Nicole Gonzalez v. Take 5 LLC

Let’s get one thing straight: this is not a movie plot, though it sure as hell reads like one. A woman walks into a car wash, gets told by employees it’s totally fine to step out of her vehicle mid-service, and promptly plummets into an oil pit like she’s auditioning for a slapstick reboot of Die Hard. Welcome to Gonzalez v. Take 5 LLC, where the only thing deeper than the pit is the sheer audacity of the situation.

Nicole Gonzalez is just your average Oklahoma City resident trying to keep her car clean and her life drama-free—until July 18, 2024, when she pulled into Take 5 #89, that fast-lube joint on North May Avenue that promises “oil changes in five minutes or less.” You know the type: bright red branding, employees in matching shirts, the kind of place where you drive in with a coffee in one hand and existential dread in the other. Take 5 LLC, the defendant, is technically a North Carolina-based company, but don’t let that fool you—they’ve set up shop all over Oklahoma, registered with the state, and apparently, they’ve also set up oil pits without proper signage, guardrails, or common sense. Nicole wasn’t there to start trouble. She was just there to get her oil changed. But fate, and apparently two overconfident lube technicians, had other plans.

Here’s how the day unfolded, according to the petition: Nicole drives her car into the service bay, engine humming, ready for the quick in-and-out experience Take 5 advertises. At some point, the employees—described in the filing as “two young males” (and honestly, that detail alone gives this whole thing a Jackass prequel vibe) —tell her she can get out of the car to “check on the work.” Now, let’s pause for a second. If you’ve ever been to one of these places, you know the drill: you stay in the car. Always. It’s like the first rule of Lube Club. There are moving parts, hydraulic lifts, greasy floors, and pits full of who-knows-what beneath you. But Nicole, trusting the so-called professionals in the bright red uniforms, does what she’s told. She opens the door. She steps out. And then—splat—she falls into an oil pit. Yes, an actual oil pit. Not a puddle. Not a slick spot. An open pit. Like something out of a cartoon where Wile E. Coyote finally catches up with gravity.

Now, we don’t know exactly how deep this pit is—whether it’s ankle-deep or full-on Indiana Jones plunge—but we do know Nicole didn’t walk away unscathed. The filing says she sustained “significant injuries,” racked up medical bills, lost income, and is still dealing with the aftermath. And look, we’re not doctors, but falling into a pit full of used motor oil probably isn’t great for your spine, your pride, or your dry cleaning bill. The real kicker? The employees told her it was safe. They didn’t yell “Wait!” They didn’t blow a whistle. They didn’t even toss her a life preserver. They just let her step into what was essentially a grease-filled abyss, like it was no big deal.

So why are we in court? Because Nicole is suing Take 5 LLC for negligence. And before you roll your eyes and say, “Lady, you fell into an oil pit—what did you expect?”—let’s break this down. In legal terms, negligence means someone failed to act with the level of care that a reasonable person would in the same situation. And here, Take 5 isn’t just being accused of dropping the ball—they’re being accused of actively rolling it off a cliff. The petition lists multiple ways the company allegedly screwed up: they didn’t keep the premises safe, didn’t warn people about the oil pit (which, again, is kind of a big deal), didn’t train their employees properly, and—this one’s wild—they encouraged Nicole to get out of the car after she’d already driven into a hazardous work zone. That’s like telling someone it’s safe to walk behind a running lawnmower because “we’ve got this under control.” Spoiler: they did not.

The lawsuit also takes a shot at Take 5’s hiring and training practices. Were these employees even trained on safety protocols? Did they know what an oil pit looks like? (One hopes so.) And more importantly, did anyone at corporate ever think, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t tell customers to exit their vehicles in an area where literal pits of oil exist?” Apparently not. Because according to the filing, Take 5 violated its own rules by giving Nicole the all-clear to step out. So this isn’t just about a random accident—it’s about a company allegedly ignoring its own safety standards and putting customers at risk. That’s not just negligent. That’s extra negligent.

Now, what does Nicole want? A cool $25,000. Not $50,000. Not a million. Twenty-five grand. For injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and “other expenses.” Is that a lot? Well, depends on your perspective. If you’re Take 5 LLC, a multi-state lube chain, $25K is probably less than what they spend on red uniforms in a quarter. But for Nicole? That could cover a mountain of physical therapy, missed paychecks, and therapy for the trauma of realizing you trusted a stranger in a baseball cap over your own instincts. And let’s be real—this isn’t just about the money. It’s about accountability. It’s about making sure the next person who pulls into Take 5 #89 doesn’t end up in an oil bath before their oil change is even done.

Our take? Look, we’re not saying Nicole should’ve known better. We’re not the “she should’ve read the fine print” crowd. This isn’t a case of someone ignoring warning signs and diving headfirst into danger. This is a case of a business telling a customer, “Hey, come on out, everything’s fine,” while standing next to what is essentially an industrial trapdoor. The most absurd part? That this seems to have been preventable with basic safety training, proper signage, or—here’s a novel idea—just not telling customers to get out of their cars in a mechanic’s work zone. We’re also low-key rooting for Nicole, not because we love lawsuits, but because this feels like a classic case of a corporation cutting corners until someone gets hurt. And while $25,000 won’t fix everything, it might be enough to make Take 5 think twice before giving out safety advice like it’s a game of Operation and someone’s about to hit the buzzer.

So here’s hoping the court sees it the same way. And here’s hoping Take 5 installs some guardrails—preferably before their next customer tries to “check on the work” and ends up needing a hazmat team.