[Leon Rosen]

We are into our first month of the 24 month lease of a VF8/plus/city edition. What a mess. As the writer from Motor Trend said in the title of the story “return to sender”. If it weren’t for the outstanding service dept folks who have now come out twice to fix it, I would have dropped off the car at their showroom in Irvine and given them the car back. This car wasn’t ready for delivery.

The battery didn’t hold a charge. The rear brakes needed to be replaced. The electronics still don’t work correctly and the promised software update is supposed to fix it but it hasn’t come out yet.

We left for a road trip last week from Laguna Beach to Paso Robles which is 253 miles. The car was fully charged to 100% and was showing a range of 266 miles. We knew it would not make it the entire distance without stopping for a rapid charge along the way so we planned a stop. Driving along the 101 just before Solvang which is a 178 miles, the range on the screen was showing 0% charge and less than 2 miles.

We crossed out fingers, turned off the a/c and coasted into the nearest charging station which was only a level 2 charger. We had to wait over 30 minutes to get it up to 15 miles before we could drive into Solvang to a high speed, Electrify America charging station. There, after waiting another 40 minutes the car was showing a 100% level and again, a range of 266.

This car can’t make it 266 miles PERIOD. VinFast is giving new meaning to “RA”—-range anxiety along with “CA”—-charging anxiety. We found numerous out of order charging stations along the way both level 2 and high speed.

The so-called “City Edition” is a joke. We signed up for the full battery version which is supposedly now being delivered and they are telling us that it has a range of 243…….not sure I can believe that as well?! I want VinFast to take back this city edition and swap it out for a longer range car. We can’t use it for anything but local driving around town and just driving out to Palm Springs or Paso Robles again would be a stressful and painful experience.

I know from other automotive writer reviews and other owners, what we are experiencing with this car is indicative of what other folks are experiencing. VinFast brought over 999 of these ill-conceived City Edition cars and there will be 999 very, very unhappy owners that could eventually bury VinFast in the retail, EV marketplace.

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[Leon Rosen]

In the past two days, the car reviews from Motor Trend and The Autopian are indicative of the same problems I have experienced with my recently delivered VF8. The Motor Trend headline says it all, “Return to Sender”. When you realize that VinFast has fired their top production folks in Vietnam and many of their administrative people in the US, it is a little disturbing and is reminiscent of the rats jumping the ship before it sinks.

I have made numerous attempts to notify the sales department of the many same issues we are experiencing with this car and I have to compliment the LA based service team on their promptness and support to try and correct these issues. Many things in this car are still are working correctly and the supposedly pending software updates may or may not correct them. In the meantime, the numerous alarms/alerts keep going off.

We’re only into our first month of the 24 month lease and I’m going to give VinFast another month to fix all these issues that should have never come over in the car from the factory in the first place. It’s clear their current PDI procedures were taken from the Yugo playbook.

If the Motor Trend article is correct, those early adapters of this ill-conceived City Edition will be able to trade out for the “real car” I signed up for after the first year. I just wonder where the VinFast PR agency is?? Are they like the upper management and just hiding their heads in the sand and hoping this will just go over?

As anyone in the car business knows, your best sales people are the current owners who will “proudly” show off their new car to their neighbors and friends. Frankly, I’m reluctant to show off this car……and as the MT writer said, return to sender.

These quality issues can not be a surprise to the upper management of VinFast Automotive. Do they even bother to read these actual consumer reviews? Are the moderators of this forum told to not pass along any “bad news or reviews”?

The early car reviews quoted above this reply are nothing more than fluff. My prediction is the 999 initial unwanted “City” models will either end up at the bottom of the ocean as reef protectors or in one of the automotive museums next to the Edsel, Yugo or Bricklin

Sorry VinFast, I had to tell it like it is at this point………

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[Leon Rosen]

We’ve had our VF8 for about a week now. Like some of the other owners, we can’t get the car to charge completely. We’ve had to take it over to a high speed charger near my office and see if it will get more juice pushed into the batteries. The screen on the car went blank, i.e. dark the other day and nothing works when this happens. The turn signals don’t work; the charge port door doesn’t open; the back up camera doesn’t work……it’s almost like someone just pulled the plug on the car and it is very unsafe to drive when this happens.

When the car was delivered, there was no placard or notifications on who to call in case of an emergency. Really a stupid oversight on VinFast’s part. When the screen is off, the access to the owner’s manual doesn’t exist. Had to call the showroom to get the service dept phone number. Of course, this all happened on the weekend and service was scheduled to come out on Monday morning which they did. Two very knowledgeable service guys came out and determined that the car was in much need of software updates but didn’t know when that was going to happen. The noise coming out of the rear of the car was because of faulty brakes—–the car is brand new and had fewer than 100 miles which, apparently, has happened to some of the other cars that have been delivered.

New parts are being ordered but didn’t know when they would be available and once here, they would come out and bring a loaner car. In the meantime, the car is sitting in the car while VinFast tries and figures out how to correct all of the software and parts issues and I’m make lease payments on what could very well turn into another Yugo or Bricklin. I’m wondering if there is anyone at corporate who is in a decision making role who really understands how screwed up these first deliveries have been on this car??? Are they all driving Tesla’s because their Vinfasts aren’t ready to be on the road yet???

I can’t wait for the JD Powers initial buyer’s survey to come out or the leading automotive press gets a hold of these cars.

The fit and finish on the car is acceptable and the features are interesting (if they actually worked). Time will tell if they can get this car really working as promised. I guess it is good that California still has the Lemon Law in place because if we have to call service 3 or more times to come out and fix these same issues, the car is going back.

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[Leon Rosen]

What started out back in early 2021 when VinFast first was being introduced, has completed changed from the initial specs, hype and features. Not only is the constant price adjustments causing a lot anxiety amount the early adopters, the missed delivery dates reminds me of the chicken little screaming the sky is falling. I won’t believe it until they actually tell me my VF8 is on the ground and I can touch and feel it!

Even then, depending on how they structure the lease or buy package, it’s going to require a lot of financial analysis. If they offer a viable lease option, the real question is going to be how they set the residual value on the car and if it falls short, who is going to take the financial hit? This car has no used car market experience in the US. It could go the way of the Yugo and just become a door stop after it has been crushed.

It seems like every week another established manufacturer is introducing a new EV and/or EV-hybrid car which is equal to or more competitive than the current specs of the VF8. Just look at the new Acura EV or the Hyundai 6. Even Tesla is hurting and offering their new Y models at lower prices than VinFast is now telling us they will be offering.

To many choices coming onto the market and Vinfast will not be as an attractive a deal……..the longer they wait to bring in the big boy VF8, the more customers they will see go over the other side!

As I always like to say, “money talks and *** walks”……..

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[Leon Rosen]

I was on the same trip as this writer. Like many things in life, there are two sides to every story. It’s clear to me that VinFast wasn’t ready for bringing over this group of “influencers”. The cars weren’t ready for prime time and even though they made every effort to show the people on the trip that VinFast is a major player in Vietnam and they know how to stage a major production/showing, the response that has followed really threw a damper on their efforts.

The fact they came out with a so-called city edition with a very limited range was a face saving effort to try and meet their delivery schedule. No one on the trip was advised of this step child coming out. What happened to their internal market research telling them range anxiety is still a very real negative to the overall EV market?

Now, they are talking about deliveries of the full scale/range V8 sometime in July.

Time will tell if they actually make this revised delivery date.

Someone at corporate needs to stop making promises that can’t be kept and the continued price increases is putting them at a significant disadvantage to the established EV models coming to market. The negative automative press reviews aren’t doing them any good and is going to make it harder for them to position the car as an upscale, forward thinking EV.

I’m still holding out hope that when the final production models arrive in the US, they will exceed market expectations. It has the right “bones” to be a competitive sled for the US market/consumer.

LDR

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