The Engineer Who Researched Everything — and Still Needed Help
Andrés Morales is a civil engineer. When he took delivery of his Tesla Cybertruck Foundation Series in October 2024 — production number under 5,000 — he spent weeks researching how to care for it before the truck even arrived. He read forums, watched videos, and bought products specifically designed for stainless steel.
Three months later, he called us. "I tried doing it myself and made things worse. Now it has marks it didn't have before, and I don't know how to remove them without scratching it."
Andrés didn't make mistakes out of ignorance — he made the same mistake almost every Cybertruck owner makes at first: treating stainless steel like regular car paint. It's not. They are two completely different materials that require opposite approaches at several key steps.
The fundamental difference every Cybertruck owner needs to understand
A conventional car has: base metal → primer → base coat → clear coat. The clear coat is what you protect with wax and ceramic coating. The Cybertruck has: 30X stainless steel directly exposed to the elements. No clear coat. No paint. The bare metal itself is the exterior surface.
Why the Cybertruck in Florida Is a Special Case
Stainless steel is corrosion-resistant, not corrosion-proof. In South Florida, with its combination of high humidity, salt air, and frequent acid rain, untreated stainless steel develops:
- Tea staining — brown discoloration from surface oxidation of free iron in the steel when exposed to salt air chlorides
- Permanent water marks — Miami's water has a high mineral concentration. Without hydrophobic protection, every water droplet leaves a white mineral deposit that bonds to steel differently than it does to paint
- Deep fingerprints — the natural oils in human skin react with stainless steel more aggressively than with clear coat, especially under Florida's heat
- Brush finish directionality — the Cybertruck has a unidirectional brushed finish. Any cleaning motion in the wrong direction creates visible, permanent marks
What Andrés had done during his DIY cleaning attempt: he used a microfiber towel in circular motions — perfectly correct for any other car, completely wrong for the Cybertruck. The marks he "created" were actually the result of working against the grain of the steel's brush finish.
The Correct Protocol for Stainless Steel
pH-Neutral Rinse — No Contact
We begin with a low-pressure deionized water rinse to remove surface dirt without any physical contact. On stainless steel, direct pressure washer spray can alter the brush finish in areas with a finer grain. We never start with a foam cannon on a Cybertruck — alkaline shampoo can leave residues that react with the steel.
Stainless Steel Cleaner — Unidirectional Motion
For the marks Andrés had created with his circular microfiber cleaning, we used a dedicated stainless steel cleaner applied with a microfiber pad in strictly unidirectional strokes — always following the direction of each panel's brush finish. Minimum pressure, long deliberate passes. This process takes twice as long as on conventional paint because any error is immediately visible.
Diluted Oxalic Acid — For Surface Oxidation
The brown tea staining marks that had appeared on the Cybertruck's lower panels required highly diluted oxalic acid applied with precision. Oxalic acid dissolves oxidized iron deposits without attacking the base steel. Applied with an applicator pad, 3-minute dwell time, then neutralized with deionized water. This is the only safe treatment for Cybertruck tea staining.
Coating Formulated for Bare Metal
Conventional ceramic coatings are formulated to bond with automotive clear coat. On bare stainless steel, you need a coating specifically designed for uncoated metal surfaces — we use 22PLE VM1 Elite, a coating engineered for paintless metallic finishes. Application follows the brush finish direction, with a longer flash time than on paint. The result: a hydrophobic surface that repels water, salt, and fingerprints for 2–3 years.
Cybertruck Foundation Series — Weston FL. Stainless steel treated and protected with bare metal ceramic coating
What Andrés Learned — and You Should Too
At the end of the process, Andrés asked us a question that summarizes everything: "Why doesn't Tesla explain any of this in the manual?"
The honest answer: because proper Cybertruck maintenance requires specific knowledge of metal treatment that goes beyond conventional detailing. Tesla assumes owners will bring the vehicle to professionals with that expertise. Most owners discover this after creating marks while trying to care for it themselves.
What Andrés does now: ceramic coating maintenance every 14 months, full detailing every 4 months, and between services, hand washing with the products and technique we taught him. The Cybertruck in South Florida can be kept immaculate — it just requires the right protocol.