A determined driver blocked the entrance to a Land Rover dealership for six hours after they refused to fix his engine under warranty.
Rob Kelly, a 31-year-old dad from Harrogate, detailed his battle with Land Rover in a series of TikTok videos which have gained millions of views.
The dispute began when Rob’s £120,000 Urban Defender Land Rover broke down in January, with the dealership initially agreeing to fix a problem with its gears under warranty with no issue.
But when Rob, who is himself a director of his own used car dealership, returned asking for further work to be done to fix the car’s engine, Vertu Land Rover in Leeds refused.
In protest, the adamant Rob decided to block the entrance to the dealership ‘until I get a new engine,’ beginning a six-hour standoff.
The 31-year-old insists his motor remains under a three-year warranty – meaning repairs should be done for free.
‘My Defender has had problems for ages, it had problems going into gear so it was stuck,’ he said.
‘The first excuse they used was “we’re not covering it because there’s no oil in it.” My response to that was something has gone wrong while I was driving that’s lead to it.
‘There’s something on the engine, obviously there’s a hole somewhere and all the oil’s come out. There was oil all over the bottom of the car.
‘Then what they tried to say is “you’re overdue your service mileage.” They point blank refused to do it.’
‘I went to Land Rover with my truck. They rang me that morning and said “under no circumstances are you having your warranty work done, you have to pay for the engine yourself”.
‘That’s when we blocked outside Land Rover with the truck and politely explained to everyone that the truck doesn’t move until I’ve got my engine.’
Indeed, in TikTok posts, the 31-year-old is seen telling scores of drivers stuck behind his lorry, perched in front of the entrance to the dealership: ‘Stop wasting your time, that lorry’s not moving until I get a new engine.’
‘They [the staff at Vertu Land Rover] kept saying I needed to move the truck. They said they’d call the police. I said “that’s fine, I’m not bothered, you can call the police. They’re going to come and I’m going to say the same. I’m not moving it.”
‘The police came, they couldn’t make me move it, so they left and I stayed there with my truck.’
After a stand off which last six hours, the dad-of-one eventually went home, ready to return to the Leeds dealership the next day.
The following morning, Rob says he was invited to the dealership for a meeting but Land Rover requested that he delete his TikTok posts – he refused.
At last, nevertheless, that morning the 31-year-old won his battle, with the dealership agreeing to complete the work on his car for free ‘as a gesture of goodwill.’
Rob said: ‘They rang me and said “can you come down for a one-to-one?” They asked me if I’d remove all the videos, which obviously I said no.
‘All I wanted was my engine doing. That is it, it’s the minimum I deserved. At the end of the day, the car is under warranty. It’s broken and you need to fix it, it’s as simple as that.
‘I’ve not gone in there and demanded a brand-new car, I just want my engine fixed. I don’t want anything else, I don’t want any extras.
‘I just want my engine so I can get on with my life, to be able to go to the supermarket, be able to drop my little girl off at nursery and pick her up.
‘Just basic things you should be able to do as a car owner. It’s ridiculous.. Getting left with no car is just a joke.’
The driver is currently waiting for his new engine to arrive, and is driving a courtesy car supplied by the dealership in the mean time.
Rob’s blogging of the ordeal on TikTok has gained millions of views in just a matter of days.
If he had had to pay for the bill himself, Rob estimates it could have cost him around £20,000.
A spokesperson for Vertu said: ‘After reviewing the case, we believe our colleagues correctly interpreted the warranty and service agreement terms.
‘However, we have worked with the client and JLR [Jaguar Land Rover] to resolve the issue, repairing the vehicle as a goodwill gesture.’
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: ‘At 12:42 on Tuesday 18 February police were called to a report of an HGV causing an obstruction on Sheepscar Way, Leeds, after it had been parked across the entrance of a business.
‘Officers attended and the vehicle was removed voluntarily. No offences were recorded.’