Tesla amends policy blocking Cybertruck owners from reselling
He was Cyber-stuck.
Retired Salt Lake City CEO Blaine Raddon finally sold his Cybertruck late last month after he and several other owners of the problem-plagued pickups successfully challenged a prohibitive Tesla policy that barred resales of the clunky, hard-to-find vehicles for at least a year after purchase.
“It went for $2,000 more than what I originally paid for it,” Raddon told The Post about his Cybertruck, which he’s replacing with a Tesla Model 3 Performance. “But I wasn’t trying to make money from this.”
The $100K Cybertruck, which resembles a DeLorean on steroids, was first announced by billionaire Elon Musk‘s electric vehicle firm back in 2019.
Raddon was part of the initial wave of Tesla devotees to reserve a Cybertruck, which Tesla started delivering to customers only late last year. More than 11,000 orders have been fulfilled.
In June, 11,000 Cybertrucks were recalled so that issues with the trim around the trunk and the front windshield wiper motor controller could be repaired.
But since placing his order, Raddon and his wife divorced, and he moved out of his home, which had a driveway that would’ve accommodated the 18-foot long, 8-foot wide truck.
Last month, Raddon took to X to bemoan Tesla’s policy, not knowing his since-excised post — about being stuck with the mammoth new ride, despite it being way too large for his apartment complex’s parking garage — would go viral, or that news outlets would take notice.
“I took a beating on X, with people telling me how stupid I was . . . ‘Buy a measuring tape,’ blah, blah, blah,” Raddon said.
As he outlined in his post, Cybertruck owners would’ve been slapped with a $50,000 fine by Tesla as well as a lifetime Tesla ban had they violated the terms of the “vehicle order agreement” by selling their Cybertrucks within a year of delivery.
Now, Tesla bigwigs have apparently reversed course on the policy due to the public outcry, freeing Cybertruck owners to resell if they so chose.
“I got a call from the executive office,” Raddon explained. “It was a response to the article, and she said, ‘We changed those terms and conditions. You are free to sell your truck. We just haven’t published it yet.’ I made her send me an email, to make sure I had it in writing that I was okay to sell.” He shared the email with The Post.
The Cybertruck sold within a week, Raddon said, for $109,000.
Wall Street and globally-known tech analyst Dan Ives said the move was a “slippery slope” for Musk’s Tesla.
“One of their keys to success has been that Tesla has been firm in its policy history,” Ives said. “They can’t put the genie back in the bottle. It’s part of the DNA of this company Musk has built.”
Ives foresees a flood of used Cybertrucks hitting the market, since the demand is much higher than the surplus.
Word must be getting out about the policy shift, because Cybertrucks are starting to pop up on sites like CarGurus and AutoTrader, with price tags between $129,000 and nearly $200,000.
Two weeks ago, Raddon picked up his sixth Tesla.
“I haven’t been to a gas station since 2005,” Raddon said. “Teslas have been very, very good to me.”
Tesla did not return messages seeking comment.
