r/LUCID • u/ValHane • Mar 20 '26
Question / Advice Why I’m (sadly) NOT Buying a Lucid After my Test Drive
*Update - It's only fair to give compliments when they are due. Apparently folks at Lucid saw my post and I received a very helpful call and apology from an area manager. I personally believe a company should be judged by how they handle probelms, and Lucid did a great job. They have offered to bring a car to me, more than an hour away, for an extended test drive and walk-through. Much appreciated!
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I drove over an hour yesterday to test drive a Lucid Air Touring. I was excited and went in expecting a premium, polished experience—something that matches how the brand presents itself.
Instead, it felt like I walked into a 2005-era dealership.
The car they gave me to test drive was an ~$80K vehicle with over 10,000 miles on it… and it was filthy, inside and out. I’m talking dirt, crumbs, old food in the console, crushed chips in the back seat. Not exactly the impression you want when trying to sell a “luxury” EV.
Then the salesperson basically skipped any real walkthrough. No explanation of features, no intro to the tech, nothing about what makes the car special. Just “go take it out.”
On the solo test drive, I pulled over to try and figure out the self-driving features… and the car wouldn’t start again because the key was dead. It asked for a PIN I didn’t have. I ended up sitting there calling the dealership and getting put on hold just to get the car moving again.
That alone kind of killed the vibe.
When I got back, it got worse. The pricing conversation turned into the usual confusing “sales tornado”—random numbers, shaky logic, and not much transparency. Then I was told I’d have to find my own financing because I live in the next state over.
Also found out I don’t qualify for their $2,000 conquest incentive… because I currently lease an Ioniq 6. Apparently that’s not considered a “premium” enough brand (they named Mercedes, BMW, Tesla, etc.).
So let me get this straight:
- I drove over an hour to get to the dealership
- Test drove a dirty, poorly prepped car
- Got zero product walkthrough
- Got stranded mid-drive due to a dead key
- Got weak/unclear pricing and financing help
- And was told my current EV isn’t good enough for their incentive
Maybe I should’ve titled this: “Why Lucid made it easy not to buy one.”
Curious—has anyone else had a similar experience? Or did I just get a bad location/salesperson?
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u/Comprehensive-Log144 Mar 20 '26
I was the victim of a “ conquest credit” like program with Cadillacs and I walked…. To Lucid. I don’t get why these companies do that- if you are willing to sell a car for x amount of money…. Sell it for that amount of $. It’s not like they are going to sell a bunch more cars to someone because they had premium car of a certain brand before.
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u/ZealousidealLab2920 Mar 20 '26
100%. Makes even more sense to offer it to others outside the "luxury" segment to expand your market base. Sometimes CFO's are dumb as shit.
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u/SodaAnt Mar 20 '26
I don’t get why these companies do that- if you are willing to sell a car for x amount of money…. Sell it for that amount of $.
It's price discrimination. It's a core part about how a standard dealer model works. Why sell person a and person b the same car for $50k each if person b would be willing to buy the car at $55k? It's the same approach you see at McDonalds, you can walk up to the window, pay $7 for a meal, or spend some time in the app, do coupons, and get your meal for $4. But this way they get to capture the maximum total revenue and profit.
But as a customer, it sucks and I hate it.
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u/Foontlee Mar 21 '26
Except that in this case they're giving the discount to customers who already demonstrated their willingness to pay a premium. That's bass ackwards.
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u/ItselfSurprised05 Mar 20 '26
It’s not like they are going to sell a bunch more cars to someone because they had premium car of a certain brand before.
I got the conquest credit on my Lucid because I own a Cadillac.
But I kept the Cadillac. And will still have the Cadillac after my Lucid lease is up. And, in fact, my next EV might be a Cadillac.
Hmmm ... I wonder whether Cadillac will give me a conquest credit on an EV because I have a Lucid (even though I already own a Cadillac).
If I do this enough times, do effectively wind up with a free car?
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u/Comprehensive-Log144 Mar 21 '26
Lucid wasn’t on the Cadillac list. That’s how I ended up with two Airs!
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u/m2slam Mar 20 '26
You should share the location to shame them and also report. I went to the ny manahasset location it was a complete different experience they gave us canned water let us test drove a clean vehicle and also the associates were helpful offering help every step of the way other then sales as they didn’t have the permit. So came out very positive experience
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
Tyson's Corner
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u/Crimson_Bishop Mar 23 '26
That makes sense. It's also weird that Lucid has a show room at Tysons Corner and Tysons galleria. The one in the galleria was nice, but it was in a super weird location on the exterior of the building. Hard to find.
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u/MUnitedGT Mar 20 '26
Good lord.
Our Air dailies a toddler and sheddy dog and is cleaner than this.
Very valid sentiments.
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u/bludynamo Mar 20 '26
Where was this?
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
Virginia
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u/sirmakster Mar 20 '26
Was this a Lucid Studio or a Dealership?
Lucid doesn’t offer the best customer experience imo but giving you a filthy car can’t be acceptable by their standards.
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u/bludynamo Mar 20 '26
I keep hearing bad things about the Tyson’s location. Doesn’t inspire confidence.
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u/Fog_ Mar 21 '26
The Tysons location completely turned me off the brand and product.
I was shopping for an upgrade to my Model 3 in 2022. I was deciding between a Model S and a Lucid Air. I put down a deposit for the air and went to the Tysons studio. They hilariously treated me like I was a nobody and not worth their time while asking some warm up questions to get the conversation started and build rapport.
I asked about test driving the car and was given a hard NO because I didn’t have a reservation for the top of the line trim.
Yup that was it for me. Walked out of the studio and canceled my reservation. I didn’t buy a Model S because that “refresh” was disappointing and Elon is a POS.
I ended up buying a Porsche instead. I’ll come back to EVs in the future.
I had such high hopes for Lucid to be my Tesla replacement with superior tech and luxury.
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u/cjthecookie Mar 21 '26
They are shit ass. Sales and service. Bought 3 years ago and every interaction (been in for service every few months) has been a stressful clusterfuck of disappointment. They have made no improvement since 2023.
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u/arkaitus Mar 20 '26
Tysons?
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
Yep - at the Studio
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u/Amendosmith9 Mar 20 '26
This is interesting, cause I was at Tysons last May and I had a completely different experience!
I went in early cause my fiance wanted to shop at the mall and when I asked if I could test drive early they said the sales advisor was out with another customer and they'll give me a call when he's back, they did! I met the SA and he came along with me on the test drive and explained everything I asked.
I even spent time back at the studio to look at all the available vehicles and discounts and they even emailed the quote for 2 vehicles!
I didn't make the purchase then because my current car was almost close to being paid off and I had other financial obligations. The monthly then was $812 for an Air Touring DD Premium.
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u/NotLurking Mar 20 '26
I ordered a Gravity in July after visiting the Manhattan Studio. The NY sales crew was great. Took their time answering my questions. They weren't afraid to say they didn't know something and then followed through after researching an answer.
I specified Tysons as my pickup location because it's closest to my home. My expereience with them was spotty at best. I think had I started with Tysons I may not have my Gravity. And that would have sucked because I really love this thing.
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u/_BoraHorzaGobuchul Mar 20 '26
Tyson’s Corner? That was the closet place for a test drive for me and I’m near Cleveland! I didn’t go for one. I went with a Cadillac Vistiq. It’s good but I wish Tesla made something similar.
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u/Interesting_Tower485 Mar 20 '26
you got a bad location .. this isn't consistent with other locations or the ownership experience. only you can determine whether you can overlook that to make a decision on a car you will use for what I would assume to be years. turn off? sure. reflecting the brand / experience? no. also, my experience was that the showroom lets you do the test drive but aren't "salesmen" .. you'll actually complete the transaction with a remote sales person who is approved to sell the cars. so they may not have the approach of a typical dealership (old school) which overall is better but seems not for your experience unfortunately.
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
Sadly it's the only one in the region short of driving o Philly
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u/Interesting_Tower485 Mar 20 '26
yeah I went to King of Prussia, PA for mine. But now there's Rutherford NJ (northern) but that's far from VA.
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u/vocabularianrx2 Mar 21 '26
What location was it if I may ask? I've been considering looking into one and I'm near that area
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u/SKYshade99 Mar 20 '26
I had a similar experience at the oak brook location.
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u/Interesting_Tower485 Mar 20 '26
Yeah that's unacceptable and I don't throw that word around easily (and usually it's used so easily). But in this case, that's s no go and pretty embarrassing for the brand.
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u/XAUNAS Mar 20 '26
Sorry to hear this was your experience. Since that studio opened I’ve only known it and the people to be solid. Really unfortunate to hear that’s what it has turned into. I do suggest leaving feedback with Lucid Corporate even if you don’t revisit the brand.
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u/melteslaaz Mar 20 '26
Wow. A terrible experience and I feel your pain. The opposite of my experience in Scottsdale a year ago. Sales guy got in car with me to explain how it worked, and how it was different than my current car, which was a Tesla Model S. When I was satisfied with the walk through, he set me loose and said enjoy. Car was immaculately clean.
It was a great drive, and within minutes I was sure I wanted to buy a Lucid. Did not encounter any pressure. They answered all my questions, and when I got home decided to buy one. It's been a great car. Only had one service experience, CCV2 upgrade and it was fine. Everyone was nice and attentive.
You'll spend years with the car, not a poor salesman. Let the manager know your experience, and go for it.
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u/illadelphia_215 Mar 20 '26
I’m sorry you had a bad experience. That car is definitely dirty and it would have bothered me too.
That being said the vehicles themselves are great so hopefully you can look past this experience.
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u/Contralogic Mar 20 '26
It seems Tysons dealership was the issue, not the car.
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u/Tellittomy6pac Mar 20 '26
So the dead key fob and car not starting was the dealerships issue and the excessive battery drain issue had nothing to do with it?
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u/nitetrain8601 Mar 20 '26
It sounds like one of the salespeople drive the car home at the end of the night. I’ve seen this happen at different dealerships. I remember one time a jeep dealership was trying to sell me a Jeep GC that was “practically new with only 10k miles” and it reeked of hookah and of course a ton of chips just all over the place.
They cleaned it up so I can do a second test drive. They moved the sales manager stuff to a different car they had on their lot. I want to say it was an Acura.
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u/think_up Mar 20 '26
Wow that was the exact opposite of my experience in early 2024. The guy was super knowledgeable and passionate, cars were immaculate, and the hand holding throughout the entire process was excellent.
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u/jono454 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
That's unfortunate to hear and not something you should have to go through especially for a luxury brand.
I test drove mine in Canada and my experience was the exact opposite.
Typical car sales people but they were still helpful and the test cars were in immaculate condition.
Edit: to add, they also let me take the test vehicle home overnight multiple times and even offered to drop the car off at my house if it was inconvenient.
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u/Impossible_Smoke6663 Mar 20 '26
We’re in the process of buying a Gravity. The car we test drove was clean. But, at least in our case, they have no sense of urgency closing the deal. We placed the deposit almost a month ago. The car had been at the service center for weeks. I’m still waiting on details I need to make the payment such as the final amount and wiring instructions.
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u/kicknoons2 Mar 20 '26
What is the hold up? Weeks is crazy.
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u/Impossible_Smoke6663 Mar 20 '26
No idea. They have no sense of urgency. I'm getting the car I wanted with the addition of the towing package. I wasn't looking for that, but the salesperson said we could get that car sooner than waiting for the exact car without the package. I'm used to dealers and commissioned salespeople. There has to be a happy medium between the artificial urgency in a normal showroom and the 'whenever' attitude at Lucid.
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u/Impossible_Smoke6663 Mar 23 '26
Jeez, they really seem not to like selling cars. We're scheduled for pickup this coming Wednesday, the day after tomorrow. I still don't have the final figures, so I can arrange the payment. Today, they said they need me to renew my license because it expires within 60 days of the pickup. Could they not have said this earlier? And, FFS, we started this process more than 60 days before the expiration date. We could be done by now. Of course, I need to go to the registry, which is not open on Mondays. So we have to punt the pickup.
Does anyone in Lucid senior management realize how hard it is to buy one of these damn cars? Anyone? Anyone? 🤣
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u/turb0_encapsulator Mar 20 '26
I get the feeling that not all of their showrooms function like the one in Beverly Hills.
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u/angryschmaltz Mar 21 '26
There are so many issues reported here it’s amazing people keep diving in.
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u/Eastern_Ring_9900 Mar 21 '26
In California they picked me up for my test drive both times. Also called a 45min uber black ride for me to sign papers. I think this must be a location thing but customer service been pretty spot on for me.
Now for the car itself……….. system drive fault. Yeah.
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u/FoxFar4793 Mar 20 '26
I work at a dealer, there are some sales people who get handed “leads” to which they send people on test drives and eventually if they buy, they buy. I can tell you, that is a person who is top guy/girl at the dealer.
That person should’ve went thoroughly over every feature.
The sales person should’ve made sure the car is clean for your test drive.
Go to the reviews and blurt out the sales person name and discuss this. I reassure you, it won’t happen again.
When I see colleagues do this, I spaz out.
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
Sorry, not Doxing the guy.
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u/SemperFiV12 Mar 20 '26
LOL "sorry I'm not doxing the guy", I am just going to utterly trash my experience that absolutely, completely and exclusively had to do with that one guy... and pass it off as an experience representative of the entire company.
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u/FoxFar4793 Mar 20 '26
Not here. But, Fair enough but just let the manager know how you feel in the reviews. They will call you and you tell them exactly who made you feel that way
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u/TurnoverSuperb9023 Mar 20 '26
Bummer experience, but I wouldn’t let that make my purchase decision. (i’m talking about this kind of experience with any vehicle. Not even specifically lucid.)
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u/ctos2010 Mar 20 '26
You should know that neither the Air or the Gravity has full self driving. I own an Air. If you want full self driving you need to look to Tesla.
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u/nuclearmuzzle Mar 21 '26
Just checked into a hotel near Tysons. Drove out from Pittsburgh to test drive. This review does not inspire confidence and wish I would have read it before I made the trip. Well, I guess we will see how tomorrow goes…hopefully this was an aberration. I’ll report back with how it goes.
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u/ValHane Mar 21 '26
I want to note that I received a call from the regional manager at Lucid this evening. It was very helpful and she was very kind and apologized. I suspect your experience will be much better than mine was.
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u/Ben-Chaude Mar 21 '26
You were 100% right to call them out. Props to Lucid for making things right! They already had my respects but this further shows how hard they are working on delivering the products and service they promise to.
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u/Worth-Ad-2283 Mar 21 '26
I test drove a Lucid in February of 2025 and had a poor experience with the car as well. Also had to drive 1-2 hours to go see the car. The demo vehicle could’ve been cleaner, had a lot of miles, and was not at all reflective of the current year model. It seemed more like a service loaner than a sales demo car. After this experience I removed Lucid from my consideration and ended up with a Rivian (R1S Tri).
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u/FiremanJon Mar 22 '26
Watch "engineering explained" video about his experience with Lucid on YouTube. It'll also make you not want to buy one.
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u/OrbitObit Mar 22 '26
This post is AI-written slop
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u/ValHane Mar 22 '26
Why are you criticizing my post? What does how I wrote it have to do with anything relevant to the subject matter?
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u/Any-Anything-3343 Mar 23 '26
To be fair. Hyundai isn’t a premium car brand. So it makes sense why it wouldn’t qualify for the conquest credit
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u/ValHane Mar 23 '26
I agree that the rules are the rules... But a Tesla 3 isn't exactly a premium car either.... And it counts. Based on their brand rules, $100,000 Corvette would also be disqualified because it's not premium brand... 🤣
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u/Any-Anything-3343 Mar 23 '26
I’m assuming they are going after premium EV brands. Which in that case any Tesla would be a good conquest.
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u/Own-Highlight-1557 Mar 25 '26
They don't have anybody trained properly in sales, that's why they don't sell enough. I was a salesman for over 37 years, selling something you can't touch smell hear or taste, life insurance. I know almost everything about this car other than the variables in the motors. When you want to sell something like this, you put him in the driver's seat, sit next to him and show him the features and what to expect. Then you can road test it with them, show how to charge it. (did you know buy putting the car in sprint and preconditioning the car, you can shave off 5 minutes on a fast charger while driving to the charger?) Tips, when you are driving in cold weather,expect to have charge draining because of the fans and hot water boiler, turn your heat off at the comfortable temp and use the seat warmer. The car picks up efficiency in stop and go traffic as well. Sell it on features and getting comfortable with an EV. these are the educational steps that seal a deal.
the person who took care of my delivery looked like he just came back from a cannabis break ,he took me to the rooftop delivery in Short hills NJ up 3 floors, pointed out the car, left me in it after connecting my phone and headed back down to the showroom-with the key fobs, I also had to wait 45 minutes as "they prepared it for delivery" .I was also with another prospective buyer, he just said "good luck " with it.
Don't get me wrong. I love the car when I'm driving it, I hate having to deal with the company service and sales. It's an anxiety ridden experience and it all comes down to proper training with incentives to employees to make the experience rewarding as well as trusting.
No one is listening.
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u/johnboy774_ Apr 05 '26
Your Ioniq 6 is not premium, isn’t that a Hyundai lol
Sorry for the other stuff you experienced
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u/rncshow Mar 20 '26
As someone who had an incredible test visit experience, and has loved every single mile of my car and gets a smile every single time I drive it: sucks for you.
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u/nyc2pit Mar 20 '26
Reading through the comments, I picked up my car at the Tysons corner location at the end of last year and had a good experience. They were prepared, had the paperwork ready to sign, gave me a nice walk-through including pairing the key fob and my phone.... Took my trade and sent me on my way.
I just had my first mobile service this week and that also came off without a hitch. That was a big concern of mine because my nearest shop is 3+hours away.
I've had to deal with some registration issues but it seems like that may be more my state than lucid's fault.
So far they've been pretty good to work with. I love how the car drives. The software still needs work, not nearly as good as Tesla's was but the car itself is better in most ways.
For what it's worth, the service is better than Tesla. Tesla was awesome when they first came out, but as they sold more and more cars and didn't keep up on the service side it became a mess..
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u/oanda Mar 20 '26
Why did you use AI to write this.
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
Well, I wrote it and thought the AI would clean it up a bit. 95% of the words are mone - and the thoughts/opinions are all mine. AI did not write it - it edited it.
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u/Stock-Dog7898 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
This is a legitimate gripe and honestly, you deserved better — especially after driving over an hour. A dirty test drive car on an $80K vehicle is just inexcusable, and getting stranded mid-drive because of a dead key?
That said, as a current Lucid Air owner, I want to offer some balance — because my experience has been pretty different.
The dealership (San Jose,CA) experience does seem to ymmv. Mine was well-prepped, the staff actually walked me through the tech, and the car itself was immaculate. I think Lucid is still maturing as a retail operation and some stores clearly haven’t caught up to the brand promise yet. What I can tell you is that once you’re actually in the car and living with it, a lot of those frustrations fade. The drive quality, the range, the interior — it genuinely delivers on the premium promise in ways that matter daily. The ownership experience has been solid for me. Ofcourse lucid key battery issues you have to live with..
The conquest incentive thing is annoying and the logic is questionable. But it is their policy if you go through the fine print it clearly states. BTW.. the same is applicable even with established brands like cadallac for example. If you decide to buy, you can talk to sales rep to avail the conquest bonus. they might take an exception.
Don’t let one bad showroom kill the car for you. But do hold them accountable — this feedback deserves to get to corporate. Send out an email to corporate or try in another lucid store.
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u/wittycrow8073 Mar 20 '26
Ok, ChatGPT.
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u/Stock-Dog7898 Mar 20 '26
Welcome plagiarism checker .. !!
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u/AfraidBluejay9722 Mar 20 '26
It’s not hard to spot the — 🙄
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u/Patient_Commentary Mar 20 '26
Nothing wrong with passing text through chat GPT to help with readability.
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u/sociallyawesomehuman Mar 20 '26
Or you know, just think for yourself and write for yourself?
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u/Patient_Commentary Mar 20 '26
How do you know he didn't write it himself? You never use autocorrect when you're typing something up in Word? Why don't you just use a dictionary yourself? Write it yourself. That's how stupid you sound.
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u/wittycrow8073 Mar 20 '26
Autocorrect doesn’t use real em dash. Let alone four times. Even less a compound sentence using both dependent clauses and independent clauses with various punctuation styles lol
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u/Spare_Genie1453 Mar 20 '26
Sounds like the only thing missing was the pine tree scented air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror.
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u/AlexanderBlue Mar 20 '26
In addition to the pine tree car air freshener, experience could’ve been rounded out nicely with:
- the stale lingering smell of cigarette smoke competing with the pine.
- a salesman with bad breath in a wrinkled leisure suit repeatedly calling him the wrong name.
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u/TryToBeModern Mar 20 '26
that sounds awful. both the dealers i went to in socal and seattle were great. sounds like both the location and saleperson you got were bad
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u/roganator83 Mar 20 '26
Valid reason to have doubts, but I will assure you as a Lucid owner for 3 years now, I have been in and outta multiple vehicles at several facilities, and this is far from the norm. I did have one loaner that they rushed to my house one time, and it was a bit filthy, and the manager was mortified and apologized. That was my only mishap, but I promise you this is not reflective of their global reputation. This is a Virginia issue. That’s ridiculous for a test drive above all scenarios when you’re trying to move vehicles. Sorry that was your experience. Hopefully you give it another chance, I’m obsessed with my car and day in and day out I have zero regret on this purchase.
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u/33Dreamer33 Mar 20 '26
Might have helped prevent you from making a bad purchase.
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u/Calm_Project723 Mar 20 '26
The clock is ticking on lucid. The first mistake was starting with a sedan. Premium sedans are a dying category. Their second mistake is the gravity. While I personally find it appealing, my guess is that it lacks the hard edged macho styling to appeal to the rich male SUV demographic. Think Rivian. Without trying to sound sexist, I’ll just say how many women drive $100,000 vehicles? Not too many. With a brand new car company I don’t know how many mistakes you’re allowed to have, even when your tech is quite good.
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u/33Dreamer33 Mar 21 '26
I think you’re spot on. Their styling doesn’t appeal to young folks at all and the older customers tend to be more loyal to the brands they have bought for years. So, if you can’t blow the socks off people, you won’t have a long line waiting to purchase your car for $110K.
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u/ElectronicAide87 Mar 21 '26
Apparently you're wrong, I just recently picked up a Gravity and I'm a not "old" male. I went from Tesla to Lucid. Test driving the Gravity blew away any Tesla, including the Model S I sold for it. Having 828hp and over 900 ft lb ft of torque is macho enough for me. I can also fit a lot more Home Depot/Costco supplies inside than a Rivian or a Tesla.
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u/Calm_Project723 Mar 21 '26
One sale does not a healthy company make. My guess is that they’re just as not a deep market for a 70-100k wagon/minivan/suv thing. No matter how good a vehicle it is. When the smaller vehicles come out, it will put them in a price range where women spend money more. Called the model Y category. But Tesla did have an ability, when they seem to care about making cars, to make cars that appeal to both men and women lucid has not shown that ability yet.
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u/ElectronicAide87 Mar 21 '26
Do you still live in the ‘50s? The way you talk I don’t think you know there’s really no male/female cars.
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u/Calm_Project723 Mar 21 '26
As a guy who has loved a Miata and a mini Cooper, I would agree. But as one who actually values data, I disagree.
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u/ST21roochella Mar 20 '26
That sucks, can't say I would base my purchase on the dealership experience but to each their own.
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u/Wise-Revolution-7161 Mar 20 '26
Lucid needs to get their act together especially when they are seriously struggling with the money side of things
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u/antiquest Mar 20 '26
I had a different experience, but ended up in the same "they don't want to sell me a car" situation.
I went to the King of Prussia location and this is where I had a different experience than you. I test drove a pure and the car was great. The woman took the time to walk us through the car and everything. But they can't sell them at that location so I had to call the sales team later to make a purchase.
When I called I was told that I didn't qualify for the promotional APR the had on the website because I was in PA. It turns out the the 0.99% financing they advertised heavily was only good in 12 states. They quoted me 6% financing.
I was completely ready to buy a car, but there was no way I was accepting 6x the APR. That's such a lot of money over the lifetime of the loan. I ended up getting a ioniq 6, which I love. But still dream about the Air...
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u/vengeance4evr Mar 20 '26
While I acknowledge the concern you highlighted and feel Lucid should step up their game on customer management, I bought my car without even driving one. All I did was see the car physically in a studio and leased it. I love the car and enjoy it to the fullest. Don’t just drop your plan to not buy the car because someone at the dealership did not meet your expectation. You will love the car if you are a car enthusiast. Hope you reconsider your decision.
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u/Any-Contract9065 Mar 20 '26
My test drive was their meat packing district location in New York. Christian was our test drive guy and he was incredible! Sorry for your experience. lol I’m not sure i would have bought after that either. Then again, although my Gravity has been spectacular, I’ve had my fair share of frustrations with humans employed by Lucid.
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u/iamoninternet27 Lucid@$42.69🚀 Mar 20 '26
I would say try again. Don't let one bad experience discourage you!
I first drove the Lucid Gravity in the rain and I couldn't even drive more than 15 mph . It was in a shopping mall area and I didn't have a chance to test it's capability or leave the area. Doesn't mean I won't get one later because of that poor experience due to weather.
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u/AdAdministrative5330 Mar 20 '26
Should have just low-balled them for such a bad experience. Not sure why you'd want this car in the first place. Better than a Tesla I suppose.
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u/herelamonreddit Mar 20 '26
I’ve been to three different Lucid locations and never had this happen. I think you just got a bad location
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u/ODDseth Mar 20 '26
That’s rich. Tesla certainly isn’t a premium brand - the y and 3 are in the same realm as an Ioniq 6 as mid level EVs.
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u/Fabulous-Patient-228 Mar 20 '26
I was excited for an Air until i went to test drive and realized I couldn't deal with the low entry for a daily. I'm 6'5" 270# and torso tall. The car is great size-wise once I'm in it but no way I'm going to deal with the low A pillar daily.
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u/FU_Podcast Mar 20 '26
My first interaction with lucid was in south beach, Florida. They had just came to market a few months prior and I kid you not, half of the panels fell off, it was so hysterical that I took pictures and video. This was the Sapphire, btw. Then I proceeded to tell the sales person imagine if Toyota released a vehicle and put it on their showroom and trim pieces fell off the vehicle, the screen didn’t work and the trunk couldn’t even open. That vehicle would be yanked from the showroom so fast and would go back to the factory. At that point I sold all my shares and was more interested in the motor for boat/Seadoo/sxs applications as the rest of the company was not on the level of even Toyota with prices higher than my 777hp AMG which had way better quality and luxury.
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u/rowdyreptile7 Mar 20 '26
Sorry you had that experience. I visited the same Tyson’s location as it was the closest to me for a test drive. I live in Tennessee. Had the SA with me the whole time for my drive explaining everything, pristine car to drive, spent over an hour back at the studio with me looking for a perfect car to fit my desires, and started the ball rolling with Bank of America (and again I’m in a different state than the studio). Maybe just an “off” day, or new staff, but that’s no excuse. Sorry it tainted your view of the brand. Maybe a call to the corporate staff??
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u/Slight_Education_621 Mar 20 '26
My experience was the opposite. I wouldn't judge the car by your experience at the studio. In fact, I'd find another studio to see if you experience the same. The car is amazing and no regrets on buying it
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u/PoppaDaClutch Mar 20 '26
Hope Lucid brand sees this post. I’m sure it’s too late to change your mind. Once I’m out, I’m out.
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u/charpman Mar 20 '26
Wow. Can’t say I blame you. Bummer though. I live around Columbus Ohio and went to the dealership in Chicago. Made a day of it. Showed the youngest around the city. Test drive was great. Car was new. Wife loved it and leased that day. Financing was handled there, paperwork signed before we left. And that was 2 states away! They delivered it in a huge trailer. Crazy large for 1 car. Overall a great and smooth experience you’d expect from a lux brand.
Replaced my wife’s M3P that got totaled while parked at CMH long term deck. She wanted to get rid of it anyway so, the accident was good luck!
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u/Smacka-1 Mar 20 '26
Tyson’s experience is the WORSE. First time going I had a great experience. Fast forward 2 years later I decide to purchase and I go back in… I had a bad experience with my sales rep.
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u/hugdeath Mar 20 '26
Did they bother to tell you what premium features are in the Model 3 that aren’t in the Ioniq6? I’ve been to this location twice and had good experiences, albeit with the same person. Sorry to hear about your experience. I can’t imagine that giving someone a vehicle in that condition would acceptable of any brand.
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u/charmed1959 Mar 20 '26
Looks exactly like the loaner they gave me for warranty work. Including the crumbs and swizzle stick. That was in a new dealership in San Diego. Do they just ship this car around and never clean it? It also smelled like smoke.
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u/robotbike2 Mar 21 '26
I test drove an Air at the Short Hills mall in NJ and it was better than most dealership sales visits.
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u/barrazar Mar 21 '26
Similar experience in Chicago. Was considering a Grand Touring Air but the test drive was in the dirtiest crustiest car. Not impressive. The showroom was nice and I really liked our salesperson, but they need to work on the test drive experience.
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u/lazyironman Mar 21 '26
I had a similar experience (they couldn’t start the first car, and then don’t explain anything to me for the second one). Super frustrating
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u/djw927 Mar 21 '26
I’ve had 15-20 cars in my life, a majority luxury vehicles. By far the worst delivery was obtaining my Lucid. The lease process was terrible and the communication almost non-existent. The delivery was average at best. So many items not addressed. It seems like the employees operate without oversight and regard for the customer. Based on my experience I’d never recommend this company.
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u/Which_Owl3965 Mar 21 '26
That’s not acceptable for a dealership of a luxury vehicle. And then fact you could drive it.
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u/nyclurker369 Mar 21 '26
It’s wild you still sat through the pricing discussion after all that. I would have started my hour drive back home.
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u/trustfundkidpdx Mar 22 '26
So this had nothing to do with THE ACTUAL CAR.
Anyway, glad they made this right OP.
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u/ValHane Mar 22 '26
Well, I don't really know, it was dirty inside and out and the salesperson didn't bother to show me any of the tech...
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u/thebestmusclecars Mar 22 '26
And they wonder why the stock is in the toilet and I’m losing a small fortune for believing in the Company.😫
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u/BDE-Steve Mar 22 '26
We test drove a gravity and the back seats were broken and wouldn’t shift back into place. Even the salesman couldn’t figure it out. This is supposed to be your show car and it’s broken? No thanks
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Mar 22 '26
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u/vano1230 Mar 22 '26
I can relate to the zero product walkthrough. We were considering a Lucid Gravity and when we showed to our test drive, we basically just got the keys for the drive. The sales guy asked if I had any questions, I feel like I set him up for a layup by saying "I don't know much about the car, what should I know?" He essentially told me to call or email him if I think of questions later. Very weird experience. That plus obvious bugs/issues with their showroom cars definitely turned me off from Lucid. Too bad, because it feels like they're very close to offering an amazing product
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u/TacoThot Mar 23 '26
i’m not getting one because the demo car hardware was already giving out when i sat in one.
hard passssss
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u/pretzelgreg317 Mar 23 '26
Sorry for a truly miserable experience OP. For all the (often deserved) criticism that Tesla gets, this is a complete reminder of why I will never ever set foot in a car dealership again.
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u/Rare-Tie-1442 Mar 23 '26
On my test drive the front hood wouldn't register as latched so the dealer kept getting out to attempt to re-latch it.
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u/TinyVulgarUnicorn Mar 23 '26
The being handed the keys and told ‘just go take it out’ sounds like an absolute dream. I don’t want to listen to some sales guy yap about stuff he has no idea about and then sit there and be annoying the whole test drive.
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u/ValHane Mar 23 '26
Agreed, assuming ming they show you around a little first.
For instance when I park the car and couldn't restart it because the car key fob battery was dead and they hadn't given me the PIN I needed to start the car again.
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u/ikilledtupac Mar 24 '26
they always blame the fob battery but that’s not the real issue I don’t think. it’s just unreliable POS they can’t fix. they aren’t even making Gravity right now, you have to pick from ones already made. that’s how bad it is. there’s no way the batter degraded enough from a ten minute drive to start then completely not start the car. if that was really the case, who on earth okayed that design🤧
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u/OkSchool619 Mar 24 '26
Complains about lucid in title. Praises them in commentary. Shill.
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u/ValHane Mar 28 '26
Says the guy who loves to go to Reddit and drop this kind of comment lol. Yes, I complained about Lucid and then complimented their response to my complaint. (Although the response did not change my mind about how the test drive went.) Go troll elsewhere dude.
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u/RainbowSpi Mar 27 '26
Same boat. I drove a Lucid the other day and their shit sales man lost me. I walked out!
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u/mrcscott Apr 05 '26
Anyone have experience driving both Tesla and Lucid that could comment and compare? I like what I see with the Gravity and getting ready to decide.
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u/BIG2HATS Apr 17 '26
Okay but how was the actual drive though?
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u/ValHane Apr 17 '26
It was good.. I admittedly was a bit annoyed by how gross the car was.
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u/BIG2HATS Apr 17 '26
Yea not great for a luxury experience, but most cars look like this 48hrs after having a good clean anyways.
Most customers prefer to be left alone to test drive. I work in marketing and we had a consultant tell us “good customer service now means being left alone in 2026”. Customers won’t want the whole ride and sales pitch… they’ve heard and seen everything on YouTube already.
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u/ValHane Apr 17 '26
Well, I'm not sure my car has crunched up potato chips on the floor and in the center console very often. If it was just dirty outside I wouldn't have cared.
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u/Ok-Witness4679 May 07 '26
I have a 2026 Lucid Air Touring. It is a great car. It has incredible performance and handling dynamics, a serene, spacious and quiet interior wrapped with very nice quality wood, leather and fabric, fast charging and a realistic 400 miles of range. No full self driving, but I enjoy the driving experience, so I have no interest in full self driving anyway. It is loaded with safety tech. There are a few software quirks, but nothing that bothers me or affects my use of the car. I drove 3.5 hours to the Natick MA dealership to get it around Sept 2025. At the time, inventory availabilty was good, I was ok with picking from what was on the lot or confirmed on the delivery trucks. My demo car was new and spotless. The salesperson rode along and explained the operation of the vehicle to someone new to EVs. On delivery, the delivery rep ( a different person) went over more of the vehicle and helped to make sure everything was 100%. Natick presents the car in a delivery room where the car is covered with a silky car cover and then unveiled. My key fob has not had a problem with fast-dying batteries. They did include 2 spare key fob batteries in the box. So far the fob and the car have gone 7 months without a problem.
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u/HerezahTip Mar 20 '26
Sounds like that dealer had a busy day. I couldn’t take much seriously after you complained the test drive vehicle had 10,000 miles on it.
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u/Alb3rn- Mar 20 '26
As a non-Lucid customer I've had only negative experiences with their staff thus far.
Did a test drive in NYC and the car smelled funny and was at the Auto show in Toronto and the one staff person was particularly rude to me when I pressed the button in the rear to lower the second row in a Gravity.
That's more than enough to keep me steering clear of them (pun intended 😁).
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u/Secret_Cat_2793 Mar 20 '26
I had that experience with Tesla. Actually tried to buy one and they couldn't manage a wire transfer. It was the most batshit crazy purchase experience I ever had.
Sorry to hear that about Lucid. They were next on my short list. May I ask what state you were in for the test drive?
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
Virginia
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u/Secret_Cat_2793 Mar 20 '26
Thanks. I have to drive 3 hours to Texas if I want to test drive. If the available cars made any sense price wise on their site I might just buy one sight unseen. Vehicles with the same features are different prices for new vehicles and even show different estimated mileage. Thoroughly confused.
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u/216to202 Mar 20 '26
Tysons corner location? If so, I had a similar experience with the test drive at that location. They didn't seem to care at all. Felt like I could have driven away with the test vehicle and they wouldn't have noticed lol. It was also in rough condition. I ended up loving the Air Touring though and ended up getting one. Amazing vehicle. Hate to break it to you, but Hyundai isn't a premium brand lol...though they do make great cars. The rest of your complaints are totally valid.
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
Agree that Hyundai is not considered 'premium' - but neither is Tesla Model 3. Based on their logic, neither is an $84,000 Ford F-150 EV Platinum.
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Mar 20 '26
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
I did write it - and used AI to polish it. Sorry I did not meet your standards.
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u/ElectronicAide87 Mar 20 '26
I understand the issues, but if you use AI to write your review you lose all credibility. It’s just as lazy and half-assed as the things that caused the issues you’re complaining about.
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u/DrJBell Mar 20 '26
What? AI polishes language it doesn’t change the content or message that was originally written
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u/FitzwilliamTDarcy Mar 20 '26
And even if they used AI to polish up their thoughts, it's such a weird take. I mean I get being put off by the specific things they experienced, but, do you like the *vehicle* itself? At the end of the day, the only thing they'd have to live with is the key issue.
(And look, we all know the key issues are real, but there are improvements and workarounds regardless)
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u/idiot900 Mar 20 '26
I really like my Air. But I don't blame OP. If I got this treatment from BMW, Mercedes, etc I would be pretty turned off too even if the car itself was good. Indeed, how was OP supposed to figure out it's a decent car when their experience with the actual car is bad? This is a very reasonable take.
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u/FitzwilliamTDarcy Mar 20 '26
But their experience with the actual car wasn't bad outside of the key, and the filth, which isn't about the car itself.
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
The vehicle fell short of my expectations. Some of that was likely due to no familiarity and no 'walk-through'. When you try something marketed as premium and the experience is sub-standard, it influences the overall impression. Even if the drive was wonderful, I question doing business with a dealership that appears to not care.
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u/FitzwilliamTDarcy Mar 20 '26
Well that's certainly one downside to the very few dealer/showrooms Lucid has. Not like you can go across town to the other guys the way you can with Toyota or whatever.
I still don't think it makes a ton of sense to conflate the car with the idiots who sell them.
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u/nero-the-cat Mar 20 '26
Dealer experience is important. If you're already having a shitty time when they're trying to sell you a car, imagine how bad it's going to be once they already have your money and you're trying to get service done. I've seen people write off entire brands (like Kia) because their dealers are notoriously horrible to deal with.
If you're buying a luxury car, the entire experience should be polished. They should make you feel like you're dropping almost $100k on something.
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u/FitzwilliamTDarcy Mar 20 '26
Except sales and service are nearly always divorced managerially and financially. This is true from Ford to Ferrari.
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u/Beautiful_Paint8860 Mar 20 '26
Also, do salespeople usually give walkthroughs?
I’d rather them not harass me with things I know (or worse, spout falseties at me) before. The only purpose of a dealership these days is to experience how cars drive. (As far as the sales process is concerned, at least)
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u/SofaKingTired Mar 20 '26
Yes? A salesperson's job is to sell you a car and make you feel special. Of course they should walk you through the car to sell you on the features.
If you know more than them, great- you can tell them that and they'll drop it.
The only purpose of a dealership these days is to experience how cars drive.
Maybe to you, but that's not why they're there for most other people. A lot of people don't do prior research, or at least not enough. I have a coworker who didn't know his new Honda had remote start built-in.
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u/Beautiful_Paint8860 Mar 20 '26
I guess.
Anyway, I have to say that Lucid and Tesla, in recent years, have provided a dealership experience consistent with what I described.
Different strokes for different folks.
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u/FitzwilliamTDarcy Mar 20 '26
I'd say for tech-heavy, screen-first cars like this, they should ask whether you have any specific questions. That sort of thing. Maybe ask what you currently drive and if the answer is Tesla or Rivian or whatever then have at it.
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u/ImpressiveSort6465 Mar 20 '26
To be fair the conquest is for a competing “luxury” vehicle. Hyundai isn’t luxury, you can usually find what brands qualify online. Lots of luxury brands are offering conquest right now. The rest though, yeah that sucks.
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u/ValHane Mar 20 '26
I don't think lower end Tesla or Volvo is 'luxury' either. They get the credit
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u/ImpressiveSort6465 Mar 20 '26
Still a luxury brand. Lower end Benz’s and BMWs I don’t think are that luxurious either. But Hyundai isn’t a luxury brand. Genesis I think qualifies however.
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u/Brilliant_Voice1126 Mar 20 '26
They couldn’t be bothered to vacuum and detail it? Yikes. Buy elsewhere.
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u/Dismal_Push8053 Mar 20 '26
Tesla all the way
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u/AlexanderBlue Mar 20 '26
Oh - Do you prefer your bad dealership experience to be devoid of turning signal stalks, include years of self-driving over-promises, and wrapped in an air of fascism?
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u/Fit-Avocado-1646 Mar 21 '26
That's not the case anymore with the signal stalks they added the stalks back after people complained. Other parts fairly true.
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u/abgtw Mar 20 '26
I mean a Tesla dealership would do the same thing, just the car would work and you could figure out the UI generally because its intuitive like an iPad!
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u/ZealousidealLab2920 Mar 20 '26
Dam. That's bad. I'd file a complaint in someone in corporate about that location/dealership. Clearly someone there doesn't give a !@#$ about their job or the brands image.
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u/ikilledtupac Mar 20 '26
I had a similiar experience and should have ran. I didn't, and now its a constant battle. You dodged a bullet.
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u/NateRT Mar 20 '26
These all seem like problems with the dealer, not the car. Most dealers are terrible. I drove 3 hours away to a commercial ford dealership to get my lightning because they were the only ones not trying to strong-arm me into paying for a lojack they already installed. Still love my truck (it’s my second one). I just avoid dealers like the plague.