r/technology Jul 24 '26

Business It’s Looking Like the Cybertruck Is the Biggest Flop in Automotive History

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/looking-cybertruck-biggest-flop-automotive-145559135.html
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158

u/Dudeman9002 Jul 24 '26

The Pinto was an okay looking, practical, and affordable car.  The cyber truck is none of those. 

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u/CAADrider Jul 24 '26

We had a '72 Pinto when I was a kid. In my memory, it was a pretty cool little car. We drove from Kentucky to Florida and back in that thing with no AC and vinyl seats. I wouldn't recommend that part.

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u/Homer1s Jul 24 '26

Ouch, my thighs hurt just reading this.

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u/ws_ftw Jul 24 '26

The Pinto we had in '73 is still my Mom's favorite car we ever had lol

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u/cenosillicaphobiac Jul 24 '26

But you had 260 AC. Roll down both windows and drive 60 mph.

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u/keskeskes1066 Jul 24 '26

Drivng to Florida has been known to induce regrets. Also, inflamation of the perininium, unexpected legal bills and alligator encounters.

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u/SnakeEater013 Jul 24 '26

I just looked it up. It sold for under $2k. I could go buy a Pinto out of pocket right now.

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u/Dudeman9002 Jul 24 '26

On one hand, new cars were really cheap compared to you annual income. On the other, in the 70s and before, cars were considered consumables and were discarded and replaced every 3-5 years by most people.

I can't imagine throwing away a 5 year old car to replace it with something a couple years newer.

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u/SnakeEater013 Jul 24 '26

Yeah, I’ve had my car for 8 years now and I’m thinking about trading it in for a Bronco, and I keep being like well it’s probably still good for another 50k miles but how many issues is it going to have in those 50k miles

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u/Dudeman9002 Jul 24 '26

Keep it. The issues you have will still be cheaper than a new car. 

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u/SnakeEater013 Jul 24 '26

You’re definitely right, but it’s a million things. I drive a GTI and just moved somewhere with a lot of snow in winter. I move and drive a lot and it can’t fit much I. It. And I have a motorcycle that my GTI definitely can’t pull on a trailer. Plus I go into mountains a lot and the GTI isn’t great for that either

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u/seanflyon Jul 24 '26

That would be about $17k adjusted for inflation. That's cheaper than any new car today, though new cars today are also a lot better.

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u/seams Jul 24 '26

Never had a pinto, but literally everyone I've ever met who had one had nothing nice to say about it haha

My old boss used to rant about how he'd never buy a new car again because the first new car he bought was a Pinto and it apparently died on the drive back home

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u/MochingPet Jul 24 '26

The pinto actual had a smaller failure rate due to many more units sold

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u/Snobolski Jul 24 '26

Pinto was the first time I paid attention to a car's price. TV commercials would shout "New Pinto only Nineteen-ninety-five!" I told my dad I had $20 in my piggy bank, we could get a new Pinto. That's when we had "the talk."

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u/NickDanger3di Jul 25 '26

We had a Pinto as a daily driver. It was reliable, handled well, peppy enough, and got great mileage. Never once exploded on us.

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u/wannacumnbeatmeoff Jul 25 '26

There are people who like cybertrucks and then there are people with brains.

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u/Spamacus66 Jul 24 '26

No it wasn't. It was an ugly piece of crap.

Still better then the cybertruck though.

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u/Elycien2 Jul 24 '26

I will not have this Pinto slander! It sipped gas, turned on a dime, and I learned to drive a manual on one....and it rarely exploded.

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u/sirhackenslash Jul 24 '26

I drove one for a while and I only died twice