Month Of Hell: Tesla Cybertruck Owner Frustrated By Quality Issues

A creaking console, a dangling gear shifter, a busted tailgate and a botched pedal recall fix. What more could go wrong?

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Wade Malone

By: Wade Malone

Apr 28, 2024 at 11:00am ET

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Since the launch of the Tesla Cybertruck at the end of 2023, we’ve seen many owners come forward with their experiences, both good and bad. Buying the first model year of a new vehicle can be risky since many issues are not caught until the vehicle is in the hands of actual owners. By necessity, early adopters must be pretty open-minded and accepting of the issues they encounter.

But YouTuber Kobra ToldYa is one owner who has been overwhelmed by the quality issues with his Cybertruck. This is especially frustrating for him, after anticipating his self-described "dream vehicle" for so long. He was excited enough that he flew his whole family up to San Jose, CA so that he could take delivery a month earlier than planned.

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The Cybertruck continues to underwhelm

The Tesla Cybertruck certainly garnered a lot of excitement before launch, but that has not continued post-launch. After years of delays, when the Cybertruck finally launched, it offered less range, less capabilities and a higher cost than originally planned. The pedal recall halted deliveries briefly, and reviews from owners have been mixed at best.

Now, just a month into that ownership, he has been subject to an unending barrage of issues. They began on day one, where after taking delivery, he noticed that the vehicle’s frunk seemed sunken in and not aligned properly. Initially, this didn’t phase him too much. He could have left the truck there on delivery day but chose to drive it home as is and schedule a service appointment for a later date.

On that drive home, he noticed that there also seemed to be a distracting visual defect in his windshield right in his line of sight. So he added this to his service request as well. It took some time before all the necessary parts came in, but these problems were fixed to his satisfaction.

Of course, this is not the end of the story. Strange creaking noises were coming from the center console. The tailgate buttons would occasionally be unresponsive. The gear selector—which for some reason is located on the windshield—popped out of its installed position and began rattling around. Before long it had completely come loose and was dangling from the roof of the vehicle.

Cybertruck broken gear shifter

Tesla Cybertruck Botched Pedal Recall Fix

Next up, the recall was also announced. Kobra took his vehicle to a Cybertruck meet-up event where a Tesla Service technician would be on site to fix the pedal recall issue. After the technician had finished “fixing” his pedal, he soon realized that this fix was done incorrectly. In fact, the installer could not have possibly done a worse job.

When he informed Tesla of this botched recall, they said they would get him a new appointment set up quickly. And wouldn’t you know it? Now the tailgate would not respond to either the touchscreen or bed panel controls.

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At this point, he was understandably frustrated with the ownership experience.

Eventually, the service center squeezed him in to fix the gear selector and secure the pedal cover while he waited for a replacement. Unfortunately, they were unable to immediately resolve the tailgate problem.

So naturally, the next day the tailgate problem becomes worse. The tailgate opened unexpectedly and would not return to the closed position. So instead of being unable to open the tailgate, he was now unable to close it. He had to drive everywhere with the tailgate down, and thus no longer had access to the digital rearview mirror since the camera was pointing straight at the ground.

Cybertruck Tailgate Controls Unresponsive

Cybertruck Tailgate Warnings and Alerts

Cybertruck Warnings And Alerts

After doing a soft reboot of Cybertruck in an attempt to resolve the issue, it began throwing up other warnings upon start-up, many of which were unrelated to any of the problems he was already having. So back to the service center again, where Tesla didn’t even have a loaner vehicle for him to drive home.

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This would be enough for most people to throw up their hands and start looking into the state’s lemon laws. But after years of anticipation, he is trying to keep calm through all of the frustrations.

He knew before taking delivery that some issues would pop up in his ownership experience. “We’ll see if I get overwhelmed by all of these problems, right now I’m staying positive,” Kobra explains. “I’m still loving it, it’s still a beautiful beast. It’s still everything I wanted… but you know, you might meet somebody and really like them but the beginning’s rough right? (...) As long as you have these bad times, you really can appreciate, you really can feel the good times.”

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