Trim + 3mm tape

[thecodingart]

Over my 8-9,000 mile ownership of my AGT, I've had a few pieces of trim periodically fall down/out over time. Each time, re-attaching has been covered under warranty, but I've learned a few concerning things that Lucid should be addressing as revisions for the future. on my 130-150k vehicle, almost all fit and trim is held on via adhesive 3mm tape. Each visit has been address with the "oh that's held together by tape, I can re-tape it". My jaw sort of drops when I hear this as it's pretty much unheard of in other premium cars. This doesn't scream quality and will be an ongoing cost of maintenance as tape isn't a permanence fixture solution. It will degrade, droop and fall over the course of time. I'm not quite sure what Lucid might have been thinking here other than "let's get it out the door". But man, not great.

 

[hydbob]

Over my 8-9,000 mile ownership of my AGT, I've had a few pieces of trim periodically fall down/out over time. Each time, re-attaching has been covered under warranty, but I've learned a few concerning things that Lucid should be addressing as revisions for the future. on my 130-150k vehicle, almost all fit and trim is held on via adhesive 3mm tape. Each visit has been address with the "oh that's held together by tape, I can re-tape it". My jaw sort of drops when I hear this as it's pretty much unheard of in other premium cars. This doesn't scream quality and will be an ongoing cost of maintenance as tape isn't a permanence fixture solution. It will degrade, droop and fall over the course of time. I'm not quite sure what Lucid might have been thinking here other than "let's get it out the door". But man, not great.

Eh...that's not being fair to adhesives...some of them last for 20-30 years. It all depends on what they are using and if it was applied correctly. I'm know there are some materials engineers here somewhere that can provide more specifics.

 

[DeaneG]

3M structural adhesives are widely used throughout the automotive industry. If there are failures, the particular application/materials/surface properties may need some re-examination.

 

[whywar]

Over my 8-9,000 mile ownership of my AGT, I've had a few pieces of trim periodically fall down/out over time. Each time, re-attaching has been covered under warranty, but I've learned a few concerning things that Lucid should be addressing as revisions for the future. on my 130-150k vehicle, almost all fit and trim is held on via adhesive 3mm tape. Each visit has been address with the "oh that's held together by tape, I can re-tape it". My jaw sort of drops when I hear this as it's pretty much unheard of in other premium cars. This doesn't scream quality and will be an ongoing cost of maintenance as tape isn't a permanence fixture solution. It will degrade, droop and fall over the course of time. I'm not quite sure what Lucid might have been thinking here other than "let's get it out the door". But man, not great.

Here is a pic of my frunk trim issue. I can use carpet tape to secure the lining under the gasket, but I will wait until my next service visit to have Lucid sevice reattach it correctly. This is my only trim issue.
It was a pleasure meeting you at the Lucid event in West Palm. I find your posts informative. Thanks.

 

[thecodingart]

Here is a pic of my frunk trim issue. I can use carpet tape to secure the lining under the gasket, but I will wait until my next service visit to have Lucid sevice reattach it correctly. This is my only trim issue.
It was a pleasure meeting you at the Lucid event in West Palm. I find your posts informative. Thanks.

Absolutely and a pleasure on my end as well!

For the most part, I agree with some of the other posts above but have found Lucid to have taken the approach of over applying adhesive in what should be a luxury vehicle to gain the benefits it provides (reduction in manufacture time, weight, etc). There are a lot of benefits here, but quite a few cons when using adhesive for exterior trim applications that are around high wear & tear elemental exposed areas. To my knowledge in today's industry, most luxury vehicle do not apply adhesive to exterior trim because of both the quality image (luxury) and the overall risk to wear and tear. That's not to say it isn't used elsewhere. My surprise has been to where it's been applied. A logo/emblem, sure. The entirety of almost every exterior trim not part of the body is what's thrown me through a loop.

Even the interior trim has some questionable areas. The trunk's center is held up by adhesive rather fasteners or clips causing it to droop over time. This is something that I've seen reported numerous times in the forums and a result of poor choices for the benefits mentioned.

 

[Bel]

Absolutely and a pleasure on my end as well!

For the most part, I agree with some of the other posts above but have found Lucid to have taken the approach of over applying adhesive in what should be a luxury vehicle to gain the benefits it provides (reduction in manufacture time, weight, etc). There are a lot of benefits here, but quite a few cons when using adhesive for exterior trim applications that are around high wear & tear elemental exposed areas. To my knowledge in today's industry, most luxury vehicle do not apply adhesive to exterior trim because of both the quality image (luxury) and the overall risk to wear and tear. That's not to say it isn't used elsewhere. My surprise has been to where it's been applied. A logo/emblem, sure. The entirety of almost every exterior trim not part of the body is what's thrown me through a loop.

Even the interior trim has some questionable areas. The trunk's center is held up by adhesive rather fasteners or clips causing it to droop over time. This is something that I've seen reported numerous times in the forums and a result of poor choices for the benefits mentioned.

Similar occurred to me. Broken fastener(s) (It's hard to discern in the photo) and detached double-sided tape for the rubber gasket between the trunk lid and car chassis. It was present at car delivery 10/14/2022. Seems to be a cheap or sloppy way of doing it.

 

[idiot900]

Are there NVH benefits to using adhesive for trim (that doesn't fail like this)? My Mercedes E-class seems to use the usual clips etc for interior trim, and a lot of it squeaks when you press on it.

Of course, you wouldn't normally do that, but it's surprising for a car which should feel like driving a bank vault.

 

[thecodingart]

Are there NVH benefits to using adhesive for trim (that doesn't fail like this)? My Mercedes E-class seems to use the usual clips etc for interior trim, and a lot of it squeaks when you press on it.

Of course, you wouldn't normally do that, but it's surprising for a car which should feel like driving a bank vault.

There are some benefits when it comes to adhesives that handle better with vibration and most adhesives will have both a better appearance and less sound overall. It’s a bit of an easy solution to get around some NVH items but sacrifices other aspects.

There’s a few articles I’ll have to dig up talking about this later.

 

[borski]

Over my 8-9,000 mile ownership of my AGT, I've had a few pieces of trim periodically fall down/out over time. Each time, re-attaching has been covered under warranty, but I've learned a few concerning things that Lucid should be addressing as revisions for the future. on my 130-150k vehicle, almost all fit and trim is held on via adhesive 3mm tape. Each visit has been address with the "oh that's held together by tape, I can re-tape it". My jaw sort of drops when I hear this as it's pretty much unheard of in other premium cars. This doesn't scream quality and will be an ongoing cost of maintenance as tape isn't a permanence fixture solution. It will degrade, droop and fall over the course of time. I'm not quite sure what Lucid might have been thinking here other than "let's get it out the door". But man, not great.

That’s not quite fair; plenty of adhesives are even used in aerospace, and some are so strong that they’ll last 30-40 years and can withstand thousands of pounds of force in any direction. A lot changes with the materials they are applied between and the way in which they’re applied.

All of this is to say that Lucid didn’t necessarily “cheap out” by using adhesives; in some places, it was likely actually more expensive to use adhesives (like the tow hook).

The adhesives failing is obviously not a good thing! But it isn’t likely because they were rushing or cheap.