Can a Cybertruck handle a car wash?
Tesla’s Cybertruck is supposed to withstand a ‘zombie apocalypse’ but a regular carwash can suddenly become a problem. A recent owner saw his 6,600-pound pickup going to total shutdown after a routine visit through a car wash. Yahoo and Jalopnik each wrote much discussed articles about it.
After a visit to the beach, the Cybertruck-owner took his baby to the car wash to rinse the sand off. Which caused the center console to go completely blank, turning the stainless steel monstrosity basically into a giant brick.
“I’m about two and half months in and 3,400 miles,” TikTok user captain.ad said in a recent video, “and it’s not working right now.”
It’s not exactly confidence-inducing to see a car that’s meant to serve as a rugged off-the-grid base — and even a way to get around Mars, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk — turn into a giant “Tesla Paperweight,” as captain.ad quipped, after a routine hosing off.
It seems there are a lot of issues with the expensive vehicle. From massive panel gaps and cracked “armor glass” to failing steering controls and besmirched stainless steel.
Production has been halted by Tesla to address a glaring issue with the controversial vehicle’s accelerator pedal.
According to Yahoo, things ended well for captain.ad’s vehicle. After a full night of rebooting, the vehicle started up fine the next morning. “Imagine if there was a zombie apocalypse, and you reset your Cybertruck,” one TikTok user commented.
Car wash mode
Like many other electrical vehicles, the Cybertruck has a special car wash mode which has to be switched on to avoid damage. Furthermore, Tesla warns that the truck should never be washed in “direct sunlight” due to possible corrosion in the stainless steel.
Drivers also have to opt out of regular car washes and are told only to use “touchless car washes” that don’t make contact with the Cybertruck’s surface.
And in case you forget to follow any of this advice, you may be out of luck when it comes to having the company fix your broken-down truck.
“Failure to put Cybertruck in Car Wash Mode may result in damage,” the company’s manual reads. “Damage caused by car washes is not covered by the warranty.”
Readers who follow Facebook-groups like Talk Car Wash may have noticed that many carwash owners have seen and washed Cybertrucks without any problems. So the shutdown of captain.ad’s screen may also well have been caused by other malfunctions than a simple spray down.
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