A woman has revealed the horrifying ordeal faced when she topped her car up with oil instead of taking it to the garage – and it exploded.
Alexis Roddy was leisurely driving on the motorway when she suddenly noticed a light flash up on her dashboard.
The 20-year-old, who decided to take matters into her own hands, knew it was due to her car’s oil – and topped it up using some on hand.
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But then, she noticed smoke and flames spewing out from the bonnet and within minutes, the vehicle blew up and burned to a “crisp”.
“I pulled up and dove out the car as soon as I saw flames coming out the hood,” Alexis, who works at an art gallery, told What’s The Jam.
“In the moment, I mostly felt shock and helplessness.
“Although, once I reached a safe distance from the chaos, it was momentarily beautiful.
“There was nothing to do but watch as I waited for help.
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“Hearing tyres pop and glass shatter, feeling the flames grow hotter each second – it reminded me of all the precious things life gave me to be grateful for.”
Alexis, from Las Vegas, US, claims she didn’t notice any sounds or bangs, assuming everything was fine, while on the road in July 2023.
As her 2008 Nissan Sentra became nothing but dust, firefighters arrived, taking the remains to be scrapped.
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She said: “There was no investigation done on the cause of the explosion.
“After speaking with the mechanic and firefighters at the scene, and telling them my method of oil change, they told me I most likely overfilled it.
“My mum kept nagging me about getting an oil change or my ‘car would explode.’
“I didn’t believe her – I should have.
“Once I pulled the car over and saw flames under the hood I was pretty confident my DIY oil change was the cause.”
Now, in a bid to warn other drivers about the importance of getting an oil change done professionally, she’s taken to TikTok (@alexisproddy) – racking up 1.9 million views and 346,000 likes.
In the clip, Alexis can be seen sitting in front of the camera as she tells the story of what happened.
Users have flocked to the comments to share their reactions, with many people thanking her for reminding them about their own cars’ needs.
Frida said: “You can literally get an oil change at a drive through??? Like???”
Kristen commented: “Unless your car is burning/leaking oil you shouldn’t top it off. Just get the oil changed. It’s bad to over fill it.”
Seth wrote: “I’m due for my oil to change, this was a clear sign.”
Natalie added: “21 Jump Street style.”
Alyssa said: “This was my sign.”
River commented: “Thank you for reminding me to schedule my oil change.”
Alexis added: “Both my grandparents and my mum gave me a very long lecture about embracing responsibility.
“There were also a lot of ‘I told you so’s.’
“My family and some friends had joked before that I’d end up blowing up my car due to my below-average driving skills.
“I was very embarrassed when they were right.
“Looking back, knowing no one else was involved or hurt, my friends and I do try to laugh.
“It’s important to learn from my mistakes, but I don’t ever want to be angry at myself for them.
“I know much better now.”
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