Many owners say they've been met with middle fingers, angry stares, and cold shoulders — a reaction they attribute not to the truck itself, but to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's increasingly controversial political presence.
Also the truck itself, but the Nazis thing is a bigger better reason.
I shook my head at the design of the fucking things as it was unveiled. It’s a stupid design with stupid features (bullet proof doors and glass were a douchbag selling point from the get go).
It was introduced as a "concept vehicle" in 2019. Musk was way deep into the Nazi khole by then.
You bought a Tesla before 2019? Fine, I'll give you a pass. You bought a Tesla after 2019? Hard fucking side eye. You bought a Cybertruck, which didn't actually start delivery until November 2023? Fuck you, fascist.
2019 Elon was an asshole who called people pedos, cared more about the aethetics of the factory floor than worker safety, manipulated stock value by blatantly lying, fought unionization, and attacked whistleblowers. His open right-wing political 'turn' didn't start until people told him he needed to follow the rules to prevent the spread of Covid.
It's so hard to believe that Cybertruck buyers are surprised that people hate them. They ignored all of these things about Elon and Tesla and then they bought the ugliest car ever made. They didn't hear a single thing about Elon in the last decade and then dropped $100k on a stainless steel death trap that is awful at doing actual truck things and is barely held together? Like how did they hear about the truck in the first place if they are so disconnected from the world?
Preface: you're entirely correct.
2019 Elon was an asshole who called people pedos, cared more about the aethetics of the factory floor than worker safety, manipulated stock value by blatantly lying, fought unionization, and attacked whistleblowers.
"Nazi", for short.
While I think Elon is one now, a Nazi isn't just a ruthless capitalism or human cum stain. There is lot more to it.
Since I can never tell which Teslas are from when, my hatred is directed almost exclusively at swastikars (cybertrucks) because they're easily identifiable as supporting fascists. I hope they see every middle finger they get on the road - from me or anyone else.
Even through 2024, I was interested in buying a Model 3 but with a bit of hesitation about supporting Elon as the "free speech absolutist" predictably crushed free speech on Twitter. But this year, seeing Elon prove himself on stage to be a full blown Nazi was of course the end of that dream.
I think you grossly overestimate how concerned and informed people are about the billionaire CEO of any random corporation. Elon stands out above the rest as a more public figure, but even as aware of him as I already was, I never would have in 2019 called him a Nazi.
Try hard as they might, the irrefutable and impossible to miss proof is here now though - so I withhold judgement for anyone who buys in 2025, personally. A purchase previously was supporting a piece of shit. A purchase now is just straight up supporting a Nazi.
Even through 2024, I was interested in buying a Model 3
Why? My understanding is that there are better EVs for the same or less money available.
Back when Teslas boasted longer range and greater features than the limited other EVs on the market and were by far the more sporty option it kind of made sense.
Now it just seems like everything else is equal and when given the choice between a Ford and a Reichswagen it shouldn’t be hard to not pick the Reichswagen.
Edit: I’m aware of the irony using Ford in my example as the alternative.
The design of the model 3 and S, is in my opinion, undeniably beautiful. I still see them on the road and feel a pang of sadness that they're ruined forever. I think the body design essentially ripping off Jaguar? And that's a well regarded brand and design. (I'm a tech guy, not a car guy, y'all don't come at me.)
I pay a moderate amount of attention to the EV space, and I'm not really aware of many vehicles that could be regarded as the "Tesla killer". The charging infrastructure outside of the supercharger network is horribly unreliable at best, so any incompatible car is at a disadvantage there. I'm aware of many EV offerings at $70,000 USD+ (Lucid, Rivian, Polestar), but until very recently the only model 3 price competitive alternatives were hideous and/or 100-200 miles of range. There are the monster sized vehicles like Hummer and F-150 Lightning with decent range, but the sedans have lagged behind. Car manufacturers have always neglected the tech in their vehicles and the experience is a mixed bag in other EVs if not just straight up terrible design.
If you're aware of any BETTER EVs for LESS, seriously I'm all ears! But I'm aware of better vehicles for more, and worse vehicles for the same, but other car manufacturers started a decade behind and while they're finally trying to catch up, most are still doing just that - playing catch up.
All that said - the Ioniq 5 or 6 will likely my next new car now and they honestly do put up a good fight. I wasn't particularly aware of the Ioniq line until I started hunting for alternatives this year. The range is about in line with model 3, they've got a tech leg up with Android auto, pretty wide compatibility with chargers, good driver assistance features, and a competitive price. I think the model 3 is objectively beautiful, meanwhile the Ioniq 6 is more subjectively beautiful... I'm totally into it myself, but I can also see how others would fully disagree.
The Mustang Mach E I'm also willing to consider - but I'm not as familiar with how they compare. I'd have to dive a little deeper to decide if it would work for me, my knowledge of it is a few years out of date.
I did a search just now trying to figure out what some of the other EVs have competitive footing and ended up on this thread where nobody has a better answer than "the only cheap EV is a used EV." 😅
This, there really was no close competitor to Tesla for years, especially not when it came to lower price points, the model 3 really pushed the industry toward that direction positively.
“Many attendees insist their support of Tesla is about innovation, not politics.”
”The Confederate flag is about my heritage!”
- "I'm a centrist btw."
$100 says these "confused" Cybertrucks owners have said "go woke go broke" unironically when they see minority representation in media.
We all knew from the start that it was an ugly garbage car. So they either spent 80k+ to advertise their fascism or their own stupidity. There's no innocuous reason to own a cyber truck.
On a related note, in my redneck area, there was a recent sharp uptick in Teslas on the road, where previously it was mostly diesel trucks with illegal smokestacks and "Prius repellent" decals. All it took was a few sieg heils from Musk to convert the coal rollers to all electric. Like little nazi see'n'says.
Let’s just remove Elon from the conversation momentarily.
It’s still a poorly designed piece of garbage that costs about 5x what it’s worth, and can’t even do basic truck things as well as a piece of shit Chevy S10. I would still consider you an absolute maroon for buying it regardless.
"I think people are nuanced enough to figure out there's a difference between a CEO and a product," said Matt Holm, president of the Tesla Owners Club of Austin. Holm is a Democrat who thinks its unfair to target Tesla for Musk's politics. "Have you ever heard of a car company called Volkswagen? They are a car company commissioned by Hitler and designed to be the 'people's car' of Nazi Germany."
The nuance understander conveniently left out the nuance that their example is one company is from 80 years ago and the other one is right here. Also, saying hate the player not the game for Hitler is 
Germany made amends. Volkswagen became independent of the government. VW's CEO is not actively campaigning against the world at large.
There's his nuance.
Be Nice. VW was a Nazi Company and people STILL Drive those around so its OK to Drive around Tesla's which According to His Analogy are ALSO a Nazi Company!
I used to live in Austin until four years ago. It used to be considered a blueberry in a bowl of tomato soup. A few weeks ago I made a pit stop there and I was shocked at the amount of Swastikars and IncEl Caminos on the road. I drive all across the country, including deep red states, and I have never seen such a concentration of Teslas ever in my life.
"In the early days of Tesla, these guys in big gas-guzzling trucks used to step on the gas and shoot exhaust at your car when you were driving behind them," Imanbaev said. "Now all these same guys are giving us thumbs up and honking their horns in support. It's hilarious."
Yeah I wonder why dumbass.
I assumed those people already hated themselves. I mean, I'd hate me too if I was dumb enough to buy one of those swastikars/ dumpstertrucks.