A south Auckland car dealer has threatened a customer's life and smashed his own office window during an explosive dispute over a faulty vehicle.
The incident, which took place at NZ Cars Ltd in Papatoetoe on Tuesday, was filmed and posted online by Whangaparaoa local Josh Ryan.
An argument erupted after Ryan confronted NZ Cars managing director Philip Watson about a car he'd test-driven, complaining that he was selling it "as a mint legal car" despite Ryan's claims it had a missing brake pad, a grindy gearbox and an airbag that had fallen out of place.
In the clip, Watson can be seen trying to issue a trespass notice to Ryan, who he told Newshub remained on the premises despite repeated requests to leave.
"Get the f**k off my yard," Watson can be heard yelling at Ryan, as employees swarm to push Ryan onto the street. "You're f**king irritating me, alright?"
Watson then walks to the external wall of his office and punches a hole in his own window, before turning back to Ryan and yelling: "That's your f**king head, c**t! Get the f**k off my yard now... [unintelligible] or I'll f**king kill you."
Since Ryan posted the footage to Facebook on Tuesday, it's been viewed more than 60,000 times - but Watson says it doesn't tell the whole story.
He admits the incident "wasn't my finest hour" and concedes the car Ryan test-drove did have issues, but says he was up-front about the gearbox defects and offered Ryan $2000 off the retail price.
"I'm a genuine guy, I run a good business… I'm not a c**t, I'm not an idiot," he told Newshub.
Watson claims Ryan was on the premises for 40 minutes before the footage was filmed, complaining about the car's faults. He says the footage was "the very tail-end of everything", which was why he got so worked up.
"He came on the yard, said there were problems," Watson explained.
"He argued with my staff, then refused to move from my office after being asked. I then trespassed him and escorted him off the yard personally.
"[The incident] wasn't my finest hour, but it was the very tail-end of everything, when he came back."
However Ryan contests this version of events, telling Newshub he was there for "20 minutes tops", and was only told to leave when he started filming.
He also disputes claims Watson made to Newshub that he left messages threatening to burn the car yard down, saying: "Not a chance that's true. I haven't contacted him."
Watson claims to have recordings of these messages, but says he didn't want to release them to media until he'd received advice from his lawyer.
The messages are part of a "hate and harassment campaign" against NZ Cars Ltd led by Ryan, Watson says, which he claims has included Ryan's friends leaving bad reviews to try and sink the business.
"This guy has just set out to destroy us," Watson said. "He started an online hate campaign immediately, and is currently sending abusive messages and threats."
Ryan denies leading any hate campaign - "it’s just how life works, I can't help or stop that," he told Newshub - and says Watson was the one who infringed on him during the confrontation.
He also claims Watson assaulted both him and a staff member during the incident, although this isn't supported by the footage. In the clip, Watson can be seen pushing Ryan off the premises, but says "if he wants to call that assault, I'm happy to speak to police about it".
Watson says he visited his local police station on Wednesday morning to complain about harassment and threats to his staff before speaking to his lawyer about potential legal action.
A police spokesperson told Newshub they received a call about threats made at the car yard just before 2pm on Tuesday. They are yet to receive a formal report in relation to the incident, but will be making follow-up enquiries.
