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Yeah especialy compared to one of the other big companies I have a lot of involvment with (clue - computers).
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Not sure why they woudn't just fit onto the wiper arms - are the new ones flat blades? What brand?
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Its a Corsa B late model, I think the arms are original the connector was wrong even though the arms were correct. The blades are Halfords make but look much better quality than the Wilko ones I have bought in the past.
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ive said before but here goes
i buy my blades with all the bits at my factors,im anoyed these 18 inch ers have gone up but they are now over a pound each,they take 25 seconds to fit each side and a monkey could do it
so 0/10 to the halfords fitter from me
and i always upsell halfords normally
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'Ah pays to have that **** done.'
Abraham, a dock worker and Cadillac owner, talking about having his car washed, in Last Exit to Brooklyn (Hubert Selby Junior, 1959).
Honestly Rattolo. How could you?
Edited by Lud on 09/05/2009 at 21:39
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I sort of like Halfords. Our one is on a big retail park. It must be one of their larger branches. I go in with my 9 year old son when his Ma is wandering about some of the other shops feeling clothes.
Usually we only buy something mundane like the three for two screenwash or whatever but it's so full of stuff isn't it ? Fancy radios, the latest sat nav, embarrassing wheels., car mats with Disney characters embroidered on them. Who could fail to be a little bit intrigued ? I can't imagine buying any of the above really, well, unless someone nicks my TomTom. He likes the bike bit. Our local branch is big enough that you can test ride them in the shop. He loves that. Other customers don't really I guess. Makes me want to buy yet another bike every time but we rarely do. All manner of bike stuff. Knobbly tyres, skinny tyres, kevlar reinforced tyres, you just know you ought to have some of those.
How about a tent ? They're cheap eh ? Free sleeping bag and a compass, can't be bad. We should get one. Go anywhere at the weekends then. S'pose we should get one of those fancy bike racks for the car too. How much ?.....Maybe another time. Those trailers are kinda useful looking. What would I put in it ? Have to get a towbar though.....
Then there's the tools. Never seen one of those before. Might come in handy. When exactly ?... I know, never probably.
Oh hi darling, bought anything nice ?
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tents in morrisons scarborough last monday £9.99
as for all the other stuff?
well its fine for "the lads innit"
i take all this lads tat off cars
blue seat covers
chrome gear knobs
lexus back lights
8x4"s in the parcel shelf (poor poor parcel shelf)
mats with chrome feet on
white indicators
steering wheel covers
boom boom boxes in the boot
silly air filters
silly oil breathers on the gearbox breather
silly wheels
silly windscreen washers
silly windscreen wipers x1
well looked after?
of course
last owner a lady
innit
test drive
er go on then
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When I needed a replacement rear wipe blade (from Halfords), which didn't fit when I attempted to fit it in their car park, they were only too happy for me to take and try another brand before paying for it.
On my last Focus I purchased a battery replacement and unfortunately they didn't have anyone around at the time who could fit it (outside normal fitting hours), so they provided me with a set of tools and I did it myself. Had to repeat the process a few weeks later as their battery developed a fault, that battery was ok.
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Flog it all on flea-bay do you BB?
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silly air filters
... silly in what way bb?
I ask because I have always regarded Halfords as a useful supermarket selling car consumables. Should I abandon it in favour of those Sikhs in the Harrow Road? Just asking.
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The point was that something was wrong with my arms (e.g nione original GM) and instead of sahing that they made the effort to fit them. I spent E18 a pair in total so it is £8 more than Bellboy would pay trade. Instead of spending the afternoon swearing that my arms would not fit I spent it playing Simcity4 instead. I then went to the pubs and had enough units to make the NHS scared,
The thing about Halfords too is you know you will never get a fake.
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something was wrong with my arms <<
Glad it didn't hinder your unit consumption though, ( Boddingtons i presume?, did you have the flake luv ?? )
Wonder why someone changed the arms, i have only once in 40+ years had to do that, easy peasy though, just have to be careful to line up the new arms properly (and i did need help from Mr WD40 - or was it Plus Gas ? to get the old arms off)
I wouldn't knock Halfords either, ok you could - and i do - try and do better, but you know if all else fails, they can almost always come up with the goods. Last year i replaced a Norbar torque wrench (had it for years) which suddenly fell to bits, with one of their "professional" models, as recommended by a couple of comparison tests, and i must say it does feel a quality piece of kit, so no complaints there.
Edited by stan10 on 10/05/2009 at 06:19
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They sold me a battery for the 1.9D Punto, saying it was correct, but when I got it home it needed a strip of wood making so the clamp would hold it in. It then started to weaken after 18 months, only just starting when cold.
They tested it with a little hand held tester and said it was fine and wouldn`t replace it, despite having 6 months warranty left.
The guy seemed reluctant to make eye contact after this.......
Replaced it with a Fiat battery from the dealer which was cheaper - massive difference on start up.
Also Mobil 1 has seemingly been selling at £47 - it`s up to £10 cheaper at some other outlets.
As for wiper blades, I`m reminded of buying a pair of jeans for £3.99 in Primark and then walking through a big major clothing store. There was a bloke there looking at a pair of £60 jeans, with that well known label sewn on the back.
He looked the fashion victim too - shoes belt watch and so on. I glanced at the label. made in China too, perhaps in the same workshop.
Think of the mark-up on wiper blades. Let`s say an average set costs £20 - That`s 100 sets of wiper blades with a retail value of £2,000.
Simple assemblies of pressed steel and rubber - with a material cost of pence.
I wonder how many can be got into a crate or container, coming in from China. It seems a farce and rip off.
Yours, the cynic - as always ;-)
oilrag
Note to Rattle
How could you hand over cash for fitting blades !!
Edited by oilrag on 10/05/2009 at 08:41
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Like any other supermarket they have cheap stuff and not so cheap stuff... I like to buy from my local motor factors rather than them simply because the guys in the motor factors have a much wider and better knowledge of the technical stuff than the Halfords guys do... and I feel its important to have people around who have that knowledge and for them not to be put out of business by the big guys... shandes of Tesco/Asda/Sainsburys here!
But I have bought a radio from them and when I changed car and couldn't get the radio out of the new one they came to the rescue and swapped tham over with no charge, so I'd also recommend them.... with the usual "shop around first" added on!
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HB
I feel like that when I go into Bass Pro in USA - I am like a kid in a toy shop.
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The great thing about modern `bare element` filters from accessory shops is that you can look at the filtering element yourself and consider whether you want it on the car. such as would you be bothered if it seemed there were loose strands coming off.
Or whether you would want an element made to a car manufacturers specification.
Or not - seemingly.
www.oilrag.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/filter1.jpg
Next time I do a fuel filter change, I`ll take high resolution close up`s for comparison using the camera and not the phone.
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I treat Halfords like any other supermarket. period.
if they have what i want at the right price, i buy it. if not i buy cheaper elsewhere.
their won brake discs and pads for a 106 have lasted twice as long as the OE stuff. And they stick to their battery warranty.. but I buy elsewhere as quality is better and cheaper..
As for their fitting service, thanks but no thanks.
It's like buying gin at full price in a supermarket.. No need to if you are patient and shop around...
We reckon to average 10% off our grocery bill every month through careful shopping: I aim that as a minimum with car parts. Even Toyota offer discounts on servicing kits and oil which mean they ae 20% cheaper than non OE parts...
Simple purchasing rules save £000s
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"And they stick to their battery warranty."
To be fair, I should say they always did with me too in the past.
But when the Halfords Battery (selected by them as suitable) was only just turning over the 1.9 diesel on cold mornings at 18 months old - they didn`t want to know.
As I said at the time, "It`starting fine now as the engines hot and its not needing glow plugs"
He clipped a little hand held tester on and said it must be the charging system. Of course it wasn`t it was the battery failing as evidenced by the continued success of its replacement - now another 18 months down line.
Bottom line was I had to dump an 18 month old Halfords battery - and I felt a keen sense of `being done` over that.
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However, (on a positive note) I still have that Hilka (gold tin) socket set, bought from them around 1970 and still in regular use ;-)
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For me its quite a simple decision.
Where else can you access those emergency parts and tools after 5pm and all weekend?
Hawking round the dealers who seem to stock very little but "can get it the next day" is most tiresome.
The convenience factor outweighs the cost in my decision making.
Edited by Fullchat on 10/05/2009 at 12:33
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Exactly I paid £18 for the pair including fitting it saved me a lot of time than driving round lots of small factors only to find they are not in stock.
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Huge savings to be made doing this @ £4.47 for 3 wiper blades and I picked the tip up from one of the motoring magazines readers ideas letters pages.
I now too buy Wilkinson wiper blades currently @ £1.49 (for any size too) each.
Save all packaging in case it does not work and you have to take them back though!
When I get home I very carefully remove the rubber insert and its two supporting steel strips from the steel framework on the wiper blades from the Wilkinsons units.
I then remove the wiper blades off my vehicle and remove and discard the rubber/steel inserts. You then (optionally) clean and lubricate the steel work using WD40.
Finish off by replacing the rubbers/steel inserts (noting you have them inserted the right way) with the brand new ones from Wilkinsons and put the assemblies back on to your vehicle.
You do it this way to keep the original steel work as it is usually a lot stronger than the cheapo ones Wilkinsons provide you with.
Fronts I usually get a good 6+ and rear 12+ months use before they need doing again.
Another tip I was given was to try & change wiper blades as late on in the year as you can as winter is the period of most use they will see during their working lives.
Edited by Tron on 10/05/2009 at 17:39
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When I want new wiper blades I go on www.wiperblades.co.uk and order them. The last time I got Bosch Aerotwin one piece blades, they are fantastic. I have just looked on their site and they have cheaper one piece rubber blades at a competitive price.
I have always found it easy to put new wiper blades on my cars over the years, but I would never ever try to mess about with a cam chain. If I had a noisy cam chain or noisy tappets, I would take it to a garage to be repaired. If you don't know what you are doing it can make things worse.
Like I have said on another post, I like Halfords.
Edited by quizman on 10/05/2009 at 18:52
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Cheap wiper blades are a complete waste of time and money IMHO. I use either Bosch, Champion or Anco. I like to see where I'm going.
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