my partner may buy a portion of my car

[noobzilla]

I found a potential buyer!

My partner is deciding whether she wants 40% ownership of the car but main roadblock now is she's highly worried about 1) repair and 2) maintenance costs so I'm doing research about repair costs, insurance, and maintenance costs for Lucid. I just need to reassure her that we won't have ginormous unexpected expenses. Otherwise she won't continue due to constant fear of driving such an expensive car.

Based on forum posts...repair costs are scary and unreasonably high from $2700+ for windshield to $10k+ for bumper replacements! How the hell is a bumper more than 15% of a new Lucid! I understand there's not many shops that repair Lucid so that adds premium, but is Lucid charging very high for replacement parts? I read somewhere here to expect 3x the usual repair costs vs other cars but I've also seen some posts that the repair costs are reasonable compared to other luxury cars.

I told her insurance should cover repair costs from collisions and vandalism plus I'm assuming maintenance costs will be minimal, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyone here had at-fault / cant find who's at fault and their premium massively increased due to high repair cost?
Anything else you'd tell a partner to convince him/her to help you pay for a car? haha

 

[Bobby]

I found a potential buyer!

My partner is deciding whether she wants 40% ownership of the car but main roadblock now is she's highly worried about 1) repair and 2) maintenance costs so I'm doing research about repair costs, insurance, and maintenance costs for Lucid. I just need to reassure her that we won't have ginormous unexpected expenses. Otherwise she won't continue due to constant fear of driving such an expensive car.

Based on forum posts...repair costs are scary and unreasonably high from $2700+ for windshield to $10k+ for bumper replacements! How the hell is a bumper more than 15% of a new Lucid! I understand there's not many shops that repair Lucid so that adds premium, but is Lucid charging very high for replacement parts? I read somewhere here to expect 3x the usual repair costs vs other cars but I've also seen some posts that the repair costs are reasonable compared to other luxury cars.

I told her insurance should cover repair costs from collisions and vandalism plus I'm assuming maintenance costs will be minimal, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyone here had at-fault / cant find who's at fault and their premium massively increased due to high repair cost?
Anything else you'd tell a partner to convince him/her to help you pay for a car? haha

I don’t recommend you share anything financial until you are married. Money issues tend to tear apart relationships.

 

[xponents]

I don’t recommend you share anything financial until you are married. Money issues tend to tear apart relationships.

Yeah just dont disclose anything, because what if your partner has “ill will?” Not suggesting that, but it is always good to be on the lookout.

 

[noobzilla]

I don’t recommend you share anything financial until you are married. Money issues tend to tear apart relationships.

We will have a contract signed and will have various scenarios sorted out in that contract so even if the relationship gets nasty it will all be written down like having a prenup

 

[Rogue]

Pseudo-prenup for a car. Sounds like a lot of headache.

I will focus on the question though. This is a more expensive car to repair due to being a luxury vehicle with limited shops that are Lucid certified. The car has a ton of sensors too, and the tight packaging often means multiple surprising things damaged in the case of a collision.

If you were even to repair the vehicle, you should also expect significant delays depending on severity. Lucid is scaling up operations and certified shops. However, I would expect bodywork and paintwork needed due to an accident to have a wait measured in months, not weeks. Rental car expenses add up.

I won't give numbers. Don't know the numbers. People have shared estimates that may seem eye watering to some and pocket change to others. Your finances are your own to judge "expensive" maintenance.

An example I do know. Rims for 21" are 1k a pop. 21" tires are a little over $600 a pop. 19" rims are marginally better at somewhere between $500-650 a piece, not sure the exact number. Tires are about the same as the 21".

Someone who was at fault without accident forgiveness quoted a literal 2-2.5x in insurance premium post-accident at the LA Auto Show for totaling their car.

 

[Rogue]

Secondary post of how my wife and I would actually tackle the question.

I am not a financial advisor, but the way I would approach this question for you is similar to the way my wife and I did with the following:
1) What is your current expense to income ratio? Housing, phones, debt (of any kind), groceries, Internet, etc. Are we sitting at below 50% of total income (pre-Lucid)? If no, the car is a no go.
2) What percentage of income would the Lucid consume? I prefer to stay below 25% for any kind of debt combined with any percentage above eating into investments, wants, travel, hobbies, etc.
3) Will the combined expense with the Lucid inhibit us from achieving goal X by timeframe Y as desired? If yes, the car is not worth it.
4) As a last precaution, could I feasibly pay off the car loan in 2 years or less? If not, the car is not worth it.
5) For any case that says no car, an income increase is necessitated. In your particular case, could you achieve and legitimately answer all of the above on your income alone? If no, then the car is a no go.

I will not share specifics other than percentages. All of our living expenses with the Lucid constitutes less than 25% of our income (post-tax). Owning a car like this means I need to have the flexibility to potentially drop several thousands of dollars on a dime.

In our case, totaling the Lucid could have easily cost of thousands in depreciation if the market value was not favorable. Thus, we would need the flexibility to buy a new one with the difference in depreciation (possibly 15-30% in the first 1-2 years of ownership). A quick rental to continue our trip plus unexpected gas bills has easily cost $500+ alone in the last 7 weeks (before USAA arranged a rental).

A blowout outside Atlanta cost us nearly two hotel nights as we waited for a replacement tire with the associated towing (easily $1k+ without our points reserve) plus $600+ for a new tire. On another trip, we dented two rims and bubbled two tires on a loaner ($2k+ replacement if Lucid had not had plans already to swap to 19"). None of this includes mobile technician travel costs.

If none of the above sounds like your cup of tea or a possible stressor to finances, I would encourage either increasing your income or finding a less expensive trim/car.

 

[xponents]

Secondary post of how my wife and I would actually tackle the question.

I am not a financial advisor, but the way I would approach this question for you is similar to the way my wife and I did with the following:
1) What is your current expense to income ratio? Housing, phones, debt (of any kind), groceries, Internet, etc. Are we sitting at below 50% of total income (pre-Lucid)? If no, the car is a no go.
2) What percentage of income would the Lucid consume? I prefer to stay below 25% for any kind of debt combined with any percentage above eating into investments, wants, travel, hobbies, etc.
3) Will the combined expense with the Lucid inhibit us from achieving goal X by timeframe Y as desired? If yes, the car is not worth it.
4) As a last precaution, could I feasibly pay off the car loan in 2 years or less? If not, the car is not worth it.
5) For any case that says no car, an income increase is necessitated. In your particular case, could you achieve and legitimately answer all of the above on your income alone? If no, then the car is a no go.

I will not share specifics other than percentages. All of our living expenses with the Lucid constitutes less than 25% of our income (post-tax). Owning a car like this means I need to have the flexibility to potentially drop several thousands of dollars on a dime.

In our case, totaling the Lucid could have easily cost of thousands in depreciation if the market value was not favorable. Thus, we would need the flexibility to buy a new one with the difference in depreciation. A quick rental to continue our trip plus unexpected gas bills has easily cost $500+ alone in the last 7 weeks (before USAA arranged a rental).

A blowout outside Atlanta cost us nearly two hotel nights as we waited for a replacement tire with the associated towing (easily $1k+ without our points reserve) plus $600+ for a new tire. On another trip, we dented two rims and bubbled two tires on a loaner ($2k+ replacement if Lucid had not had plans already to swap to 19"). None of this includes mobile technician travel costs.

If none of the above sounds like your cup of tea or a possible stressor to finances, I would encourage either increasing your income or finding a less expensive trim/car.

I agree with everything you said, especially the 25 percent rule for cars.

Generally, I think 20 percent if you just need a point a-b car, 25 is a good balance, and 30 percent if you are a car nut.

Note: this is all including maintenance, payments, fueling, insurance, and % of insurance deductible. Also any anticipated damages you get, meaning you may want to make the actual car price lower than your target percentage.

 

[Rogue]

I agree with everything you said, especially the 25 percent rule for cars.

Generally, I think 20 percent if you just need a point a-b car, 25 is a good balance, and 30 percent if you are a car nut.

25% should include maintainence, payments, fueling, insurance, and % of insurance deductible.

 

[xponents]

25% should include maintainence, payments, fueling, insurance, and % of insurance deductible.

Good point, I'll edit.

 

[noobzilla]

Yeah just dont disclose anything, because what if your partner has “ill will?” Not suggesting that, but it is always good to be on the lookout.

Im sure he meant not financially sharing anything big ticket item like car or house, not financial info like income and debt which imo is important info to disclose between partners before getting married

 

[Amster]

We will have a contract signed and will have various scenarios sorted out in that contract so even if the relationship gets nasty it will all be written down like having a prenup

I don't even fully like sharing my Lucid with my husband of 33 years. But I love him, so I occasionally do. I can't imagine "sharing" it with anyone that would require a signed contract.

 

[noobzilla]

Partner and I have talked about marriage a while back even before her thought of sharing for Lucid came up. We're actually both meticulous and.. I don't know how to put it into words but something like we're both distrustful and want to take precaution (we have signed contracts between us before) but also trusting that neither of us are taking advantage of the other. She's very structured and I'm forgetful, so contracts actually work well between us as weird as that sounds.


@Rogue many great points, appreciate it! I'll do another run of my finances and check the math. It's for sure no on most of your points though I add a bit more willingness to pay for the Lucid mostly for the safety features and due to my sleepiness when driving. I think of it like "necessary" expense for said condition.

For those who have owned non luxury cars with automatic emergency braking, how did those compare to Lucid's? Had another highway situation yesterday where the alert helped me brake ahead of time.

 

[Deathlyshiv]

Partner and I have talked about marriage a while back even before her thought of sharing for Lucid came up. We're actually both meticulous and.. I don't know how to put it into words but something like we're both distrustful and want to take precaution (we have signed contracts between us before) but also trusting that neither of us are taking advantage of the other. She's very structured and I'm forgetful, so contracts actually work well between us as weird as that sounds.


@Rogue many great points, appreciate it! I'll do another run of my finances and check the math. It's for sure no on most of your points though I add a bit more willingness to pay for the Lucid mostly for the safety features and due to my sleepiness when driving. I think of it like "necessary" expense for said condition.

For those who have owned non luxury cars with automatic emergency braking, how did those compare to Lucid's? Had another highway situation yesterday where the alert helped me brake ahead of time.

Don't have much experience other than with the Ioniq 5 where the safety and driving assist features are on par or better than Lucid IMO. The automatic emergency braking has saved me once and worked very well. The lane centering feature tends to nag me much less than Lucid's every 6 second alert. It can also be used on non mapped back roads if you fancy that.

 

[Amster]

For those who have owned non luxury cars with automatic emergency braking, how did those compare to Lucid's? Had another highway situation yesterday where the alert helped me brake ahead of time.

The emergency braking in the Honda works really well. As does the lane keeping assist, it's version of Lucid's HA. Both as good as the Lucid.

 

[koflo]

just out of curiosity, why not sell the lucid and if you want to stay electric go for like a cheap used model 3? Would it be as nice as the lucid? Hell no but it would still be electric and have all the safety features you’d need. A killer infotainment and sound system. Reliable and is still electric. All for under $30k. Seems like a better financial decision than what you’re planning on doing with the contract.

 

[xponents]

just out of curiosity, why not sell the lucid and if you want to stay electric go for like a cheap used model 3? Would it be as nice as the lucid? Hell no but it would still be electric and have all the safety features you’d need. A killer infotainment and sound system. Reliable and is still electric. All for under $30k. Seems like a better financial decision than what you’re planning on doing with the contract.

.. and the highland model 3 is actually pretty good. So is an equinox ev with tax credits, etc.

 

[koflo]

.. and the highland model 3 is actually pretty good. So is an equinox ev with tax credits, etc.

Well the highland model still isn’t in the US and has no USS sensors so that may hurt in terms of safety (and price) but a 2020 or 2021 used model 3 does have USS and LR model 3s are like 25-30k depending on mileage. Seems like a steal to me.

 

[joec]

I’m sorry. Did I accidentally stumble upon a Tesla forum by accident?

He wants to keep his Lucid because he likes his Lucid. If he wanted to sell and buy a cheap alternative, there are lots of good options beyond a Model 3. And that’s his business.

 

[xponents]

Well the highland model still isn’t in the US and has no USS sensors so that may hurt in terms of safety (and price) but a 2020 or 2021 used model 3 does have USS and LR model 3s are like 25-30k depending on mileage. Seems like a steal to me.

Yeah that works too! Sell the pure for 70ish grand, buy an ev around 30k, and pocket the 50k for a high interest rate account(or investing).

 

[xponents]

I’m sorry. Did I accidentally stumble upon a Tesla forum by accident?

He wants to keep his Lucid because he likes his Lucid. If he wanted to sell and buy a cheap alternative, there are lots of good options beyond a Model 3. And that’s his business.

Just giving alternative options in case!