This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with George Saliba, a 34-year-old car dealer in New Jersey. His identity has been verified by Business Insider. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m a general manager and owner at J&S AutoHaus, a luxury car and SUV dealership. When the Cybertruck first came out, I thought it was going to be the hottest drop of a vehicle in our lifetime.
If you were that lucky winner to get a Cyberbeast, it was just instant — you knew you hit the lottery.
That hot market lasted about three months. Fast-forward to now and I’m struggling to sell the Cybertruck. Here’s why.
It’s not the status symbol it once was
When the Cybertruck first came out, the people I saw buying them tended to be athletes, famous people, and, in general, people interested in status. It was better than having a Lamborghini, especially because of all the hype that was built around it.
The brand of the Cybertruck had that “you can’t buy this car” appeal to it. You never saw them on the road. I was one of the first in New Jersey to drive one, and I couldn’t go anywhere without getting talked to.
People who were less interested in status had the mindset that they would wait for the vehicle’s value to stabilize and be closer to the MSRP. Then the MSRP cards started coming out and people start keeping them. The market just kept going down, $10 or $20 grand.
There are no real issues with the vehicle. It’s a great vehicle, and it’s still fun to drive and it gets attention. It’s just the whole shape of the car, people kind of say it’s just not the most practical. It’s stainless steel and it’s really angular. So it’s like the easiest truck to hate, politics aside.
It was a status car. Now it’s not too much of a status car.
Some of the first Cybertrucks that came out sold for over $240,000 in the auction. Today that car is worth around $70,000.
Once it gets to a price point of $50,000 or $60,000 it’s going to be a really great thing to buy. There’s the possibility of it coming back and getting stronger again, but the market hasn’t really figured out what price that is yet.
The political situation made them less desirable
About 60 days ago, the market for selling Cybertrucks took a dip. It now feels like I cannot sell a Cybertruck to save my life.
To me, the strongest impact that kind of crushed the market was the political stuff.
My guy who I sold a Cybertruck to said, “Dude, everyone’s getting a sticker. Like, no one wants them anymore.”
People started giving me middle fingers. My friend called me and said, “I gotta sell my Cybertruck. Someone just threw a rock at me while I was driving, my kids were in the backseat.”
People are putting Toyota labels on their Cybertrucks to avoid infliction and confrontation from others. They’re trying to dim down the anger by renaming their vehicle. Then there are those bumper stickers that say, “I bought this before Elon went crazy.”
Other Teslas are still selling
The Cybertruck has taken the most hate, but I don’t see people hating Tesla because of what’s going on politically.
The Tesla market in general has always been in solid demand. How can you go wrong with the Model 3 and Model Y? It’s better than any other car. It’s better than a Chevy, better than a Volkswagen. It has the best tech and driving infrastructure.
I have seen some decreased demand, but the way Tesla works is prices adjust. Prices will get lower, and then people will start buying again, because at the end of the day, it’s an amazing product and people do want it.
When the car gets cheaper, you have more demand from a different audience. So all those people who couldn’t afford a Tesla at $70,000 for a Model Y back when the prices were inflated are looking to buy electric cars now for a lower price.
I’m still actively looking for Cybertrucks and I just bought one the other day, but the pricing that I would like to pay has to be “sell now” because there’s a lot of risk buying them at this time — Tesla could just drop their prices at any time.
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