‘You realize them doing this is illegal?’: Walmart Oil change turns into a joyride for employees

A driver in Texas shared a TikTok of Walmart oil change employees absolutely flooring his Dodge Daytona’s engine while the car was still in the service bay, turning what should’ve been a routine maintenance stop into a viral headache.

The Atlanta-area creator, who goes by Zayy on TikTok, shared the infuriating moment from the waiting area, and you can clearly hear his high-performance engine being revved right up into the redline.

The video quickly blew up, getting well over a million views, and it sparked a huge wave of outrage from viewers. For most people, you’re dropping your car off for a simple service, and you just shouldn’t have to worry about the shop crew joyriding your engine behind closed doors. The comments section was an absolute mess, with people weighing in on everything from the legality of it to the sheer stupidity. It’s better than putting water in the tank, though.

One commenter was particularly blunt, writing, “You realize them doing this is illegal?” On the other hand, you had someone joking, “Sue for what… $2 in gas?” However, if you know about cars at all, you’d know the damage from having one get redlined for no reason may end up being far more than $2.

Walmart employees show why you shouldn’t take your car there

If you’ve ever gotten an oil change, you know the process is supposed to be quick and clean. According to Walmart’s own Auto Care Center page, their process includes “checking engine performance,” but that absolutely doesn’t call for any high-RPM tests. Typically, a technician just starts the vehicle briefly after the service to circulate the new oil and check for any leaks, but anything beyond that falls outside of the standard, safe procedure.

Now, a mechanic might lightly rev an engine to confirm the oil flow or pressure consistency, but holding the throttle near the redline is seriously risky. For an engine with high mileage or even just older seals, flooring it like that can cause real damage. We’re talking about things like oil pressure spikes, piston speed doubling, and a major increase in heat. All of these can accelerate wear on your engine, especially if it hasn’t had a chance to fully warm up.

It’s like demanding an Olympic sprint from someone who hasn’t even laced up their shoes yet. Many viewers warned that this kind of behavior could lead to some seriously expensive issues, like blown gaskets or spun bearings. What’s even worse for you, the owner, is the risk of voiding your warranty. Automakers specifically reserve the right to deny claims if a failure is caused by abuse or negligence, and they can ask to test your vehicle.

So if these employees caused a problem, you might be footing the bill yourself. To be fair, proving that a few seconds of revving caused damage would be incredibly difficult without immediate, visible damage, but the risk is there, and that’s enough to make anyone furious. As one viewer succinctly put it: “Regardless, someone else not revving my car when I drop it off.”