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Just been down to the local Halfords to buy a rear wiper blade for Mrs V's Skoda. £6 for 1 rather ordinary 16" blade! Whilst there I just happened to notice that the Bosch 20" blades I recently bought for both our cars were £19.99 a pair. They only cost £4.99 (+DRAT) a pair @ Costco. Don't know what sort of margin Costco are working on but it makes you wonder just how much profit stores like Halfords make on these.
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Shops charge what they can, based on gaining a reputation through advertising and a high street presence. Places like Dixon, Boots, Jessops etc can charge horrendous amounts compared to the best deals around if you search a bit.
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Try finding a 26" blade with a spoiler. £15 for halford own brand, everyone else says they will have to ring the supplier next week. Couldn't find a blade that fits the C5, Valeo make one that is listed for the 307, but the adapters don't fit.
Ben
On my 3rd Citroen. Saxo, Xsara, C5.
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Shame on you volvoman.
If you know the prices at Costco, what on earth are you doing going to Halfords?
Also German, Swedish and French.
Eurocarparts etc.
If you patronise Halfords they won't learn and will keep lifting motorist's legs.
Boycott them and I bet we'll see 80% off sales.
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Yes but is it worth a long round trip to your nearest branch of Costco to save 50% on 2 wiper blades? If you are going there anyway it is a good deal but it isn't worth a special trip IMHO!
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Sean - You're right of course but I had to get a Haynes manual for Mrs V's car and Costco don't sell the smaller blade required for the rear screen.
AS - it depends really - I bought 2 pairs of blades for £9.98+drat (my mental arithmetic calculates that to be <£17.50 which is a £22.50 saving on the Halfords price PLUS I got loads of other gear too - most of which is far cheaper than in the shops and normal cash & carry type outlets. The only problem with Coscto is that I rarely spend less than a few hundred quid a time :-(
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I think I pay about a tenner a pair for Bosch from my local motorfactors. 19" I think I bought. The nearest costco to me is about 30 miles away so definitely not worth the trip.
teabelly
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Euro is pretty good - something like £3.20 + VAT each for my 20" blades. Beats Halfords at £6.99 and the franchise at £12.
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Not bought a wiper blade in Britain for years. Stock up in France (for our 4 family cars which I seem to pay all the bills for!)where any brand you like is half the price of here. Rip-off Britain (sorry eMBe).
But is it worth a special journey?? Only if you buy a good stock of diesel, engine oil, filters tools, tyres, fags, wine, beer, detergent, food, mortgages, houses, land etc while you are there
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Teabelly - Costco has a range of motoring and DIY products including batteries, tyres, oils, screenwash, tools, car mats, radar detectors etc. etc., plus of course all sorts of household goods, sports/leisure items, food, wines/ spirits and electrical products. Stuff like TV's (all of which come with a 3 year guarantee), DVD players, video cameras are MUCH cheaper than anywhere else I've been and unlike some of the better known high street stores - Costco will refund or replace any item without any problems at all. I've been a member for years so I'd recommend a trip but in your case not to buy just a pair of wipers.
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When I was driving my old Renault, I was told that nowhere sold wiper blades for that model other than Renault themselves, who quoted me £40 per blade.
Luckily the local breakers obliged at £5 per go. And V, before you say it, yes even that trebled the value of the car.
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Do you mean blades or the wiper arms HF? Or did that price include fitting with the mandatory half hour's labour per job?
My Renault (4 years newer than yours) took standard blades with no problem. I think the spoiler was upside down on some Halfords ones though so it was replaced by some spoilerless ones.
Even at £5 per go they saw you coming for used blades, although I suppose it's not too bad if they removed and fitted them for you as well.
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Ah - it may be that it was the whole arms I was referring to David. Fitting didn't come into it, the £40 was just the purchase price. Strange that your car took the standard blades and mine didn't though. Halfords definitely told me I had to go direct to Renault.
>>Even at £5 per go they saw you coming for used blades, although I suppose it's not too bad if they removed and fitted them for you as well.
Ahem - no they didn't remove or fit them - I had to do that myself. So yet again I have been 'had'!
I think I'm going to apply for a sex-change.
"I'm very intelligent really, just got good at hiding it."
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Luckily the local breakers obliged at £5 per go.
Lucky for them more like!! £5 for second hand wiper blades?? You obviously haven't discovered what the lower part of your tool box is handy for at breaker yards HF ;o)
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Boy do I feel like an idiot!
(Any idea where I can get hold of one at short notice?)
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Boy do I feel like an idiot! (Any idea where I can get hold of one at short notice?)
Sorry, I've absolutely no idea where you can get hold of an idiot at short notice.
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Boy do I feel like an idiot! (Any idea where I can get hold of one at short notice?)
At my place of work we have a full range of idiots.
If you can be a bit more specific about size/age/level of idiocy I am sure I can find one available immediately. In fact, if you take one from management I'll throw in a few more free...
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LMAO!!!
I'm not that fussed as to spec - although I suppose if they are to be my equal in terms of idiocy then we are looking towards the top of the range, so management sounds good.
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but it makes you wonder just how much profit stores like Halfords make on these.>>
The answer, as given in another thread, is that Halfords last published figures - in round terms - show that they made a profit of 7% (£35m) on a turnover of £500m (i.e. they make 7p on every £1).
I will refrain from commenting on whether this is ROB(rip-off-Britain) or not - because I have said enough re. Halfords prices on previous threads - see
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=12...2
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=12...2
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Noticed that complete blades for my 2001 model Passat were approx £39 a pair at my local accesory shop. The VW dealer does not keep standard items in stock.They are a weird rubber construction.
Think I'll just get replacement rubbers again at ~ £6.
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I wondered how much Volkswagen's fancy looking wipers would cost to replace.
I have a Punto, and its rear wiper blade is a dealer only idea [guess you have to buy the plastic bit too], andway, no Fiat dealers in Sheffield, so bought the rubbber from Halfords, bout 4p for 2 lengths, made my own.
Save me time, money, and effort, was quite fun too!
Kev
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Express Factors are often worth a try.
They are the spares arm of Rover dealerships, but stock the Unipart brand.
Go in and have a friendly chat and ask for their best discount.
Having worked at a branch I know the sales assistants tend to be given fairly free rein.
H
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I used to work for said company and know for a fact that there fuses and other bits from the odd pack stand have a 600% profit margin, wouldn't suprise me if they were making a similar amount on the blades.
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