Paying before seeing car!

[Bart70]

I have been a reservation holder for almost 2 years. I was just told that my AT is getting final inspection in Chicago and is ready to be shipped to NJ. I was also told that I must pay for the car now before seeing the car and being put on a sealed flatbed to be brought to the showroom in Short Hills, NJ. I was told this is because Lucid is not licensed to sell cars in NJ! How can that be? Besides never having bought a car (Mercedes, BMWs @100K, etc) paying before receiving, I am wondering what other issues there might be (registration, service, customer service, etc). Any suggestions on how to get comfortable other than flying to Chicago to pick up?

 

[level]

Congrats and welcome! <3
Yeah, I paid without seeing my Luci. I did the wire transfer to them a few days before I went picking up my AT. No issues

 

[PhotoEye]

While you might not have seen your specific car, you could have (and still can) seen one at the studio in Lower Manhattan. I understand there's one in NJ now, as well.

The fine print in your purchase agreement defines "Delivered" as when the vehicle is loaded for delivery to you. So, technically, you will be paying before you receive it.

As a practical matter, you can refuse to accept the car when you receive it, if you see something(s) that major.

 

[jsf1993]

I have been a reservation holder for almost 2 years. I was just told that my AT is getting final inspection in Chicago and is ready to be shipped to NJ. I was also told that I must pay for the car now before seeing the car and being put on a sealed flatbed to be brought to the showroom in Short Hills, NJ. I was told this is because Lucid is not licensed to sell cars in NJ! How can that be? Besides never having bought a car (Mercedes, BMWs @100K, etc) paying before receiving, I am wondering what other issues there might be (registration, service, customer service, etc). Any suggestions on how to get comfortable other than flying to Chicago to pick up?

I too went through this process, wired funds while my vehicle was being prepped in Chicago and took delivery at Short Hills, NJ. While it’s unsettling to have to pay up-front, sight-unseen, I can only tell you that I did agree to do that and the delivery process was absolutely seamless My vehicle was shipped to Short Hills promptly, was delivered in excellent condition and I could not have been happier with the entire delivery experience. The folks at the Short Hills Studio were VERY accommodating; they arranged a luxury Lyft ride for the 90 mile drive up to the Studio from our home. My Short Hills delivery advisor, Billy, was outstanding. He patiently walked my wife and me through all of the car’s features, helped setup our individual profiles, programmed our garage door sensors (we brought a remote with us for this purpose), allowed us to inspect the car at our leisure, and answered all of our questions over a 2 hour period of time. (We scheduled our pickup on a Monday morning because the Studio is typically less crowded and fewer deliveries are scheduled that day. Be advised that weekends tend to be much more hectic.)

My bottom line: Please don’t stress about this at all. The experience will be all that you hope it will be.

 

[xtsla]

I have been a reservation holder for almost 2 years. I was just told that my AT is getting final inspection in Chicago and is ready to be shipped to NJ. I was also told that I must pay for the car now before seeing the car and being put on a sealed flatbed to be brought to the showroom in Short Hills, NJ. I was told this is because Lucid is not licensed to sell cars in NJ! How can that be? Besides never having bought a car (Mercedes, BMWs @100K, etc) paying before receiving, I am wondering what other issues there might be (registration, service, customer service, etc). Any suggestions on how to get comfortable other than flying to Chicago to pick up?

I Believe this is the same for Tesla and other direct to consumer sales in the NJ market. I also wired last year before receiving my Air GT a year ago.

 

[rjplucid]

I was also anxious about paying before seeing the car. I paid half in cash and took a loan for the rest. On top of that my first delivery advisor was very difficult the get ahold of. I would call and email multiple times a day and no response. I had to call the sales line and explain what was going on. Then a hour later she called back. On top of that when I sent her the loan check, she forgot to endorse it before she deposited and got rejected by my bank. When Lucid announced the 1,300 people laid off she was one of them. My new delivery advisor Jacques was dream to work with. He responded the same day and took care of everything. He even responded outside of business hours. I received my paper work for title and registration a little over two weeks after I picked up my car. I took delivery of my car on April 8th and I have been elated ever since. The car is a dream to drive.

 

[dwfallin]

had a similar experience as @rjplucid - tough time with initial advisor, had the loan check sent before picking up in VA, but everything went fine... once you see the car and start driving - all those concerns go out the window! congrats and enjoy!

 

[grtlooks]

I have been a reservation holder for almost 2 years. I was just told that my AT is getting final inspection in Chicago and is ready to be shipped to NJ. I was also told that I must pay for the car now before seeing the car and being put on a sealed flatbed to be brought to the showroom in Short Hills, NJ. I was told this is because Lucid is not licensed to sell cars in NJ! How can that be? Besides never having bought a car (Mercedes, BMWs @100K, etc) paying before receiving, I am wondering what other issues there might be (registration, service, customer service, etc). Any suggestions on how to get comfortable other than flying to Chicago to pick up?

I too paid before seeing my actual car. However, I did see other cars in the showroom and tested on as well. Love my car, have no regrets!

 

[24jlucid]

Same here. My family and I drove to Palm Beach to see the model. I never test drove the car however. First time I drove the vehicle was after it was delivered. This is the way.

 

[Igor]

I too went through this process, wired funds while my vehicle was being prepped in Chicago and took delivery at Short Hills, NJ. While it’s unsettling to have to pay up-front, sight-unseen, I can only tell you that I did agree to do that and the delivery process was absolutely seamless My vehicle was shipped to Short Hills promptly, was delivered in excellent condition and I could not have been happier with the entire delivery experience. The folks at the Short Hills Studio were VERY accommodating; they arranged a luxury Lyft ride for the 90 mile drive up to the Studio from our home. My Short Hills delivery advisor, Billy, was outstanding. He patiently walked my wife and me through all of the car’s features, helped setup our individual profiles, programmed our garage door sensors (we brought a remote with us for this purpose), allowed us to inspect the car at our leisure, and answered all of our questions over a 2 hour period of time. (We scheduled our pickup on a Monday morning because the Studio is typically less crowded and fewer deliveries are scheduled that day. Be advised that weekends tend to be much more hectic.)

My bottom line: Please don’t stress about this at all. The experience will be all that you hope it will be.

I took delivery at Short Hills in January and my delivery consultant knew nothing about the car, spent an hour trying to figure things out. Also the detail work on the car was sloppy.

To answer the OP question, I had to pay for the car in full before it left Chicago. No problems there. It did take almost 3 months to get my NJ plates!