Furious Land Rover owner blocks dealership in row over repairs to £120,000 car

A furious Land Rover owner blocked the entrance to a dealership in a six-hour stand-off after being denied warranty repairs on his £120,000 motor.

Rob Kelly, a 31-year-old dad from Harrogate, chronicled his blockade in a series of TikTok videos, which have been viewed millions of times.

He said he had some work done on the 2022 Urban Defender to fix a gear issue in January without a problem.

But when he returned to Vertu Land Rover in Leeds asking for further work to be done mend the car’s engine, the dealership refused.

Rob is adamant the motor remains under a three-year warranty – meaning repairs should be done free of charge.

He estimated if he had to foot the bill for the repair it would cost £20,000.

Rob said: ‘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.

‘They [staff at Vertu Land Rover] kept saying I needed to move the truck to which I said, “I’m not going to do. I’ll move it when I’ve got my engine”.

‘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 down and I’m going to say the same to them. I’m not moving it”.

‘It was parked on such a nightmare of an angle across the road you couldn’t get to the front of it.

‘Nothing would have picked it up anyway. It couldn’t have been moved by a recovery truck; it was too big.

‘The police came, they couldn’t make me move it, so they left, and I stayed there with my truck.’

The following day Rob was invited to the dealership where he says staff said they would 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.’

Rob says he’s been told that the engine is on order and that he will be given a courtesy car in the meantime.

A Vertu spokesman 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.’

JLR acknowledged Vertu’s comment in response to the row.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: ‘At 12.42pm on Tuesday, February 18, 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.’

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