Ever since it finally went on sale in 2023, the Tesla Cybertruck has been on the receiving end of some pretty bad press. The car has been hit with recall after recall, failed at some pretty basic truck tasks and hasn’t sold in the huge numbers Tesla projected. Now, the ridiculous truck’s owners report that they are on the receiving end of negativity of their own.

Cybertruck drivers across America report being subject to all kinds of abuse, according to a thread on the Cybertruck Owners Club that was brought to our attention by the folks at Torque News. Cybertruck owners in states like California, Washington and even Texas all report concerns about the safety of their trucks in the thread, which is titled “Worried about hate crime - Want to buy a Cybertruck.”

The drivers report that they’ve been subject to vandalism and verbal abuse in the forum. One poster claims to have had a banana peel left on their car, while another claimed their truck was “cheesed” while parked. One driver also posted to say that they were subject to verbal abuse:

I recently purchased a CT and had a couple of experiences in around UCB just yesterday.

Here are my 3 experiences in 1 day:

1. I pulled up a block from ASUC. A female student walking by talking on the phone said that a Cybertruck just ruined her day loudly, obviously wanting me to hear it.

2. Went into the parking lot of Berkeley bowl and a person walked by and said “nice car, a$$hole” with his middle finger up.

3. While driving by a CT ride by across on incoming traffic and a cyclist next to the CT gave him the birdie.

I was actually shocked by these encounters and thought why would these individuals comment on a subjective matter. I wouldn’t walk up to them and say, you’re ugly, f you.

Other commenters said they found the tires on their Cybertruck had been slashed when parked up near Los Angeles International Airport, and another driver said their door was keyed while in Seattle. Clearly, not the behavior of upstanding citizens, no matter what you think of the ridiculous truck.

The owners in the forum agree, and set about suggesting ways to prevent such attacks on their cars. Many recommend using Sentry Mode to record anyone who comes too close to the truck and others suggested various insurers for different levels of coverage.

Then there are the owners who think electrifying the exterior of their trucks is a good idea, and those that want to mount flamethrowers to their gargantuan EVs. You know, all perfectly normal suggestions for ways to behave in public.

“Normal behavior” is subjective, however, and one poster in the thread suggest doing as Elon Musk would. Instead of over-promising and under-delivering like Musk has a habit of doing, the commenter suggests throwing up Nazi salutes to show that Cybertruck drivers stand united, as they explained on the forum:

We really should salute each other like Elon threw out his heart to the crowd. Deep down inside we all think like Elon which is why we purchase his products to support his and his quest to help humanity.

Thankfully, at least one Cybertruck owner on the forum saw sense and explained that if everyone started “emulating this heart to the crowd, things will get real ugly real quick.”

In case you missed it, Musk threw up the Nazi salute while speaking at an event on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration. The gesture followed months of descent to the right from Musk, which saw him support Germany’s far-right political party, call for the release of an extreme-right activist jailed in the UK and he has repeatedly bolstered extreme voices and ideologies on Twitter X. Clearly that’s a side of the billionaire that at least some Cybertruck owners don’t want to be associated with.