'He Told Everyone In The Shop About That': Woman Calls Jiffy Lube For An Oil Change. Then She Reveals It's For A Tesla

A Jiffy Lube employee is being praised for his response to a customer who jokingly asked him for an oil change for her Tesla Model X.

TikTok user @m.i.a.Harley has published several videos of herself asking different automotive businesses for non-EV services on a Tesla vehicle. In this clip, she contacts a different Jiffy Lube to ask about an oil change, and in this video, she asks an AutoZone worker for a price quote on an entirely new battery for her Model X. 

But a clip posted Dec. 30 featured a candid and kind response from an employee named Mitchell who genuinely thought she didn’t know electric vehicles don’t need oil changes. Judging from his replies, it appeared he was trying to ensure she wasn’t ever charged for services her car doesn’t need.

Model X Oil Change Prank

In the video, the TikToker calls a Jiffy Lube and asks Mitchell for the price of an oil change. 

“What kind of car? I got you,” he tells the caller, whereupon she says she’s in a Tesla.

“A Tesla?” he asks incredulously.

“Yeah,” she says. “It’s saying on the screen that I needed maintenance, so I’m assuming it’s an oil change or something like that.”

Patience And Kindness

Mitchell responds patiently: “So an electric vehicle … you don’t have any oil in there. So there’s no oil change for that,” he says. When the TikToker repeats the car’s maintenance message, he continues to gently respond. “You don’t have any type of oil inside of your vehicle at all. Your car is considered an electric vehicle. You’re part of the future, you know what I’m saying?”

As the video continues, Mitchell confesses, “At first I thought you were messing with me. But no, if you have an electric vehicle and it’s telling you maintenance. What you need to do is take it to the dealer for sure to make sure there’s nothing wrong with it, okay?”

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In captions for her video, @m.i.a.Harley commends Mitchell for being “so nice” and patient.

Other Confused EV Drivers

While Harley’s clip was a prank, there have been other electric vehicle drivers who honestly thought their cars needed fossil fuels to operate.

In this viral clip, a woman who parked her Tesla Model S at a gas station can be seen walking around the vehicle, trying to figure out where to pour fuel inside of it.

While that video was uploaded seven years ago, there are other instances of folks trying to do just that. In 2024, a Cybertruck driver was ridiculed after folks spotted the angular EV waiting in a gas station line.

What Kind of Maintenance Does A Tesla Need?

With gas-powered vehicles, drivers must conscientiously perform oil and filter changes at regular mileage intervals. Not to mention other fluid swaps, like engine coolant, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, differential fluid, and brake fluid. But these aren’t the only maintenance protocols that need to be adhered to to ensure a vehicle lasts a long time.

Electric vehicles have fewer moving parts than their internal combustion counterparts, which means that there are fewer components to maintain. But that doesn’t mean they’re entirely maintenance free, either. Tesla, for instance, recommends that drivers perform a “brake fluid health check” every four years—or more often if you’re braking more “due to towing, mountain descents, or performance driving.” Tesla owners also should replace their cabin air filters every two years and replace the two HEPA and carbon filters every three years.

Windshield wiper blades should be changed each year, and if drivers live in an area where roads are salted during winter months, they should have their brake calipers “clean[ed] and lubricate[d] … every year or 12,500 miles.”

Tesla also recommends tire rotations every 6,200 miles or when their rubber’s “tread depth difference is 1.5mm or greater.”

InsideEVs has reached out to Tesla and @m.i.a.Harley for further comment.

 

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