Water damage in trunk due to spill

[praks25]

Just got my Lucid Air on October 28th. On the 29th i put my Son's water bottle in the trunk and it leaked a bit and water seeped into a battery and control module that is placed below the 12 voltage charger in the right rear of the trunk. The leakage damaged the battery and the control module and caused an malfunction indication on the dash and the complete disabling of the trunk opener. Thus I was locked out of the trunk and could not retrieve my items. I had to get a mobile service Unit to come and open the trunk manually. For the next week and a half, I drove the car with the back seats down so I could release the trunk by sliding into it from the back seat and manually releasing the trunk latch. It was finally fixed by lucid after they returned and replaced the battery and control module as well as the electronic trunk release latch.
All these issues occurred on a car just a day old.
A couple of weeks after that, my right headlight started to malfunction intermittently and while driving in the night i did not have right headlights. I again notified lucid and they took about 3 weeks to come and get the car towed to their repair facility in long Island. I am now 3 days without a car or loaner, paying a lease on an apparently defective car.
To add insult to injury lucid sent me a bill for the repair done to the trunk. I am not sure how they consider the trunk issue to be my problem. It should be expected that locations like the trunk and frunk and the passenger areas of the car should be appropriately insulated from electronic components. We should not be held liable for an apparent design defect in placing the battery and control modules in a location where they could be easily damaged.
I am beyond upset with the whole situation and will not recommend this car to anyone. It has too many issues and a service dept that looks to stiff the customer for issues with the design of the car.

 

[Rossb2k]

Sorry to hear about your issues. I would definitely be upset were I in your spot. There are Lucid customer service people who look at this forum, hopefully they see this and can at least help you get a loaner while your car is in service.

 

[Adnillien]

I think it is fair for Lucid to charge you for the trunk module repair because it was caused by your negligence. The headlight repair should be corrected under warranty. Did you ask for a loaner when your car was taken in? In the last year Lucid has be fairly good at providing loaners.

 

[praks25]

I think it is fair for Lucid to charge you for the trunk module repair because it was caused by your negligence. The headlight repair should be corrected under warranty. Did you ask for a loaner when your car was taken in? In the last year Lucid has be fairly good at providing loaners.

How is water leak in the trunk negligence. The trunk and frunk and passenger areas are expected to be exposed to perishables and liquids. It's not like water was poured directly into the electronic modules or into the dashboard or center console on the car. If that was the case, i would have accepted responsibility. Why would the company locate sensitive electronic components in direct access to passenger areas of the car when those components do not need to interact with the passengers/driver of the car.
Yes I asked for a loaner. They initially said they would drive the loaner to my home and take my car for repair. Then it changed to towing my car with the promise of a loaner. They towed the car but have not delivered the loaner.

 

[Bobby]

How is water leak in the trunk negligence. The trunk and frunk and passenger areas are expected to be exposed to perishables and liquids. It's not like water was poured directly into the electronic modules or into the dashboard or center console on the car. If that was the case, i would have accepted responsibility. Why would the company locate sensitive electronic components in direct access to passenger areas of the car when those components do not need to interact with the passengers/driver of the car.
Yes I asked for a loaner. They initially said they would drive the loaner to my home and take my car for repair. Then it changed to towing my car with the promise of a loaner. They towed the car but have not delivered the loaner.

I’m not sure it’s a water “leak” when you put a leaky bottle in there. If anything, a bottle itself had the design defect. If rain leaked in, that would be a design defect.

 

[praks25]

I’m not sure it’s a water “leak” when you put a leaky bottle in there. If anything, a bottle itself had the design defect. If rain leaked in, that would be a design defect.

How would it matter if the bottle was leaky or had a design defect. There is nothing in the contract that says I cannot put water bottles that leak into the trunk and it is expected that perishables and liquids can go into the trunk. The design defect is that electronics are exposed to the passenger areas of the car. Using your argument someone could argue that driving in the rain was our fault as well.

 

[Neurio]

I'm with Bobby and Adnillien. Had the water issue been caused by a faulty trunk seal with water intrusion, then I'd expect the repair to be covered under the warranty. Something leaving inside the trunk that you put there and causing electrical issues should not be a warranty repair. The trunk was never claimed to be waterproof. The headlights, however, sound like a warranty issue, unless Lucid can somehow prove they're related to the water damaged electronics. The you'd just be SOL. Sorry.

 

[Bobby]

How would it matter if the bottle was leaky or had a design defect. There is nothing in the contract that says I cannot put water bottles that leak into the trunk and it is expected that perishables and liquids can go into the trunk. The design defect is that electronics are exposed to the passenger areas of the car. Using your argument someone could argue that driving in the rain was our fault as well.

From the manual:

 

[praks25]

I'm with Bobby and Adnillien. Had the water issue been caused by a faulty trunk seal with water intrusion, then I'd expect the repair to be covered under the warranty. Something leaving inside the trunk that you put there and causing electrical issues should not be a warranty repair. The trunk was never claimed to be waterproof. The headlights, however, sound like a warranty issue, unless Lucid can somehow prove they're related to the water damaged electronics. The you'd just be SOL. Sorry.

So in your words, if you get soaked/wet in the rain and get into your car and you inadvertently damage some electronics in the car, it's your fault? You wouldn't expect it to be a design defect? That the electronics is not insulated from exposure to water or liquid?

 

[vices]

I think it is fair for Lucid to charge you for the trunk module repair because it was caused by your negligence. The headlight repair should be corrected under warranty. Did you ask for a loaner when your car was taken in? In the last year Lucid has be fairly good at providing loaners.

I don't agree having something wet in the trunk is negligence. It's to be expected you put groceries and other stuff in there that could leak and get the area wet. All cars ive owned I'd be pissed at a wet trunk carpet but would never ever think that would cause electronics to go haywire. I'm with the OP on this one. If that's how lucid will treat it id almost wish he never mentioned the water bottle to service.

 

[praks25]

From we did not spill or splash liquids as it warns. The water bottle leaked. Also the malfunction was immediate not allowing us to access the trunk. So we did not know that liquid had spilled. The warning assumes u spill splash liquid and are aware

 

[Bobby]

I don't agree having something wet in the trunk is negligence. It's to be expected you put groceries and other stuff in there that could leak and get the area wet. All cars ive owned I'd be pissed at a wet trunk carpet but would never ever think that would cause electronics to go haywire. I'm with the OP on this one. If that's how lucid will treat it id almost wish he never mentioned the water bottle to service.

Found the honorable guy.

 

[praks25]

I don't agree having something wet in the trunk is negligence. It's to be expected you put groceries and other stuff in there that could leak and get the area wet. All cars ive owned I'd be pissed at a wet trunk carpet but would never ever think that would cause electronics to go haywire. I'm with the OP on this one. If that's how lucid will treat it id almost wish he never mentioned the water bottle to service.

Unfortunately I did not know the water bottle leaked until the lucid technician came and got the trunk open and started looking into the issue. There is nothing I could do and I was aghast that such a small amt of water caused such extensive damage.

 

[hydbob]

I don't agree having something wet in the trunk is negligence. It's to be expected you put groceries and other stuff in there that could leak and get the area wet. All cars ive owned I'd be pissed at a wet trunk carpet but would never ever think that would cause electronics to go haywire. I'm with the OP on this one. If that's how lucid will treat it id almost wish he never mentioned the water bottle to service.

There's a reason people make waterproof grocery carriers. It may not be negligence but I personally stick anything wet in my trunk into a waterproof container to prevent this exact issue. Common sense should dictate electronics and moisture do not mix well and as the owner it's my job to keep the internal components dry from the inside.

 

[praks25]

There's a reason people make waterproof grocery carriers. It may not be negligence but I personally stick anything wet in my trunk into a waterproof container to prevent this exact issue. Common sense should dictate electronics and moisture do not mix well and as the owner it's my job to keep the internal components dry from the inside.

I'll bet most people that own a lucid do not even know that the electronics and battery that power the trunk is located in the trunk itself and exposed very easily. If I were to know or lucid had appropriately warned us about the location of their electronics, then yes culpability is ours for any issues. So I understood it as common sense to assume that the sensitive electronics is safe and secure from passenger exposed areas of the car.
Having seen that is not the case, I then immediately went out and invested in some rubber covers to protect the car from further spills and issues.

 

[Andretex]

I agree with praks25. The trunk should be expected to handle a small water leak from a wet towel or water bottle. I also did not realize this issue. I am glad I have a rubber mat in the trunk and will be careful about this.

Thank you for sharing and sorry for your situation.

 

[joec]

I agree with praks25. The trunk should be expected to handle a small water leak from a wet towel or water bottle. I also did not realize this issue. I am glad I have a rubber mat in the trunk and will be careful about this.

Thank you for sharing and sorry for your situation.

I guess it depends on how you define “small.” We don’t know exactly how much water we’re talking about here.

I’ve had snow fall into my trunk upon opening, causing the carpet lip around the inside to get wet. I brushed out the snow immediately best I could and made sure there wasn’t a large pile to melt into an actual stream of water anywhere. No issues.

If an entire water bottle (of substantial size) leaked out and fell into just the right crevice, I could see that being a much bigger deal.

All cars have some exposed wires. If you get the wrong spot wet, yeah it sucks. But it happens. And I’ve never heard of it being covered under warranty by anyone.

 

[xponents]

Arent we kind of looking into semantics here? A water bottle leaking would count as a "spill," right? And the manual warns not to do that as well..

 

[thecodingart]

There’s a few things to break down here.

- The manual says don’t do this in a very clear manner. What is at fault here is pretty black and white at this point.
- It’s worth acknowledging most if not all EV manufacturers have electronic components hidden in these particular areas.
- Trunks and frunks are high traffic areas for damp items and are prone to getting a little wet.

We don’t know how much liquid was spilled, but I’m going to guess it wasn’t much more than a plant pot leaking water? Lucid should be better about this. They don’t even sell a proper weather floor mat for the top portion of the trunk which is unacceptable given this as the circumstance. I should be able to put a bag of ice in my car without concern for car failure.

Both parties are at fault IMO.

To iterate, a design flaw like this (and it is a “known” design flaw per Lucid) doesn’t make it a bad car, but does urge some education to prevent a large headache. It also justifies a little pressure to change it from us.

 

[praks25]

There’s a few things to break down here.

- The manual says don’t do this in a very clear manner. What is at fault here is pretty black and white at this point.
- It’s worth acknowledging most if not all EV manufacturers have electronic components hidden in these particular areas.
- Trunks and frunks are high traffic areas for damp items and are prone to getting a little wet.

We don’t know how much liquid was spilled, but I’m going to guess it wasn’t much more than a plant pot leaking water? Lucid should be better about this. They don’t even sell a proper weather floor mat for the top portion of the trunk which is unacceptable given this as the circumstance. I should be able to put a bag of ice in my car without concern for car failure.

Both parties are at fault IMO.

To iterate, a design flaw like this (and it is a “known” design flaw per Lucid) doesn’t make it a bad car, but does urge some education to prevent a large headache. It also justifies a little pressure to change it from us.

As I said previously, had I known there was sensitive electronics in the trunk, I would have been more careful. Remember the car was a day old. There was no way for me to know the car well enough. Lucid does not provide mats with the car and the bottle is one kids use at soccer practice. There wasn't a whole.lot of water in the bottle, but it fell towards the area where 12 volt charger is and I did not even know there was a 12 volt charger hidden below a cover.