The Cybertruck Appears to Be More Deadly Than the Infamous Ford Pinto, According to a New Analysis
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And some people wonder why the cybertruck is barely sold outside the US.
Everything I hear about this thing is bad.
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...and unlike the Pinto, because we are so deep into fucked-reality-ville, it won't get recalled.
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Ford's reasoning was that it was cheaper to pay out for the injuries and deaths than to change the car. Cybertruck has a much better plot armor, a fanbase that refuses to believe it's crap.
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god bless American auto regulations for allowing unique vehicles on the road (and the ability to sue for damages when the idiot driver hits you)
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Garbage in, garbage out
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I think that fanbase is staying to wane. But who knows, maybe the gas loving Maga rednecks will start buying...who am I kidding, most of them can't afford the ridiculous price tag.
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They can just buy a used one since the value of these fucking hunks of junk drops dramatically once its driven at all.
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The Pinto got well known for a couple of reasons.
One, the classic "exploding in a rear end collision." The design flaw here was that in certain rear collisions, the fuel tank would be pushed into the rear differential. Not only could this rupture the fuel tank, it could also produce a spark. Boom. Lots of cars had this same design in the 70s, with the fuel tank low in the rear, right behind the rear differential.
Two, the infamous Pinto Memo, which did a cost benefit analysis that determined it would be cheaper for Ford to not fix the problem, and just settle whatever cases came up. This very clearly inspired the Fight Club recall formula scene. Take note that the car used in that scene is a Lincoln Town Car, produced by Ford Motor Company.
The kicker for the Pinto recall? What they did to fix it:
- Two sheets of 1/8" plastic
- Some long zip ties
- Layer the two sheets over the rear diff, zip tie them to the axle
That's it. My dad pointed this out to me in his shop some time in the late 80s or early 90s. He had a Pinto in for an oil change or something, "Hey, let me show you this." It was such a hacky "repair."
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I don't know. I'm not sure I've seen or encountered strong pro cyber truck sentiment. Maybe a bit of online excitement for like a day when they were first rolling out but now it's been a laughing stock.
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Not only that, it's not even a proper truck. They could have come up with a standard truck design and used tech and EV to create a new niche that was usable. But no one can tell Elon no, so his 5-year-old self's vision had to be made because it's different. Sometimes different doesn't mean better.
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What a dumpster fire that truck is.
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IRL owners are something else to deal with. they get mad when you point and laugh at their rolling dumpster
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The kind of car Blade Runner would have driven.
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keep in mind that while the cybertruck might seem like a bad vehicle, it also is a bad vehicle
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Nah. The Ford Pinto laid the groundwork for the NHTSA's regulatory control of forced recalls. The only way this thing doesn't get recalled for being dangerous is if Musk's D. o. g. e manages to undercut or defund the NHTSA.
Additionally, other countries with better regulatory bodies won't even allow it to be sold or will require mandatory recall of these vehicles which means the end of the cyber truck. They can't even sell them because people don't want them.
The other thing is that insurance companies can absolutely refuse to insure them and if I'm honest, they may be the main reason that the NHTSA doesn't back down from regulating them (insurance companies are a powerful lobby, and they absolutely can countermand the automotive lobby in some cases).
My point is, it's more complicated than just "Musk is a government official now, and historically dangerous cars weren't recalled".
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It's barely sold in the US as well.
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Curious: how effective was that “repair”? Did it actually make a difference at all?
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I'd like to thank you for this measured take in response to my unbridled cynicism.
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It would have prevented the "spark" part of the failure condition, but not the tank rupturing part.
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