Viatnamese EV startup VinFast is moving at record speeds to deliver its first U.S. model, the VF8 crossover, to American buyers. Despite its billion-dollar parent company Vingroup being an absolute powerhouse over on its home turf––producing everything from luxury resorts and smartphones to schools and hospitals––its rapid entry stateside isn't turning out so well, at least according to the alarming experiences recorded by auto journalists who were invited to take the VF8 for a spin on U.S. shores.

To be fair, we knew something was awry all the way back in 2022, when a number of journalists and influencers from around the world were invited to check out some pre-production VF8s over in Vietnam. But things got sketchy when multiple influencers reported that VinFast was offering hefty cash sums for them to come test the VF8, and some journalists at the event reported being stalked by VinFast representatives. Matt Farah claims the company offered to pay him $10,000 while also covering lodging and other expenses. “I said of course not, that sounds f**ing shady,” Farah said on an episode of his The Smoking Tire podcast. Jalopnik editor Kevin Williams wrote an entire article covering the strange press event. "I definitely learned something about VinFast, but it wasn’t exactly what the company wanted me to see," he said. It's also worth noting that after this writing piece, VinFast didn't even bother to invite Jalopnik to its U.S. event.

Another reason behind the horrid tales we're about to tell may relate to the brand's commitment to moving very quickly with its timelines. The word "fast" is literally in its name, after all. VinFast first appeared in Vietnam in 2017, mainly producing reskinned BMWs designed by Pininfarina. In 2021, the company halted its internal-combustion efforts and announced it would be shifting to EVs. While established automakers have been taking their sweet time switching from ICE to electric, VinFast whipped up a working VF8 prototype as soon as 2022. Around that same time, orders for its ICE models were closed, and the brand debuted the VF6, VF7, and VF9 electric crossovers alongside the VF8. All of which are destined for the U.S. within the next couple of years.

The company is also planning over two dozen showrooms in the state of California alone (six have already opened), along with many other locations across the remainder of America and a new manufacturing plant in South Carolina. We'd like to remind you that this brand was created as recently as 2017, and within a mere six years it has already overhauled its lineup from gas to electric, is delivering vehicles to the U.S., and has broken ground on a manufacturing facility to accompany the one it already has in Vietnam. Legacy automakers use that same amount of time to develop just one new vehicle, let alone four made competely from scratch with entire showrooms to go along with them.

Back over in the U.S., journalists were recently given the keys to the $50,000-ish EV that's currently shipping to customers as we speak. While the pre-production VF8 models over in Vietnam had their issues, fast-forwarding to the production version nearly a year later shows that VinFast hasn't found any remedies for its panel gaps and other flaws. The company decided to stick with its rushed timeline anyway, and as a result it seems that the VF8 is nowhere near ready for U.S. buyers. What's especially disturbing is how press cars are usually the ones that are perfected from top to bottom prior to journalist inspection, but the press-destined VF8s still had nauseating suspension tuning, faulty turning signals, and other imperfections.

Here's what some of the journalists had to say about their VF8 experiences:

Car and Driver's Ezra Dyer noted that the quality issues are present even on the outside. And we're not talking about panel gaps. "Aesthetically, the first thing most people notice is that the rear end of the car sits lower than the front, a subtle Carolina Squat that suggests there's a half-pallet of river rocks in the cargo area." If the exterior is misproportioned like that, of course Dyer found plenty of flaws inside as well. After mentioning the VF8's lack of proper sound insulation and its redundantly wide seatbelt holes, he concluded, "Details like that make you wonder if VinFast realized it was allowed to look at other cars before building its own."

Green Car Reports dove right into the VF8's faults. "The first thing I notice when I open the door of the VF 8 is the seating material. It’s a synthetic leather that does a nice job visually of mimicking the real thing, but already the driver’s seat shows creasing and general wear and tear. The odometer is reading less than 1,000 miles and I can’t imagine what these seats will look like at 20,000 miles." It goes way downhill from there. They continued, "The next thing that draws my attention is the plastic lever to raise and lower my seat. I notice it because it has broken off in my hand."

Over at MotorTrend, editor Scott Evans was one of the many people who expressed disbelief that the VF8 is in fact being delivered to real customers right now. "I'd be embarrassed to look a customer in the eye when handing over the keys to this vehicle. I've driven camouflaged prototypes that were far closer to production-ready than the in-production VF8," Evans said. Towards the end of his review, he added that the endless defects found in the VF8 will destroy VinFast's image in America. "Once word of these problems gets around, either from reviews like this one or owners or both, it's going to savage the company's reputation in America before anyone here has even heard of it."

Steven Ewing from InsideEVs highlighted the VF8's incredibly unrefined ride quality. "Well, it took me 37 years, 72 days, 9 hours, and 30 minutes, but it finally happened: I got carsick for the very first time," he announced. Unfortunately, this happened in a production car northwards of $50,000. Nowadays, you can get something for half the price that rides far smoother. Ewing continued his story: "From a ride and handling standpoint, the VF8 needs big-time help. The crap suspension damping and motion sickness–inducing body movements aren’t even the biggest issues. The steering response is nonlinear and inconsistent, and there is absolutely no feedback delivered through the wheel. It’s terrible, especially when you put the VF8 in Sport mode and the steering becomes so overboosted that it’s borderline uncontrollable. My car also pulled to the right on flat surfaces, so that’s fun."

By now you've probably realized that VinFast has a lot of work to do if it wants to meet its ambitious goal of battling directly with the established automakers. That is, unless it wants customers to see the VF8 as the rushed U.S. entry it is. If somehow you're not convinced, just wait until you read the entirety of the reviews cited above. But if there's any positivity in all of this, it's VinFast's knack for doing things quickly. Unless the company's ego is too large to realize the intolerable flaws of the VF8, it will likely jump at any possible opportunity to find a quick fix. And there are plenty of opportunities out there, including the incoming launch of the VF9, VF7, and VF6 SUVs. But will they arrive to successfully smooth out the VF8's bumpy path? Knowing VinFast, we shouldn't have to wait too long to find out.