A Tesla owner who shared photos of their freshly-polished Cybertruck has left people divided.

The polarizing vehicles, famed for their metallic, angular bodies, were first debuted by Elon Musk in 2019 – and came with a price tag of $60,000.

Car industry experts estimate at least 27,185 Cybertrucks have been sold as of October 2024, so spotting the statement Tesla vehicles out on the road is likely to become all the more common.

Cybertrucks might have been the subject of seven Tesla recalls last year, but this hasn’t stopped owners from taking great pride in their vehicles.

And one social media user shared fascinating photos of their Cybertruck after a good polish.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk first unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019 (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Taking to Reddit, user addeh1999 showed off the gleaming vehicle, which almost looked like a huge mirror, with the caption: “First time polishing a cybertruck.”

Hundreds of people commented on the post, although the move appeared to leave Tesla enthusiasts divided.

One fan wrote: “Would look amazing in a natural surrounding like a forest, the mountains, or a beach,” adding: “I do really like the look and would be super excited to see one in person driving down the road.”

A second said: “I don’t hate it but it just feels wrong.”

Not everyone was convinced.

One person commented: “This really shows off the imperfections. Interesting,” as a second pointed out: “The body panels are so wavy! I expect them to be flat considering all they’re doing is putting a crease in them.”

A third joked: “Proof you can polish a turd.”

Many were concerned about the dangers the super shiny vehicle could pose on the road.

“Is it just me, or does that seem very unsafe?” one asked, as another reckoned: “Should be illegal. Wouldn’t this blind the hell out of people when the sun reflects off it?”

Turns out, not much research has been done into how dangerous reflective car exteriors actually are on the road.

Cybertrucks have polarized motor enthusiasts (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

David Zuby, chief research officer for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, told Business Insider: “Reflective glare may pose the same problem for other drivers as headlight glare, but I am not aware of any research documenting whether this leads to or is associated with increased crash risk.”

Meanwhile, Johnathon Ehsani, research director at Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, told the publication there are two possible ‘mechanisms’ that could make a reflective Cybertruck a road risk.

The first is that, like those on Reddit worried, the reflected glare from the vehicle could temporarily blind other drivers, although Ehsani said he’d have to see a polished truck in-person to made a proper conclusion.

“The far more plausible case is a crash mechanism that is far more common, that people crash from every single day,” he said, “and that’s that it might attract attention because it’s such an unusual-looking vehicle.”

This issue isn’t limited to odd vehicles like Cybertrucks, though, as Ehsani explained: “It’s not that different to, for example, looking at a billboard for longer than you need to or even messing around with your entertainment console.”

Tesla owners are being warned to check their vehicles if they own one of these five models which were recalled in 2024.

More than 5 million vehicles were recalled by the Elon Musk-owned automotive company last year – more than any other car manufacturer, although Kia has also made headlines recently, for recalling nearly 23,000 cars after discovering one single worker may have forgotten to bolt down a particular model’s seats.

Throughout the course of the year, though, Tesla’s polarizing Cybertruck was recalled a total of seven times.

In November, for example, 2,400 trucks built with metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) were called back due to an accelerator pedal fault.

Other issues included a delay in the rearview camera image, malfunctioning engines, and potential axle failures.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, founded Tesla in 2003 (Christian Marquardt – Pool/Getty Images)

The first of the recalls began in February 2024, with 2.2 million electric cars affected.

Model Ss, Model Xs, Model 3s, Model Ys, and Cybertrucks manufactured between 2012 to 2024 were called back because the font size of some warning lights on the instrument panel was too small – by far the most minor reason for recall this year.

Then, in May, some 125,000 Model S and Model Xs made between 2021 and 2023 were recalled to ‘inspect and ensure both first-row seat belts are properly connected to their respective pretensioner anchors’.

In July, some 1.8 million vehicles were recalled because of a bonnet issue which saw its software fail to detect an unlatched hood.

This impacted Model 3s, Model Ss, Model Xs, and Model Ys made between 2021 and 2024.

Tesla Model Ss were among the models recalled in 2024 (Mark Von Holden/WireImage)

And almost 700,000 vehicles were recalled in December due to a system fault which could ‘increase the risk of crashing’.

The Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck were all affected by the issue, which is with the warning light on the tire pressure monitoring system.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration letter explained: “The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) warning light may not remain illuminated between drive cycles, failing to warn the driver of low tire pressure.

“Driving with improperly inflated tires increases the risk of a crash.”

Cybertrucks were recalled seven times last year (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Tesla recalled 694,304 of its models in response, although the issue can be fixed with a free software update.

According to Barron’s, Tesla had more recalls than its rivals last year, but the majority were fixed with ‘over-the-air’ software updates.

For example, Ford recalled around 4.4 million cars in 2024, but less than a third involved software-related fixes, meaning most still required a visit to the car dealership to resolve.

Meanwhile, some 39,000 Tesla vehicles were called up to correct hardware- related issues, whereas for Ford, that figure was around 3 million.

With all the hype that’s come ahead of the release of the Cybertruck, it’s undeniable that people have high expectations.

Tesla founder Elon Musk first debuted the Cybertruck four years ago, and we all remember that extremely awkward moment he boasted of the car’s so-called ‘shatterproof’ windows only for one of them to be smashed during a live demo.

But he somehow managed to bring it back from its rather chaotic first demonstration as it’s believed that around two million people have ordered a Cybertruck for themselves.

The first customers are expected to finally get their hands on the car on November 30 and, ahead of its official release, Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen took his own Cybertruck to a ‘Cars & Coffee’ gathering.

TikToker @dsgolson took some close-up shots of the car and it’s safe to say he and many others were underwhelmed by its build quality.

“Please enjoy these detail shots I took of the Cybertruck that Tesla’s chief designer brought to cars and coffee today,” he captioned the series of snaps shared to TikTok.

dsgolson/TikTok

The first photo shows an all black Cybertruck parked up – and it genuinely looks like something straight out of a Batman movie.

While impressive from afar, when up close, some people noticed a few snags.

Several photos showed gaps in the car’s panelling on different parts of the vehicle, making it look undeniably unfinished.

It’s important to point out that this vehicle may not necessarily represent the finished models motorheads will be getting their hands on at the end of the month, but that hasn’t stopped people weighing in on the car’s quality in the comments.

dsgolson/TikTok

“How is it that Tesla can’t even get quality control on something that’s not even in production yet?” questioned one person.

“It makes the Nissan Cube look like a work of art,” said another.

A third went on to add: “I really have no idea how their panel gaps are this bad. Like this isn’t a mass produced unit.”

dsgolson/TikTok

“Is this a college senior design project?” wrote another.

However, others argued that the imperfections proved that the Cybertruck isn’t mass made – which, to them, is a good thing.

“Hey little imperfections means it’s handmade. This is a luxury product guys fr!!” penned one TikToker.

“Personally I love the way it looks,” said another person who defended the truck.

I mean, maybe the gaps are supposed to be there.

UNILAD has contacted Tesla for a comment.

A man has flown a drone into a Tesla Gigafactory and revealed a reported $40,000,000 worth of Cybertrucks.

The clip, which has been shared by Brad Sloan on YouTube, reveals hundreds of the vehicles outside the factory, with SupercarBlondie claiming the footage reveals a whopping $40,000.000 worth of vehicles.

It certainly seems as though Cybertruck production has ramped up even further, after the cars were subject to some delays when they were first announced.

Cybertruck production has ramped up (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Production for the Cybertruck was originally planned to commence in late 2021, before it was later pushed back to sometime in 2022.

Tesla owner and founder Elon Musk pushed the roadmap further into 2023, with the founder confirming in January that the Cybertruck won’t enter full volume production until sometime this year.

Musk has always maintained that the Cybertruck’s delay was down to Tesla trying to satisfy the demand for its popular Model 3 and Model Y.

But it certainly seems like there’s plenty in production right now, after hundreds of the trucks were spotted in the Texas factory.

“Had a rain delay this morning so late shooting footage,” said Sloan on YouTube. “Plenty of car carriers loading up Tesla vehicles today. Lots of casting stacking up on the east side. South extension busy as ever.”

Meanwhile, another drone pilot, Joe Tegtmeyer, shared footage from Wednesday (28 August) showing more Cybertrucks perfectly lined up.

The footage was captured at a factory in Texas (Brad Sloan/YouTube)

“More @Cybertruck formations at Giga Texas this morning… looks like they are ready for battle!” He wrote.

People were quick to comment on the footage, with one person writing: “Indeed, the gigafactory is scaling up operations, as it appears to me. What is the rate per day or per week?”

While another said: “Are they shipping these out at the same rate or is lot inventory growing?”

And a third added: “Do you keep track of how many you’ve seen in the lots since the launch? Any idea what percentage have been beasts? Looking at your pictures it seems like these lots are increasingly more full with inventory. Does that mean more people are ordering?”

Meanwhile, a fourth said: “Whoever is in charge of lining these Cybertrucks up is killin it!! Thank you for the amazing pics!”

Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎

@JoeTegtmeyer

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More @Cybertruck formations at Giga Texas this morning … looks like they are ready for battle! 📐😎🤠

9:16 AM · Aug 28, 2024

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Since the vehicle hit the market in November 2023, it’s been subject to a number of complaints by drivers.

One owner even accused Tesla of ‘rushing out’ Cybertrucks after claiming they’re malfunctioning at an ‘astonishing rate’.

Earlier this year, in a thread titled “Worst delivery in my life (truck died in 5 minutes),” a Californian based owner claimed they had problems with the Cybertruck almost instantly after buying it.

“[I] made it 1 mile down road, started getting steering error, flashing red screen, pulled off side of highway now the truck is dead and I’m waiting for a tow truck,” they wrote.

The owner continued: “Dealer couldn’t do anything for me. It was great for 5 minutes.. tried everything, restarting, screen is stuck black and keeps beeping. Tesla really rushed these trucks out, what a nightmare.”