Our Tesla Cybertruck Has Already Been Affected by Two Recalls

• Tesla has had to recall the Cybertruck four times in less than 12 months.
• Our truck has been affected by two recalls.
• Be sure to keep up with our Cybertruck saga at our long-term blog.

Tesla has already had to recall the Cybertruck four times — mind you, the company has only been delivering the Cybertruck since December of last year. We were one of the many who put in orders for the polygonal pickup when it first broke cover in 2019, and in June of this year we took delivery of our very own Foundation Series dual-motor CT and have been documenting what it's like to live with on our long-term road test page. We've only had it for two-and-a-half months but in that time we've range tested it, put it in plenty of videos, and now it looks like we're going to have to make a trip to our closest service center.

Which recalls affect our Cybertruck?

Though the stuck accelerator pedal was easily the biggest (and most frightening) of the recalls so far, the two recall notices we received in the mail today aren't related to pedal covers slipping off. The first is a relatively minor one. According to the notice we received, "On affected vehicles, the sail applique or adhesive may not have been installed according to specification, which may cause the sail applique to become loose or separate from the vehicle."

According to the Cybertruck service manual, the sail applique is a piece of black plastic trim that covers the top surface of the panels that make up the bed's walls. Should it come loose while we're driving and fly into the path of another car or strike said car, it would increase the risk of an accident. We've observed less than perfect build quality on our Cybertruck and other Tesla models and this is just another example of Elon Musk's desire for "sub 10 micron" precision simply not materializing when it comes to how the pickup is put together. Thankfully, as with all recalls, it will be replaced, for free, with a part that presumably won't fly off.

The second recall afflicting our Cybertruck has to do with the windshield wiper motor. According to this notice, "the front windshield wiper motor controller may stop functioning due to electrical overstress to the gate driver component." Essentially, the motor could burn out and stop working. You can't drive in torrential rain if your lone windshield wiper isn't working — not that it rains much here in Southern California to begin with, but we'll take the free fix. 

As always, we'll cover the process and what the service experience was like over in our long-term road test page.