Last summer, CarBuzz reported that customers who had leased new Lucid Air EVs were having trouble with their end of lease experience. Multiple customers were posting to social media sites and forums that they were being charged big bucks for things that they felt should have been covered under normal wear and tear.
Blame for the issues was put on Bank of America. That's the company that handles leasing for the brand. It's the company that accepts the cars when they come back from lease, and its employees or contractors handled the inspections. At the time, Lucid told CarBuzz that it was working to improve the experience. Now new complaints suggest that some work is still needed.
Lucid Acknowledged There Was An Issue
Lucid
The first time around, the complaints were for repairs that were questionable. Some even went against the company's posted wear and tear guidelines like small stone chips on paint or glass, or tiny scuffs on the wheels. It's the type of wear you expect on a vehicle that's actually been used for a few years. One said they didn't get a bill for the charges until five months after they returned the vehicle, and had no way to see what the charges were for.
Lucid
24 days ago, a Lucid Motors representative posted to Reddit with an update from the company. The post encouraged end-of-lease customers to go to a free inspection before the turn-in date. That would at least give customers warning and a chance to fix the issue themselves.
Lease-End Costs: What We're Doing to Improve Transparencyby u/mcr_lucid in LUCID
A few days later, the company also posted that it had updated its excess wear guidelines to remove some of the least popular charges. They are waiving charges for scratches up to 3.5 inches on the underbody skid plate, a common and expensive item. Lucid said it was removing charges for wheel scrapes under 3.5 inches and limiting larger scrapes to $200.
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This article originally appeared on CarBuzz and is republished here with permission.
