Tesla Cybertruck rust is blowing up the internet right now with several new owners reporting orange spots, which could be related to rain or leftover rail dust.
The Cybertruckownersclub.com forum has several posts and one long thread showing multiple Tesla Cybertruck rust spots.
Tesla Cybertruck rust already?
The photos show what appears to be rust marks on the stainless steel light metal material that makes the truck body.
[Read more: Tesla Cybertruck recall: Unintended acceleration]
Forum member Raxar claims a Tesla service advisor told him about the rust spots after it rains. The post reads:
“Just picked up my Cybertruck today. The advisor specifically mentioned the cybertrucks develop orange rust marks in the rain and that required the vehicle to be buffed out. I know I heard the story of never take out your Delorean in the rain but I just never read anything about rust and Cybertrucks. All in all smooth delivery. The first 10 min of driving, the vehicle was pulling hard to the right…I turned around and went back to the service center thinking there was an issue. They scheduled me to a different service center near where I live but after putting on some more miles the pull went away.”
Other owners showed similar rust spots, and the thread is wild with theories and speculation on what the spots could be, if it matters and how to go about cleaning the truck properly.
Cleaning the stainless steel panels is an interesting topic with people trying clay bars, windex, dish soap and Bar Keeper’s Friend cleanser. Nobody seems to have the surefire product to clean the truck.
After cleaning, the orange spots appear to disappear and the shiny stainless steel looks back to normal. This has lead many to speculate the spots aren’t actually rust, but rather rail dust.
Rail dust comes off train car wheels and is known to leave rusty spots, especially on white painted cars. This is easily removed with a good cleaning.
Going back to the Cybertruck, the issue is really the different metal Tesla used. Tesla said, in their delivery news conference, it is their own special alloy formula of stainless steel. This was necessary to help build the truck, since stainless steel can be hard to bend.
This has raised quite a bit of confusion on the stainless steel itself. For example, is it like a refrigerator and you need to use the special cleaner for it? Can you just use dish soap as Tesla service advisors have said in videos like the one Kyle Conner at Out of Spec studios did? Will the marks reappear?
The bottom line
Plenty of questions, speculation and unknowns remain on this topic. The simple truth is it could just go away or it could be a real ongoing issue for years to come.
What do you think?
