# Tesla Cybertruck 85 Hacker News commenters recommended Tesla Cybertruck and 478 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 2 years (3 owners). **Verdict:** Owners praise its off-road ability, stainless steel body and driving experience, but critics point to unmet promises, recalls and build quality problems. ## Why people recommend it - Strong off-road capability (4 comments): "I can navigate someone's overgrown shitpile of a mountain side driveway during mud season with low effort and nearly guaranteed success" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48227010)) "it's the closest thing to the dream of electric off-roading, self-driving vehicle with huge cargo capacity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47942627)) "Because there are lots of places you can legally drive it off road. And driving off road is really fun." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48228443)) - Durable stainless steel body (3 comments): "the longevity of it's absolutely stupid thick(er than typical) gauge stainless body would have put pressure on other OEMs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46631545)) "The steel makes it great for driving in places with branches and grocery cart/door dings." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46623997)) "Its side panels are proven on video to stop fat and slow handgun rounds like .45 ACP." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50126903)) - Bold, different design (4 comments): "As problematic (quality-wise) as the Cybertruck is, at least they went full-send on the design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48312911)) "I'll applaud anything that tries to move us away from the current stale design trend" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46620270)) "I do admire that they dared to do something different and took a big gamble on it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46619762)) - Driver assistance and self-driving (3 comments): "What you do notice is not having to pay nearly as much attention while FSD is running, and the smoothness of the ride." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46699328)) "You can buy a Tesla (including Cybertruck) today that will do 95+% of drives with 0 intervention." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613908)) "There is no other consumer car that can self-drive from start to finish for an entire trip." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45917763)) ## What people warn about - Promised features and specs missed (5 comments): "they're still selling, so not a failure. But not as great as originally promised." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49877958)) "They originally claimed the stainless steel panels would replace the internal frame and thus be more efficient to produce. But they shipped with a traditional frame" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45917967)) "they demo'd a "Cybertruck" with a never-before-seen durable single piece exoskeleton and then sold a Cybertruck with a unibody construction" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50127667)) - Build quality and recalls (5 comments): "As problematic (quality-wise) as the Cybertruck is, at least they went full-send on the design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48312911)) "Doing a half baked job on a part for your super low volume "we only make this to advertise a low starting price" model is something just about any OEM would do." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48066139)) "JerryRigEverything on YouTube wasn't particularly impressed with the Cybertruck as it had catastrophic failure at 10,400 pounds of downward force on the hitch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49191696)) - Sharp edges risk pedestrians (4 comments): "not that I'd want it on the road, obvious safety hazard from the shape, but I liked the look of it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46040724)) "cannot be legally driven (regardless of not being for sale) in many countries because it doesn't meet pedestrian safety standards" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48231902)) "the Cybertruck is made specifically of sharp angles that will rip and tear more than a big flat vertical wall running into you" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45917610)) - Musk and company controversies (3 comments): "the owner of a company makes a Nazi salute in public twice and makes many racist comments and retweets on twitter and you just shrug and buy from the company anyway" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47952333)) "I think the Cybertruck was DOA and his involvement in politics got people who shared his views to buy one in order to signal the same." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46620845)) "The level of disaster of that rollout, combined with D.O.G.E. and "Mechahitler" Grok, has forever tarnished the Tesla brand." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46249921)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Slate EV truck](https://hackerapproved.com/p/slate-ev-truck.md): 109 recommend - [Ford F-150 Lightning](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ford-f-150-lightning.md): 59 recommend - [Chevrolet Silverado EV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chevrolet-silverado-ev.md): 11 recommend - [Rivian R1T](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rivian-r1t.md): 10 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.tesla.com/cybertruck) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Tesla Cybertruck", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tesla-cybertruck/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).