Aftermarket prices could drop even further as Tesla is starting to offer a new model $79,990 to reservation holders. Not that there’s much need for reservations anymore: North American Tesla stores are now accepting walk-up orders for Cybertrucks, with delivery two to three weeks later. “I’m saying it: the original reservation list is basically finished,” the reservationist said. BayouCityBob on a Cybertruck owners forum last month. Tesla had claimed to have carried out banking operations more than a million $100 pre-launch reservations for Cybertruck.
“I was thinking I’d have to wait a couple (years) before my time comes,” MC1987 responded to BayouCityBob, citing his invitation to purchase his second Cybertruck (the poster had returned his first, a high-spec Cyberbeast, due to an alleged “build quality issues”). “This is so crazy,” they said.
Since most other parts of the world have not yet authorized Cybertruck sales, Tesla cannot drive adoption outside of North America. UK Car Listings Website Wow describes the Cybertruck as a “rolling ax head,” a nod to the fact that the sharp-angled truck is literally too twitchy to meet strict European pedestrian safety standards.
Tesla also can’t rely on the American consumer’s love affair with pickup trucks. “Something like 70 percent of all truck sales involve a truck trade-in,” Drury says. “This is not the case (with the Cybertruck),” he revealed, using Edmunds trade-in data.
“While Cybertruck hasn’t been on the market long, it’s been long enough for us to capture some of the used ones. “Because there is no sign that Cybertrucks are being converted to trucks, which is what we typically see in the United States, then it is probably not a vehicle that is used for truck-like purposes,” Drury says.
While the six Cybertruck recalls this year might not alarm “concerned” consumers, the bad press that often results won’t impress Tesla shareholders: The higher-than-average recalls could tarnish the larger brand.
Any increase in overall auto recalls should not necessarily worry consumers, as defects vary widely in severity and very few are stop-sale orders or demands to immediately stop driving a particular model. Automakers may hate to introduce them, but the recalls show that the regulatory system is working as designed.
However, with Musk advising the government, even if it is at arm’s length, some regulators could be cut off, perhaps even reducing the number of product recalls, which could increase the danger to consumers. Not all Cybertruck owners will be too worried about that, however.