My $130,000 Cybertruck Started Rattling After Just 3,000 Miles, Tesla Service Center Kept It For A Week, But The App Shows They Never Touched It

Let’s not kid ourselves, Tesla’s Cybertruck was never going to arrive quietly. It’s not a machine of subtlety. It’s a brutalist Batmobile with a lithium heart, more architectural statement than truck, wedging itself into the American pickup narrative like a stainless steel crowbar. It promises to tow the moon, outrun a 911, and render every other pickup immediately obsolete. 

Tesla's Digital Diagnostics vs. Physical Repairs

But once the fanfare fades and the real-world miles rack up, even $130,000 moon rovers begin to creak, and what happens when they do has quickly become the stuff of legend.

“I am so frustrated with the Tesla cyber truck and the service I brought my new beast with 3000 miles into Tesla service because everything is rattling and after confirming they give me an old Y as a loaner and told me not to drive around much with that and for over a week they pushed the return of my car out from day to day, telling me their work on it, but it's a not true because I can see that the doors are not open on my tesla app.

I'm super frustrated with this car and the service, and the bad quality of it. How can a $130,000 car rattle like in 50 years 50-year-old, cheap car? The service place is in Berkeley, California, and I tell you guys, don't go to this Place. An absolutely bad mechanic cannot fix a rattle. I pick it up tomorrow and try San Francisco. Hopefully, they have better mechanics there. I will post on more places to warn Tesla owners and buyers about this service and quality. No wonder the Lightning is now ahead in sales.”

• Mike Reuter, Facebook

Reuters’ post reads like the spiritual scream of a disappointed futurist. Here’s a man who bought into the Tesla dream, a technological marvel forged in Texas steel, only to be handed a dusty loaner, weak excuses, and a service app that silently revealed no work had been done.

For over a week. This is hardly a one-off. Ask any longtime Tesla owner about the service experience, and you’ll get the same pattern: brilliant cars, frustrating support. The OTA updates work wonders, the diagnostics are genius, but God help you if your issue requires a human being and a wrench.

Prioritizing Technician Consistency Over Timely Repairs

• Some Tesla owners report positive interactions, especially when using the mobile app for scheduling service appointments. For instance, one owner noted a seamless process where a technician promptly addressed their issue at home. However, other customers have expressed dissatisfaction, citing challenges in reaching support and delays in service responses. 
• Tesla's rapid growth has outpaced the expansion of its service infrastructure. This has led to longer wait times for appointments and repairs in certain areas. Some customers have reported waiting weeks for service, highlighting the need for Tesla to bolster its support network.
• While Tesla emphasizes digital communication through its app, some customers prefer direct human interaction, especially for complex issues. The reliance on digital channels can sometimes lead to frustrations when immediate assistance is needed.

And yet, this wasn’t ghosting. Tesla replied. The message from “Tom,” a service advisor at the Berkeley location, sounds more like something a defense attorney would offer a jury than a solution to a squeaky ride.

“I understand your frustration with this. What seems to have happened is that the technician who originally was working on the car was scheduled off.

While off, the other technicians decided to keep the job with the original technician to avoid confusion or messing up the progress made. We typically have people fill in on the off schedules, but with noise concerns, it's best to keep it with those who heard it, and the crew who took in the car is back today, including me. If you still want to talk to a manager, he will be in Monday-Friday.”

To Tesla’s credit, this explanation is rooted in logic. Consistency matters, especially when diagnosing an elusive rattle. But therein lies the problem: Tesla isn’t fixing Camrys, they’re managing $130K hypertrucks. And their clientele expects more than passivity cloaked in professionalism. 

Cybertruck Owners Monitor Service Progress Through Tesla App Activity

Keeping a job frozen until a technician returns from PTO? That’s a luxury no other major automaker would dare consider. It’s a Silicon Valley mindset shoehorned into Detroit's world, and it doesn’t always fit.

Mark Morrow’s experience was the flip side of this coin. 

“I watched my CyberTruck move from parking spot to charger, to parking spot from my home while it was at Tesla Collision in Nashville,” 

He wrote. 

“I could see when the frunk was replaced, and the vault was open.” 

Here’s where Tesla still dazzles, their digital infrastructure, the kind of stuff that lets you update your Cybertruck from halfway around the planet (Mark did it from Thailand), is nothing short of revolutionary. But that same tech is also a double-edged sword, because when the app shows nothing is happening, customers aren’t guessing. They know.

Of course, some level of patience is always part of buying a first-run vehicle. Bridger Targhee Colter Maverick made this clear when he pointed out, 

“You bought a first-of-its-kind vehicle off an initial production line… production lines take time to work out problems.” 

That’s fair. And perhaps no one knows this better than Richard Mul, who wrote that a simple one-day repair job in Utah turned into a two-and-a-half-week affair.

But Richard was given the truth: service staff were too busy prepping end-of-quarter deliveries to even touch his truck. At least he walked away with a Model X Plaid loaner and a $100 Tesla credit. Not perfect, but transparent.

Early Adopters Face Service Challenges with Tesla's Rapid Expansion

Still, you can’t wave away these complaints with fanboy optimism. Mitchel Conner, commenting on Reuters’ post, asked a key question, can you really see door activity through the Tesla app while your car is in service?

Mike confirmed yes, you can’t access cameras, but you can see if the doors or frunk are opened. His Cybertruck hadn’t been touched. Not once. That kind of passive neglect stings, especially when you’re reminded every day through your smartphone that your dream machine is just sitting there like an abandoned concept car. 

Here’s the crux, most Tesla owners never run into problems. The cars, when working, are phenomenal. OTA updates fix everything from braking behavior to infotainment quirks. But the few who do encounter issues, especially those with early production models, are left to navigate a service system that feels like it’s still in beta.

The support infrastructure hasn’t scaled at the same velocity as Tesla’s ambition. And when something does go wrong, the silence and vague justifications can turn even the most loyal customers into vocal critics.

Cybertruck Demand vs. Delivery: Navigating Tesla's Production and Service Hurdles

• The Tesla Cybertruck garnered significant attention upon its unveiling, amassing over 1.9 million reservations by mid-2023. This high demand was fueled by a refundable deposit system and the vehicle's distinctive design. 
• Despite the strong pre-order numbers, actual sales have been modest. As of early 2025, approximately 46,000 Cybertrucks have been delivered, with 6,406 units sold in Q1 2025. 
• Tesla is currently facing challenges with unsold inventory, holding about $200 million worth of Cybertrucks in the U.S. This surplus has led to significant discounts and a reduction in production targets.

Tesla’s service playbook still bears the fingerprints of a tech startup. That was charming in 2013. In 2025, with the company selling half a million Cybertrucks and positioning itself as the future of American mobility, it’s no longer enough. 

Tesla has proven it can engineer the car of tomorrow. Now it needs to prove it can support it. Because no matter how fast your truck goes, no matter how many cameras it has or how many volts it can dump into a trailer, all of it fades into frustration when the ownership experience is tainted by the sound of a rattle, and a week of waiting for a technician to clock back in.

Have you had any issues with your Cybertruck that required you to get it serviced? 

Let us know in the comments below. 

Image Sources: Tesla Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.