Cybertruck Owner Finds Out “Wade Mode” Is Actually “Sink Mode”

Disclaimer: This article is based on actual news from the real world – honestly! However, it has been sprinkled with a healthy dose of satire.

Before the Tesla Cybertruck came along, it was a little bit harder to single out douchebags on the road. Sure, there were your jacked-up pickups that “roll coal” to own the libs, but generally, you’d have to get cut off or excessively honked at to figure out who the biggest jerks on the road were. Thanks to Elon Musk, however, since late 2023, all you have to do is look at the comically futuristic angular lines of the Cybertruck to know someone entitled paid at least $70k for a status symbol that quickly became a laughingstock. And while the initial “point and laugh” phase has died down, the trucks and the people inside them are still capable of doing dumb stuff. Like “Wade Mode,” for example. 

What’s Wade Mode? Ask Jimmy Jack McDaniel, Texas resident and Cybertruck owner. We’re not sure if he’s underwater on his car loan, but his vehicle is very much underwater, and he’s got the criminal record to prove it. See, Wade Mode lets Cybertruck drivers cruise through rivers and creeks, lifting the truck and allowing it to traverse through water up to 31 inches deep. Why? Perhaps because being the biggest asshat on land alone just doesn’t cut it sometimes. At any rate, Jimmy Jack McDaniel (sorry – we’re using his full name again – it’s just a great name!) decided to test this feature out by taking it down a boat ramp into Grapevine Lake. And we heard it through the Grapevine… Police that Wade Mode didn’t work out.

McDaniel quickly found out that Wade Mode didn’t work as advertised after the truck took on water and wound up completely submerged. Thankfully for him and his passenger, they were able to escape the Cybertruck. Unfortunately, he was unable to escape the long arm of the law. He was arrested and charged with operating a vehicle in a closed section of a park or lake, having no valid boat registration, and other water safety equipment violations, and was thrown in jail, where we’re assuming his cellmates are still laughing at him. 

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A man was arrested after police say he intentionally drove a Tesla Cybertruck into Grapevine Lake to test its “wade mode” feature. Officers were dispatched to the Katie’s Woods boat ramp at Grapevine Lake just before 8 p.m. Monday. When officers arrived, they found the Cybertruck in the water near the shoreline. The driver told officers he drove into the lake on purpose to try out the vehicle’s “wade mode.” The driver and his passengers safely exited the vehicle before the Grapevine Fire Department’s water rescue team removed it from the lake. The driver was arrested and charged with operating a vehicle in a closed section of a park or lake, having no valid boat registration and numerous water safety equipment violations. He remains in the Grapevine Jail as of Tuesday afternoon.

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If McDaniel plans on getting restitution from Tesla, he’ll be let down by them for a second time. Apparently, the manual, when speaking of Wade Mode, says that soft or muddy underwater surfaces may cause the Cybertruck to sink. It also states that it’s the driver’s responsibility to gauge the depth of water and that “damage or water ingress to Cybertruck as a result of driving in water is not covered by the warranty.” So if you’re in the Texas area and see a deal on a used Cybertruck that’s too good to be true, it may have spent some time in a lake. Also, may we humbly suggest not buying a Cybertruck in general?

To read Drew Curtis’ Odd Take on this story, click here.