I went to see the Tesla Cybertruck in person. It's surprisingly different up close.

I'm a car nut. When I was a kid, I read my dad's car magazines religiously.

I love vehicle design and the driving experience. So, when Tesla's Cybertruck came out, I put a $100 reservation down. When early versions began appearing on the streets, I devoured the photos and videos online.

My beloved wife of 20+ years has threatened to divorce me if I actually buy this vehicle. It's divisive, and not just because of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's controversial comments. You either love the Cybertruck's angular look, or you think it's too big and dumb.

The online footage does make the truck look large, especially the back, which looks high and bulky in photos.

Tesla recently put a Cybertruck in its Santana Row showroom in San Jose, California. I drove down to check it out up close and chatted to customers, employees, and other people who were there.

Here's what I found out and what I decided about my reservation — and the future of my marriage.

I arrived around midday. The Tesla showroom was relatively busy.

The truck was cordoned off, so you couldn't touch it or get inside.

"They've made it slightly smaller compared to the prototype, and you can see it's more compact."

A customer in his early 50s wearing a beanie said he'd made a reservation 4 years ago. He said he recently got the invitation to purchase and paid an extra $250 to secure that, choosing the high-end Cyberbeast model. He said he came to see the Cybertruck for the first time and thought it looked better in person. "They've made it slightly smaller compared to the prototype, and you can see it's more compact," he said. His wife stood beside him. I asked whether she liked the look, and she said yes, although not with the same gusto as her husband.

"Your wife is smart and correct."

A younger man in a brown jacket walked up to the truck. He said it looked cool. His wife beside him said it was "too big." I mentioned that my wife had threatened to divorce me if I bought this truck. "Your wife is smart and correct," she said. Another woman at the showroom said, "It's just so big. Too big."

My daughter thought it looked too big to park.

I brought my 17-year-old daughter with me. She had a negative reaction when she first saw the Cybertruck. "It's just so massive," she said. To her, it looked too big to park. It's longer than some versions of the Ford F-150, which a showroom employee confirmed, saying it was a few inches longer.

I didn't think the rear looked too large, and it was slightly lower than I expected.

The corners at the back weren't too high.

But the sharp corners looked as if they might do serious damage to anything that came into contact with them.

The tonneau cover blocks rear visibility.

When the tonneau cover is up over the truck bay, there's likely to be zero rear visibility when reversing. A salesperson said this was solved by multiple cameras for visibility when reversing and parking.