A minivan that families use to haul kids to soccer practice just humbled one of the most hyped vehicles in automotive history. If that sentence does not perfectly describe the state of the Cybertruck in 2025, nothing does.
A video posted to Reddit by user thepolyanthropist has been making the rounds, and it is exactly as glorious as it sounds. A Toyota Sienna, driven by a mom on what we can assume was just a regular day out, pulls a fully stuck Tesla Cybertruck out of beach sand. Not a lifted pickup. Not a monster truck. A Sienna. The people on that beach probably could not have scripted a more ironic scene if they had tried.
The clip shows the Cybertruck thoroughly buried in the sand, going absolutely nowhere on its own. Four guys are posted up behind it, pushing with everything they have. Someone throws wood panels under the rear wheels for traction. The driver inside is doing their best, reversing as the Sienna pulls from the front. After a collective effort involving more human labor than anyone expected to provide that day, the plan works.
The Cybertruck rolls back onto gravel, and the crowd watching the whole thing unfold breathes a sigh of relief, probably laughing the entire time. The internet, predictably, had a field day.
Never Underestimate a Minivan (Seriously)
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A mom in a Toyota Sienna pulls a cyber truck out after it gets stuck in sand.
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u/thepoylanthropist in
interestingasfuck
The comments section under the original Reddit post turned into an unexpected appreciation post for minivans, and honestly, it is well deserved. One commenter noted that the Sienna is “near perfect” for this kind of rescue job: relatively lightweight, very high torque, and available in an all-wheel-drive configuration. Another put it plainly: “Never sleep on minivans. I’ve been a minivan truther my whole life and will continue to be.”
They are not wrong. The Toyota Sienna AWD is actually a quietly capable machine. It delivers a combined 245 horsepower from its hybrid drivetrain, and the AWD system sends power to all four wheels on demand. Crucially, it does not weigh anywhere near what the Cybertruck does, which, as we will get to in a moment, turns out to matter quite a bit when you are parked on loose sand.
Minivans have long been dismissed as the uncool choice, the vehicle of carpools and grocery runs and people who have given up. But this video is a useful reminder that capability does not always look the way you expect. The Sienna showed up, did the job, and made no big deal of it. That is very on brand for a vehicle nobody talks about at car shows but that consistently earns some of the highest owner satisfaction scores in its class.
Elon Musk’s Big Cybertruck Claims vs. Reality
When the Cybertruck was unveiled in 2019, Elon Musk came out swinging with promises that were, to put it mildly, ambitious. He smashed a sledgehammer into the body on stage. He had someone fire a handgun at the windows. He said the thing would be bulletproof. He claimed it could float like a boat. He promised towing capacity up to 14,000 pounds and a starting price under $40,000.
Years later, almost none of those original claims have held up without significant asterisks. The truck that was supposed to be bulletproof and available for under $40,000 has instead become associated with broken promises, flying body panels, surface corrosion, and one of the most dramatic sales collapses in modern automotive history. The “floating like a boat” claim has never been demonstrated in any serious real-world context.
The promised 500-mile range never arrived; real-world models fall significantly shorter depending on the configuration. And on the towing front, the Cybertruck debuted with less towing capacity than originally promised.
Then there is the weight. The Cybertruck’s hefty curb weight makes it more vulnerable to bogging down in exactly the kind of terrain it was marketed as conquering. The truck tips the scales at around 6,843 pounds, about the weight of a small rhino. Sand, which is already the nemesis of heavy vehicles, does not particularly care how futuristic a truck looks.
Sand driving requires precise weight distribution, careful throttle control, and often lower tire pressure to avoid sinking. Hauling nearly three and a half tons onto a beach without that preparation is asking for exactly what happened in this video.
High-profile recalls for steering and drive-inverter issues, wiper assemblies, and other problems have affected 2024 to 2026 Cybertrucks, alongside fit-and-finish complaints, including misaligned panels and odd noises. For a vehicle that was supposed to be “apocalypse-ready,” it has spent a surprising amount of time dealing with very terrestrial inconveniences.
This Is Not the First Time the Cybertruck Has Had a Beach Problem
If the Reddit video felt familiar, it is because the Cybertruck has been stuck in the sand before. Multiple times. A Tesla Cybertruck sank while attempting to traverse the dunes of a popular off-roading area north of Tillamook, Oregon, requiring a Dodge Ram to pull it out. And separately, a Cybertruck was stuck for days after attempting an off-road trail in California, while another found itself stuck in the snow in Canada.
There is a pattern developing here, and it is hard to ignore. Tesla markets the Cybertruck with all-wheel drive, adaptive air suspension, and multiple off-road drive modes, which on paper reads like a capable rig. But off-road experts point out that raw specifications do not guarantee performance in tricky terrain. A vehicle that can adjust its suspension in software is not the same as being properly equipped to drive on sand, especially when it weighs as much as a full-size work truck from a different era.
The stainless steel construction brings its own complications for coastal adventures, as prolonged saltwater exposure can lead to pitting corrosion over time, even in a material that is less susceptible to rust than conventional steel. So not only does the truck struggle to get around on the beach, but the beach is also mildly bad for it. A fun combination.
What We Can Learn From a Sienna Rescuing a Cybertruck
There are a few lessons buried in this video, and they go beyond dunking on an expensive truck.
First: marketing is not engineering. The Cybertruck was sold on spectacle, and spectacle does not lower your tire pressure before driving on sand. Any vehicle, no matter how many superlatives are attached to it in a press release, has real-world limitations that show up quickly when you push outside of ideal conditions.
Second: capability is not always loud. The Sienna did not show up at the beach with any promises about surviving a zombie apocalypse or doubling as a watercraft. It just quietly pulled a much more famous vehicle out of the hole it had dug itself into. Understated competence consistently outperforms overhyped bravado, a lesson that applies well beyond the automotive world.
Third: if you are going to drive anything on soft sand, do your homework first. Aired-down tires, appropriate approach angles, and knowing when to turn around are not optional extras. They are the difference between a fun beach day and starring in someone’s Reddit post.
And fourth: minivan moms contain multitudes. Do not test them.