The Long Goodbye

[drb3333]

Marketing can be a two-edged sword for Lucid because of their software problems. If people see an ad that triggers their interest, many of them will turn to online reviews and YouTube videos to explore the car further. They will find a deluge of reviews, including some from very prominent auto journalists, discussing an array of software issues, with many focusing harshly on entry issues.

I want to express my appreciation, hmp10, for sharing in detail your fraught journey.

It seems many of us have only had a few of the things you have experienced, but it does serve to educate us all that you have been so thorough in your documentation of those issues.

I am sorry that you somehow fate selected you to the the lab mouse for Lucid, but your dedication and reporting have genuinely informed the community. Kudos.

 

[gaskiller]

I don’t know if this is appropriate or allowed, however can I ask if you are an owner, a shareholder or both an owner and shareholder?

both, I like my privacy so dont want to register my vehicle on the site

 

[exxxviii]

I only joined the forum about 3 weeks ago to begin my Gravity research for my next car. And I had already decided to pass. This thread pretty much sums up my decision path in reading through many other threads in this forum...

My test drive gave a great impression. I liked everything about the car except the audio system and exterior colors. The Gravity was #1 on my list. But in reading this, BMW, Cadillac, Polestar, and Rivian forums, I have come to realize that my absolute top priority is that a car's core function must be 100% reliable, like my coffee maker. In my lifetime of using fobs, I have a 0% failure rate. I will not consider a Gravity until I start seeing forum evidence that the car has become 100% reliable from an unlock-start-and-drive perspective. I will get a lesser car in other areas (less luxurious, fewer features, less stylish, etc.) in exchange for basic dependability.

 

[RajD]

I only joined the forum about 3 weeks ago to begin my Gravity research for my next car. And I had already decided to pass. This thread pretty much sums up my decision path in reading through many other threads in this forum...

My test drive gave a great impression. I liked everything about the car except the audio system and exterior colors. The Gravity was #1 on my list. But in reading this, BMW, Cadillac, Polestar, and Rivian forums, I have come to realize that my absolute top priority is that a car's core function must be 100% reliable, like my coffee maker. In my lifetime of using fobs, I have a 0% failure rate. I will not consider a Gravity until I start seeing forum evidence that the car has become 100% reliable from an unlock-start-and-drive perspective. I will get a lesser car in other areas (less luxurious, fewer features, less stylish, etc.) in exchange for basic dependability.

I assume you mean across the entirety of owners on this forum? For me, all of the above has been 100% reliable since I got my original key fob replaced. Our 2nd fob was always reliable and still is.

I get your hesitation. Stay tuned I guess.

 

[exxxviii]

I assume you mean across the entirety of owners on this forum? For me, all of the above has been 100% reliable since I got my original key fob replaced. Our 2nd fob was always reliable and still is.

I get your hesitation. Stay tuned I guess.

Yes, it is the collective experience. It seems like the fob issue is a material percentage of owners, and if stuck, it seems like there may be no cure yet.

 

[Coyote]

I assume you mean across the entirety of owners on this forum? For me, all of the above has been 100% reliable since I got my original key fob replaced. Our 2nd fob was always reliable and still is.

I get your hesitation. Stay tuned I guess.

Mine has been 100% reliable as well.

 

[BS8899]

I assume you mean across the entirety of owners on this forum? For me, all of the above has been 100% reliable since I got my original key fob replaced. Our 2nd fob was always reliable and still is.

I get your hesitation. Stay tuned I guess.

With respect to locking/unlocking, to avoid talking over each other, let's get a few nomenclatures straight:
> When we say, "my key FOB works", does that mean "works all the time and instantaneously when I approach my Lucid"? If I kept trying, would it eventually open the door? How often do I need to change the battery? Do I have to sand down the battery surface to make it work?
> When we say, "my phone as a key works", again, does it work automatically when you approach your car? Do you need to shake the phone for it to work? Do you need to launch the Lucid app on your phone for it to unlock?
>what abut the key card/valet card?

 

[drb3333]

With respect to locking/unlocking, to avoid talking over each other, let's get a few nomenclatures straight:
> When we say, "my key FOB works", does that mean "works all the time and instantaneously when I approach my Lucid"? If I kept trying, would it eventually open the door? How often do I need to change the battery? Do I have to sand down the battery surface to make it work?
> When we say, "my phone as a key works", again, does it work automatically when you approach your car? Do you need to shake the phone for it to work? Do you need to launch the Lucid app on your phone for it to unlock?
>what abut the key card/valet card?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

 

[RajD]

With respect to locking/unlocking, to avoid talking over each other, let's get a few nomenclatures straight:
> When we say, "my key FOB works", does that mean "works all the time and instantaneously when I approach my Lucid"? If I kept trying, would it eventually open the door? How often do I need to change the battery? Do I have to sand down the battery surface to make it work?
> When we say, "my phone as a key works", again, does it work automatically when you approach your car? Do you need to shake the phone for it to work? Do you need to launch the Lucid app on your phone for it to unlock?
>what abut the key card/valet card?

Sure let me clarify:
‘My key fob works’: all the time, as I approach the car from any angle, the door handles present before I reach the car. No waiting. This is how it should be and how it behaves for me. The delays and battery issues you mentioned was what I was experiencing prior to getting my old fob replaced. Of course time will tell if this is truly durable for months or years, and i will definitely share what’s happening either way. Our other fob has never had delays and works reliably as above.

My Air PAAK works every time and has never failed. Unlike the Gravity fob, it presents the door handles ~ 70% of the time before I reach the car. The other 30% of the time, I wait 2-3 seconds and it presents the handles without fail. To me, 2-3 seconds is acceptable and I consider that to be working reliably. But certainly for others this could be an issue. And I should note, my BMW M50 PAAK requires me to tap my iPhone to the door handle to open it. Every time. And again to lock it every time. This is WAY more time consuming than my Air’s PAAK.

My wife’s Air fob (she prefers fobs over PAAK for all our cars) is exactly like my Gravity’s fobs. 100% presenting before we reach the car. She drives that every day and is VERY ‘particular’. She has not once said the car didn’t unlock or lock, or start. It’s been perfect since day 1 for us. We have only had our ‘25 Air for 1 year and I know older Airs have had lots of entry issues. But ours has been rock solid.

Lastly, I leave my app open in background so I’m not sure if I need to have it launched to work.

 

[tarator]

It seems that a lot of people don't understand that even if 5% of the Lucid owners have issues with the keyfob, that means that it is buggy and that's unacceptable.

This has been discussed ad nauseum, but they still try to flood any complains with "but mine works!" posts.

I doubt that most new customers are willing to play the roulette and hope that "theirs works".

 

[9point81]

I don't blame you AT ALL @hmp10 for being done with it all, despite most of my experiences being pretty good with my Gravity. If I had your issues, I would have never bought a second. I hate to see them lose a fan and supporter like you and they should just have been doing everything, including replacing your Gravitys to get you situated. Their service has been pretty darn good to me and that has kept me in their camp. You have endured a ridiculous amount and no one can question your wiping your hands of the brand. I truly hope Lucid figures this all out. They won't make it with the Cosmos if they cant first, get it dialed in with that software from day one and two, expand service significantly. There will ALWAYS be a number of cars that just fail, have issues or will need repairs. Lucid absolutely can't cope with the numbers they hope to sell with service as is. And they need more than just, let's add another California shop or two. The rest of the nation is out here and needs support too. The Roswell center, among others, is completely overwhelmed. They need three time the staff and another center to open to take the load off them. Please Lucid, hear this man and others who want you to SUCCEED. We don't want you or these cars going away! Please let us see the real effort to get Gravity and Air dialed in much better. Let's see those service centers get the support they need and expansion to go with it.

 

[tarator]

Before buying the Lucid, I haven't thought even for a microsecond that my car might not unlock one day, in the middle of nowhere. Now every time I go on a long trip, I am thinking what my plan would be if that happens.

Has it happen to me? No. Can it happen? Apparently it can and has to many people here. Should I worry? I think I should. I don't know about others, but I don't like to be stranded in the middle of nowhere.

 

[borski]

On one of his visits our mobile tech delivered us the second key fob for each of our Gravity DEs that had been missing at delivery, and he also gave us a third fob to replace one of the older ones (I don't remember for which car). He said the Service Center had told him to do it because of some unspecified problem. I used the mobile app to be sure the fob software was up to date and have done so for all four fobs twice since. (The two subsequent times indicated the fobs were already up to date.)

For a while after this neither Gravity had any serious issues with entry, and we had never seen the issue of failing to lock. But a few weeks after 3.5.1 rolled out, the software situation started to deteriorate, and both cars are now giving us fits with everything to do with entry/exit and starting. They either won't respond to the fob at all or there is a long delay (sometimes more than 30 seconds). They fail to lock and power down long after we're gone. The easy/entry feature sometimes doesn't return the seat and steering wheel to the programmed positions. We get a "key fob not detected" warning even though the car had finally recognized the fob to unlock. The screens are blacked out. The car won't go into gear. The mix of which of these things happen varies with every attempt to get underway. It's as if the cars are determined to confound us with as many curve balls as they can devise.

Heard. I would strongly recommend having service check to see if your fobs need replacing. I have a strong feeling that would fix your lock/unlock woes, along with the “key fob not detected.”

there were bad batches.

 

[hmp10]

Before buying the Lucid, I haven't thought even for a microsecond that my car might not unlock one day, in the middle of nowhere. Now every time I go on a long trip, I am thinking what my plan would be if that happens.

Has it happen to me? No. Can it happen? Apparently it can and has to many people here. Should I worry? I think I should. I don't know about others, but I don't like to be stranded in the middle of nowhere.

After taking a lead from a post here last night, I experimented with using the mobile app to lock and unlock the newer car. That worked better than the fob, although inconsistently. Sometimes the car responded immediately; sometimes there was a significant delay (I timed one at 28 seconds). One time the app opened only the driver door; other times it opened all the doors.

As we're heading into rainy season here, this unlocking issue has gained urgency for us. At least with the phone I can try to unlock the car before we head out to a parking lot. But the inconsistency even in using the app doesn't make me comfortable that it will be reliable.

 

[hmp10]

Heard. I would strongly recommend having service check to see if your fobs need replacing. I have a strong feeling that would fix your lock/unlock woes, along with the “key fob not detected.”

there were bad batches.

I'll call Service tomorrow.

 

[hmp10]

Heard. I would strongly recommend having service check to see if your fobs need replacing. I have a strong feeling that would fix your lock/unlock woes, along with the “key fob not detected.”

there were bad batches.

Interesting. After seeing your post I decided to try the back-up key fobs we keep stored in a drawer. These are the ones our mobile tech delivered to us a couple of months ago.

The fob for the newer Gravity worked without issues both with auto locking turned on and turned off. The fob for the older Gravity did not work at all.

If our primary fobs were part of defective batches, though, why would they have worked well for a while after the 3.5.1 update but then both have ceased to work reliably? And these fobs were delivered to us months apart. Just how long was Lucid delivering fobs from bad batches?

 

[BS8899]

Interesting. After seeing your post I decided to try the back-up key fobs we keep stored in a drawer. These are the ones our mobile tech delivered to us a couple of months ago.

The fob for the newer Gravity worked without issues both with auto locking turned on and turned off. The fob for the older Gravity did not work at all.

If our primary fobs were part of defective batches, though, why would they have worked well for a while after the 3.5.1 update but then both have ceased to work reliably? And these fobs were delivered to us months apart. Just how long was Lucid delivering fobs from bad batches?

Aside from just memory, is there a way to distinguish the key with respect to their SW/firmware versions.

 

[LVAGT]

Very sad to read this, I've always taken your constructive criticisms of Lucid very seriously and found them helpful. I, too, am waiting for the Cayenne.

I followed Lucid for over 10 years, too. I started after finding my Model S so incredibly fun to drive. It pains my heart to see my air so frustrating to use after acquiring it. I legitimately thought it was going to be better than the Model X I replaced, but it's not. That, of course, is my opinion.

I personally gave up after 6 months of ownership, after having so many issues. My deal breaker was how long it took to add the garage opening while reversing. I found it incredibly annoying lol. Life is too short to deal with the basic annoyance of opening car doors and the garage.

 

[hmp10]

Aside from just memory, is there a way to distinguish the key with respect to their SW/firmware versions.

I checked using the mobile app. All four are running 2.35.08.

 

[Coyote]

It seems that a lot of people don't understand that even if 5% of the Lucid owners have issues with the keyfob, that means that it is buggy and that's unacceptable.

This has been discussed ad nauseum, but they still try to flood any complains with "but mine works!" posts.

I doubt that most new customers are willing to play the roulette and hope that "theirs works".

It seems that a few people don't understand that even if 95% of the Lucid Gravity owners don't have issues with the key fob, that means that it is reliable and that is acceptable.

This has been discussed ad nauseum, but they still try to flood any compliments with "but mine doesn't work" posts.

Many new customers understand that they are early adopters and some glitches may occur. I feel for the few who have had considerable problems, but it appears that most of us are quite happy with their cars.

There are two sides to every argument.