Cody Detwiler, known online as WhistlinDiesel, has carved out a massive audience on YouTube through a unique and often controversial content model centered on the destruction and extreme testing of vehicles. His channel’s success is rooted in the promise that he delivers exactly what the video title suggests, eschewing the “clickbait” he criticizes in others. Lately, his online presence has overwhelming been focused on coverage of his tax evasion.
Content That Fueled His Rise
WhistlinDiesel’s videos primarily revolve around pushing cars, trucks, farm equipment, and other off-road machines to their absolute limits—and often past them. His signature style is to acquire popular or expensive vehicles and proceed to subject them to unconventional and highly destructive “durability tests.” This includes:
- Extreme Durability Tests: Videos where he performs daring stunts and adrenaline-fueled escapades with vehicles, showcasing his fearless spirit. One example is using a Ferrari F8 Tributo, which he bought “just to destroy it,” to “feed farm animals, go fishing, and make sensitive people upset.”
- Wrecking Expensive and Classic Items: A recurring theme is taking precious vehicles, including some very old and rare cars like a Model T, and absolutely trashing them. This calculated chaos, or “destruction into a business model,” as one source puts it, is what has garnered a loyal fanbase and made him a top content creator in the automotive scene.
Controversies and Online Beefs
While his content generates millions of views, WhistlinDiesel has also been a magnet for controversy.
The Relationship That Offends Everyone
In a video titled “The relationship that offends everyone,” the YouTuber introduced his girlfriend, Daria Grossman, who he mentions is a Russian woman. Detwiler states that in the six months prior to introducing her, he learned a new language, toured new countries, lived in Dubai, and experienced various cultures, all thanks to meeting her. The title of his video alludes to the backlash or strong reactions his relationship has received online.
Beef with August the Duck
WhistlinDiesel has been the subject of commentary videos by fellow YouTuber AugustTheDuck. AugustTheDuck, known for content that is often negative and focuses on people doing “f***ed up things,” has created videos critical of WhistlinDiesel’s actions, including one titled “This YouTuber is Ruining His Career.” In August 2025, AugustTheDuck created another video on the subject with the title “I Was Right About This Guy,” suggesting a long-standing criticism of Detwiler’s behavior. AugustTheDuck also uploaded a video about Detwiler’s arrest.
Arrest for Alleged Tax Evasion
On Wednesday, November 11, 2025, WhistlinDiesel (Cody Detwiler) was arrested in Williamson County, Tennessee, on claims of tax evasion. According to an indictment in the Tennessee circuit court, Detwiler “did unlawfully and willfully attempt in any manner to evade or defeat any tax due the State of Tennessee in an amount of five hundred dollars ($500) or more, to-wit: sales tax due on the purchase of a 2020 Ferrari F8 Tributo.”
The specific Ferrari in question is the $400,000 supercar that was featured in his videos and eventually caught fire while speeding through a corn field in August 2023. The vehicle was notably wearing Montana plates. Detwiler was released from jail after posting a $200,000 bond.
His mugshot went viral, and Detwiler himself posted photos and a video of himself being walked away in handcuffs with the caption, “Won so big they thought I was cheating. (100% real not AI).” This incident comes after he famously faked an arrest in 2022 for a video, though multiple sources confirm that the 2025 arrest for tax evasion was real.
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