Question on build quality.

Rchie

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Verified Owner
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Sep 16, 2022
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2023 Lucid Air Touring
I've reserved the Touring trim a few days ago and while reading through this forum, I saw that some people had issues with panel gaps and broken pieces of trim. Reading these makes me quite a bit worried. Are these people just unlucky or Lucid is just going to be Tesla number 2? If quality control really is bad, then are they going to improve it by the time I get my car? I'm also hoping that they improve on the wireless phone charging and cup holder design soon.
 
I've reserved the Touring trim a few days ago and while reading through this forum, I saw that some people had issues with panel gaps and broken pieces of trim. Reading these makes me quite a bit worried. Are these people just unlucky or Lucid is just going to be Tesla number 2? If quality control really is bad, then are they going to improve it by the time I get my car? I'm also hoping that they improve on the wireless phone charging and cup holder design soon.
This car is among the most advanced engineered achievements in design and manufacturing, and that does not mean it will be perfect. Be at peace if you find a panel gap, knowing that no one has ever built a car so sophisticated in style and engineering before (see https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rawlinson...i=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7IHZxNC6hc)

Besides that, the interior materials and fabrics are quite beautiful. Every passenger I've had has commented on the car's quality and beauty.
 
I was telling this to my wife the other day and she thought I was going bonkers. I think I'm going to have them take a look at this
If they have any questions about it, have them contact Frank Collins, the San Diego service person. He fixed mine and is familiar with the process.
 
I was very fortunate to not have many issues at all. I would recommend not getting to picky about panel gaps because it can be very subjective . The gaps on my car are a bit wide , but are allowable and are even.
The interior looks good; there are a couple creaks and rattles over bumps but nothing terrible. I have one minor issue with a back passenger door weather strip and possible misalignment that I will eventually get looked at.
Overall, it is well put together , in my case anyhow. I think with experience, their QC will improve; it’s just growing pains .
 
So just to further understand, that double or what I called shaky image is visible even when the car is stationary yeah?
Not shaky. The glass itself seemed messed up. Objwxts in the mirror me looked normal when viewed in the middle of the glass but looked like double or ghost image at the edges. It was most apparent with headlights behind me at night. Frank brought a new glass and replaced it. Perfect after that.
 
My GT was aesthetically on point. When you get yours, it should have SW2.xx so you'll be good there too.
 
My car was pretty close to perfect too. So far there have been two problems, both very minor.

1: Upon making that right turn out of the Costa Mesa delivery centre, within 100 ft I noticed right away that my steering wheel was misaligned. The following week I drove the car up from Chula Vista for a four-wheel alignment. Problem solved.

2: Unloading groceries yesterday, the plastic bezel at the outer edge of the boot lifted up. I pushed it back down but it’s still loose and will likely separate from the boot liner fabric again. I’m not going to call this in until I have a list of “squawks” that mobile service can take care of.

3: Not a problem, but a question - is there a “maintenance schedule” for these things? Or have Lucid decided to go the way of Tesla (not a bad thing in this case), and not bother with one?
 
I've reserved the Touring trim a few days ago and while reading through this forum, I saw that some people had issues with panel gaps and broken pieces of trim. Reading these makes me quite a bit worried. Are these people just unlucky or Lucid is just going to be Tesla number 2? If quality control really is bad, then are they going to improve it by the time I get my car? I'm also hoping that they improve on the wireless phone charging and cup holder design soon.
My GT has had two trim issues, one is a warped rear window piece that goes over the brake light (it happened in two other GTs I know of, 10 minute fix), and I also had a piece of rear door rocker panel trim break when opening the door where the issue was there actually wasn’t quite ENOUGH panel gap and it just slightly caught the rocker panel trim on the front door. Mobile service is fixing both on Monday. I think the panel gap thing is blown out of proportion, it’s something that nobody ever paid attention to on cars until youtube and early Tesla having some glaring examples where a leak could happen. And keep in mind if panels on the interior are too close together then you get squeaks and rattles. I do think the trunk lid looks weird as the way it seals results in a wider gap at the bottom than closer to the hinge, and many of the GTs trunk lids are not flush where it abuts the rear right panel above the wheel which looks off if you look at it closely. But this is pretty minor IMO especially in year one of production. Rivian seems to have similar complaints.
 
My car was pretty close to perfect too. So far there have been two problems, both very minor.

1: Upon making that right turn out of the Costa Mesa delivery centre, within 100 ft I noticed right away that my steering wheel was misaligned. The following week I drove the car up from Chula Vista for a four-wheel alignment. Problem solved.

2: Unloading groceries yesterday, the plastic bezel at the outer edge of the boot lifted up. I pushed it back down but it’s still loose and will likely separate from the boot liner fabric again. I’m not going to call this in until I have a list of “squawks” that mobile service can take care of.

3: Not a problem, but a question - is there a “maintenance schedule” for these things? Or have Lucid decided to go the way of Tesla (not a bad thing in this case), and not bother with one?
Once a year or every 12k miles
 
I found mine to be perfect, maybe I’m just easy going. I agree with @bunnylebowski about the trunk gap lid from bottom edge to hinge, but I believe that’s part of design. I had earlier complaint of rear camera alignment. Service Center sent Lucid mobile van to my house to take a look at it. It turned out the vignette was natural and common for all Air. I couldn’t be more happier with this car, having software engineering background in the past and test drove friend’s Model-S few years back, I don’t mind initial software state. But UX2.0 really got me happy seeing vast improvements and frequency of updates. This car is getting better and better as it ages. And this company cares to improve and refine and is here to stay.
 
What worries me is build quality in the things that we can’t see. And I wonder if that can lead to variations in the cars that affect things like range and power. For exampe, quality differences in the build of the motor so that some are more efficient than others. Of course, it’s impossible to tell if such differences exist without ready access to another Lucid. (That’s why I find mi/kWH differences among Lucids on the same route to be interesting.)

Not that there’s anything I can do about it. But pointless worry is kinda my trademark schtick…
 
What worries me is build quality in the things that we can’t see. And I wonder if that can lead to variations in the cars that affect things like range and power. For exampe, quality differences in the build of the motor so that some are more efficient than others. Of course, it’s impossible to tell if such differences exist without ready access to another Lucid. (That’s why I find mi/kWH differences among Lucids on the same route to be interesting.)

Not that there’s anything I can do about it. But pointless worry is kinda my trademark schtick…
Get a new shtick!

They replace the cabin filter, run some diagnostics, wiper fluid, presumably check the battery contacts, other stuff, yea...
Screenshot_20221019-065349_Drive.jpg
 
I've only had mine a week but I didn't fine any physical issues with mine. Had trouble with the bluetooth connection on my phone. Read later that iOS 16 and older software could be glitchy. I've since gotten it working.

I showed up with the checklist that's posted on this forum. The DA had seen the checklist and we went through the car together and didn't find any issues. I honestly wasn't that careful about my check because the car overall looked great. He was actually more careful than me as he had done this for 3 other customers.

I'm sure over time I'll find some other things but hopefully they get fixed quickly. I'm also sure there will be some parts that fail and will need to be fixed under warranty.

On my Model X, I needed a bunch of things fixed in the first few years. The door latch mechanism failed. Falcon wing doors. Charger needed to be replaced. On our Model S, the entire screen was recalled and replaced. On our Model 3, several things. I have to give them credit as most things were fixed by mobile service while I was at work. Obviously not the screen and charger. I know Tesla isn't the model for great quality. But I've had similar problems with other 'luxury cars'. Range Rover (insert joke here), MB, BMW, Audi. I've had minor issues with all of them.

If you want best reliability, you probably need to buy a mass produced car like a Camry.
 
What worries me is build quality in the things that we can’t see. And I wonder if that can lead to variations in the cars that affect things like range and power. For exampe, quality differences in the build of the motor so that some are more efficient than others. Of course, it’s impossible to tell if such differences exist without ready access to another Lucid. (That’s why I find mi/kWH differences among Lucids on the same route to be interesting.)

Not that there’s anything I can do about it. But pointless worry is kinda my trademark schtick…

Mine too. A Mexican colleague of mine told me that they have an aphorism back home in Mexico - “if there’s a way to fix it, why worry about it? If there ISN’T a way to fix it, why worry about it?”
 
What worries me is build quality in the things that we can’t see. And I wonder if that can lead to variations in the cars that affect things like range and power. For exampe, quality differences in the build of the motor so that some are more efficient than others. Of course, it’s impossible to tell if such differences exist without ready access to another Lucid. (That’s why I find mi/kWH differences among Lucids on the same route to be interesting.)

Not that there’s anything I can do about it. But pointless worry is kinda my trademark schtick…
Manufactured stuff will have variabilty
My servicing dealer for my Gen 2 NSX tells me that my car has more pop than the other ones they work on (his butt meter assessment)
My GT-P build quality was quite good, as I have said not to the pretty much perfect level of my LC500 Convertible but really better than I expected
Interior fit and finish is extremely good and the materials, especially the leather is great
 
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