- A Tesla Cybertruck dent repair quoted at $3,000 was fixed for $25 using a suction cup.
- The stainless steel door panels require costly blending, even though the truck has no paint.
- Many dents can be repaired affordably with DIY tools instead of paying high repair shop fees.
Replacing body panels can drain your wallet faster than a holiday shopping spree, but sometimes there’s a much cheaper and easier fix hiding in plain sight. Take this Tesla Cybertruck, for example: it was originally quoted a jaw-dropping $3,000 repair bill but was saved with nothing more than a humble suction cup. Yes, really.
This particular Cybertruck belongs to YouTuber Detroit Tesla , who somehow managed to end up with a huge dent in the driver’s door. No one knows how the dent got there (maybe an overly ambitious shopping cart?) but the owner was understandably shocked when Tesla’s repair center hit him with a $3,000 estimate to supply and fit a new door panel.
Read: Brand New Cybertruck Leaks Oil After 3 Days, Tesla Needs A Month To Fix
The door panel itself would have cost $828, which isn’t unreasonable given it’s made from high-strength stainless steel. Tesla would have then needed to ‘blend’ the finish of the new panel to match the rest of the Cybertruck’s body panels which have already been weathered. Most cars require blending of the paint when replacing parts, and while the Tesla doesn’t have paint, work still needs to be done to ensure a new stainless panel isn’t shinier than the others.
Unwilling to pay Tesla, the owner met up with a friend to try and pull out the dent themselves. The first few attempts didn’t go very well as they tried to pull out the dent while it was raining, preventing the suction cup from firmly sticking to the panel. After taking it inside, they heated the panel with a large propane heater and stuck four glue sticks to the door. Sticks like this can be useful to pop out dents but are best used on weaker materials like plastic, not stainless steel. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t work.
As a last resort, they grab the suction cup once again, and this time, it works. If you didn’t know better, you’d never guess it had once been crumpled like an aluminum can at a recycling plant.
A Reminder: Sometimes Simple Solutions Work
Even if you don’t drive a space-age electric pickup truck, this is a solid reminder that you don’t always need to shell out for costly repairs. For smaller dents like this, a quick trip to your local auto parts store for a suction cup could save you a ton of cash—and the pain of watching your savings account take a hit. Sometimes, it’s the simplest tools that get the job done.