Teslas are often ridiculed for their lack of quality control, and one major talking point of that conversation often involves the poor paint quality. But now, it seems there’s a new EV in town to steal that crown, and this time it’s a Lucid Air.
The Air is a wonderful vehicle in many regards. It’s fast, it’s luxurious, it’s stylish and for the most part, it’s built quite well. However, this particular Air’s paint was so thin that Out of Spec Detailing actually felt the only way to prevent it from being irreparably damaged was to apply a paint protection film over it.
Upon taking a paint depth gauge to the surface, it was found that the paint was as thin as 2.24 mils in some places (1 mil is equal to 1 thousandth of an inch). For comparison, Out of Spec Detailing said that up until now, even the worst new cars he’s ever worked on were no lower than a high 3 or a low 4.
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Such a small amount of paint essentially leaves the surface uncorrectable, as the process of doing so could eat away almost as much paint as there is to begin with. As for the cause of this issue, it’s believed that Lucid over-buffed the car at the factory, the results of which (aside from the thin paint, obviously) can be seen in the numerous swirl marks throughout the car.
To remedy the issue, it was recommended that a full paint protection film be installed. This would not only protect the already compromised paint from further damage but also help hide some of the existing blemishes that can’t be corrected due to the paint’s thinness. Unfortunately, he estimates that such a job for the entire car could cost as much as $5-10k, potentially even more, on top of the $100k+ that was spent on the car, to begin with.