lucid were on cars produced before or during the Production Hell period which resulted in Lucid letting go members of the excutive team of AMP-1 and installing a new team. I wonder if there is a higher degree of likelihood of paint and trim issues with those cars? I just received my car last week, which came out of production in September. I have gone over it with a fine tooth comb and a very bright light. I am very pleased with my inspection and very impressed with the fit and trim and how the paint looks. I will be having the detailing shop analyze the paint thickness and am curious as to what they report. Also, my door handles are rock solid, all trim parts are solid, even the software is not too bad. Some little glitches but nothing the sweat about yet. I also noticed that the homelink appears to be geo-fenced as I approach both my community's gate and my garage door the open icon appears all by itself and I just need to push it for the gate and garage door to open. Lucid looks to me to be addressing the various issues of concerned reported in this forum. Slowly but surely, things are improving.

 

[LCIDdreams]

I notice that the two videos which assessed the paint of the Lucid were on cars produced before or during the Production Hell period which resulted in Lucid letting go members of the excutive team of AMP-1 and installing a new team. I wonder if there is a higher degree of likelihood of paint and trim issues with those cars? I just received my car last week, which came out of production in September. I have gone over it with a fine tooth comb and a very bright light. I am very pleased with my inspection and very impressed with the fit and trim and how the paint looks. I will be having the detailing shop analyze the paint thickness and am curious as to what they report. Also, my door handles are rock solid, all trim parts are solid, even the software is not too bad. Some little glitches but nothing the sweat about yet. I also noticed that the homelink appears to be geo-fenced as I approach both my community's gate and my garage door the open icon appears all by itself and I just need to push it for the gate and garage door to open. Lucid looks to me to be addressing the various issues of concerned reported in this forum. Slowly but surely, things are improving.

I agree - would definitely be great to see some datapoints from more recent production. Possible there is also variation between colors (as I think some colors take more coats than others).

It sounds like Out-of-Spec is going to follow up with a more detailed video. The apparent scenario of the paint being over polished from the factory to the point it is too thin to correct the DA haze that also resulted (let alone any future swirl marks from washing) isn’t great. At that point the best approach might be a light buffing then full PPF.

 

[hmp10]

I agree - would definitely be great to see some datapoints from more recent production. Possible there is also variation between colors (as I think some colors take more coats than others).

Our car is Zenith Red. I think that's the only color with an extra coat, as it uses a tinted clear coat (an oxymoron, I know) to impart a smokiness to the color before a true clear coat is applied.

It's a chameleon-like color -- like a ruby in bright sunlight, cabernet-like in other light, almost black at night. As thin as the paint might be, the visual depth of the color to the observer is striking.

 

[zkhan2]

My PPF guy also stated that paint is unevenly applied and minimal at certain location and also showed me placed where they didn't do a good job of taking out imperfections, specially on the hood. He did paint correction where needed before he applied the PPF.

 

[hmp10]

My PPF guy also stated that paint is unevenly applied and minimal at certain location and also showed me placed where they didn't do a good job of taking out imperfections, specially on the hood. He did paint correction where needed before he applied the PPF.

My detailer told me that almost all cars have variations in paint thickness over different parts of the car. What he found atypical about the Lucid was that even the thickest areas were below the range he usually sees and, at least on our car, the door panel paint, which is usually the thickest, was thinnest.

 

[Maverick]

I have to say that I never had a clue about panel gaps and paint thickness until I joined this forum last month. I am really thinking about canceling my order given all of the concerns.

 

[Bel]

I have to say that I never had a clue about panel gaps and paint thickness until I joined this forum last month. I am really thinking about canceling my order given all of the concerns.

Same here. Ive bought new cars, just driven home, and not given it a second thought. Standard services have been my only shop visits. They were all Japanese cars and not luxury. However, I just paid agt in full expecting delivery end of month. So guess im ready for intresting times.

 

[MikeTz]

Love to drive but hate to clean. To make things worse I live near the Ocean, so I force myself to wash the car once a week. No paint corrections or PPF on any of our cars. Unless someone convinces me the paint correction and or the PPF make the car go faster or drives better I am good with the factory paint.

 

[hydbob]

Love to drive but hate to clean. To make things worse I live near the Ocean, so I force myself to wash the car once a week. No paint corrections or PPF on any of our cars. Unless someone convinces me the paint correction and or the PPF make the car go faster or drives better I am good with the factory paint.

I think you could argue that a ceramic will make the car slightly faster because the air should slip over smoother. Maybe...

 

[borski]

I think you could argue that a ceramic will make the car slightly faster because the air should slip over smoother. Maybe...

But mostly, if you hate to clean, ceramic will make it way easier to clean.

 

[borski]

I have to say that I never had a clue about panel gaps and paint thickness until I joined this forum last month. I am really thinking about canceling my order given all of the concerns.

Don’t, at least not on this basis. You’re gonna love it. The panel gaps are minor and par for the course in almost all cars nowadays, and the paint thickness hasn’t been an actual issue for anyone.