A popular YouTuber has thrown in the towel after waiting years for the long-awaited Tesla Roadster.
What's happening?
As reported by Business Insider, YouTuber MKBHD has finally canceled one of his two Tesla Roadster reservations after placing the $50,000 deposit in 2017. MKBHD, also known as Marques Brownlee, detailed his frustrations regarding the car's lack of production for nearly eight years.
Brownlee made the announcement of his cancellation on a recent episode of his WVFRM podcast. He admitted that he had to endure a difficult process to get his deposit back. This includes initially being told that only $45,000 of his deposit was refundable.
Although he eventually received the full amount, Brownlee — who has over 20 million subscribers to his MKBHD channel — spoke out about his struggle, highlighting his main issues with Tesla's customer service for high-value preorders.
"Tesla has been sitting with my 50 grand for eight years and hasn't done anything with it, obviously," Brownlee said on the podcast episode.
Why is Brownlee's Roadster cancellation important?
As noted by Tesla's website, customers can preorder a Tesla Roadster by placing a reservation at any time. This requires an initial payment followed by a larger wire transfer within a specific timeframe. Like in Brownlee's case, the base Roadster deposit is a fully refundable $5,000 initial payment followed by a $45,000 wire transfer.
Despite the advertised ease of cancellation, Brownlee explained that he had to jump through a number of hoops to complete the process.
The YouTuber recounted that while on the phone with Tesla customer service, he had a hard time finding the right person to talk to. "There was a really long pause, and they were like, 'A Roadster?' Then they put me on hold, and they came back and they were trying to figure out who to direct the call to," Brownlee said.
Tesla first announced the second-generation Roadster in November 2017. The electric vehicle was unveiled by Elon Musk with high-performance specs and a world of promise.
"The point of doing this is to give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars," Musk said before touting that the Roadster "will be the fastest production car ever made, period."
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Sign me up 👍 What is Tesla doing about the Roadster's production?
The sporty vehicle's production has faced multiple delays since the initial announcement, with various projected start dates, including the most recent expectation for production to begin in 2025.
In July, Tesla vice president of vehicle engineering Lars Moravy spoke to X Takeover regarding the potential timeline of the vehicle.
"Roadster is definitely in development," Moravy said. "We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It's going to be mind-blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we've been working on and he got a little excited."
While Moravy remains confident in the Roadster's eventual development, Tesla has continued to face a number of challenges related to its automotive offerings. In addition to the struggles of the Cybertruck, the electric vehicle manufacturer reported significant declines in car sales in many key automotive markets around the globe.
(The expiration of EV tax credits in the U.S. at the end of last month may have helped it rebound a bit in Q3, as the automaker reported a record number of deliveries on Oct 2.)
Tesla's stock has also gone up and down by wide margins in 2025. Brownlee's cancellation is unlikely to make a big difference in the scheme of things, but it certainly won't help to wear thin the patience of one of the biggest car-buying influencers on the internet.
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