Halfords

[Cavcraft]

They're just going with the times I suppose, and making more out of cycling etc. Went to get brake pads for the Astra the other day and there were no brake items at all on the shop floor. The girl said they'd probably have to order them in, then thought (correctly) they'd be in the back as they kept a few for popular motors.

[Dave_Q]

Are they over priced though? Carreras and Boardman seem to be good value, if over looked due to snobbish riders (such as me!). I don't know about the cheap stuff as I've never looked at that.

 

All this makes me wonder how Haynes are still going. Surely YouTube has killed most of their market?

Yeah you're right, not all of them are overpriced, the Carrera road bikes for example can't have much margin in them, the Zelos is actually a decent ride and its always reduced, £220 for an alloy road bike with Shimano groupset (albeit 8 speed Tourney) is pretty good.

 

But I bet for every Zelos they sell 5 horrid Apollo BSOs and a few pig iron kids bikes, some of those Y-frame dual suspension efforts, etc, etc, overall I think they make a good markup due to the mix of sales.

 

Also things like eBikes, I bet they sell quite a few of the cheapest Carrera eBike, which looks to me like a £199 hybrid with a £50 eBay hub motor but sells for £899 or something.

[skoda_fan]

On the positive side their range of small packs of electrical connectors and the like is quite comprehensive and, albeit overpriced, has got me out of trouble more than once. I'm surprised they still stock them tbh but long may it continue.

[dougiefourspeed]

I didn't know that! I wonder if they have shares in each other? Will explain why there is a autocentre next to my nearest ECP.

 

Tbh I think most garages use ECP heavily nowadays. That and SES seem popular around here. Never heard of them until recently. Do they allow Joe public to buy from them?

As far as I know there's no relationship between ECP and Halfords beyond a supply agreement. It's the same arrangement they have with many nationwide customers (first line suppliers for Kwik Fit, ATS, BT Fleet, Mr Clutch and so on).

 

Not sure how it is in other parts of the country but where I am (SE England) ECP take the lions share of independent trade business as well. Although I would say a fair chunk of those garages view using ECP as a necessary evil, which I can understand due to the way ECP's aggressive expansion over the last ten years or so has put a lot of people's noses out of joint. The deal with Lucas being a particular sore point for many people.

 

They took over Andrew Page earlier this year as well who were one of their biggest rivals although more in the Midlands and up North than at my end of the country.

[bunglebus]

I worked for Halfords on the parts desk in the late 90's, and even then they were reducing what they kept in stock. I remember them selling all the shock absorbers off for 50p each to get rid of them (I only bought a few, enough to do the G/F's Fiesta though). I only really buy my oil and filter, the odd tool and emergency odds n sods like nuts/bolts/fuses if I need them right now, and I have a trade card which brings the prices in line with other retailers - all of it is cheaper online, so of course they move with the times.

It's better than the way they operated back then when they were owned by Boots who didn't have a Scooby - stocking either one or three brake discs was usual for instance. I only ever had one customer insist on buying a solo disc, because "there's nothing wrong with the other one". 

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I only go to Halfords if I have to.

 

Remember when these types of shopped where staffed by car people now to the staff its just a job they generally have no knowledge and couldnt give a Flying.............

 

I used to like the Zymol Cleaning products,OK pricey but used to buy them when they had the winter offers I notice they have gone from the range,Meguiars range has decreased and Auto Glym increased!

 

Its not only Halfords when I first started using Euro Car Parts they pretty much had everything in every branch now everything is mail order and I wonder as we are increasingly pushed towards the PCP whether eventually we will loose the right to tinker at all?

 

On a closing note ever tried to buy a stereo from Halfords that doesn't look like it should be at an Acid House Party?

 

 

Took me AGES to find a cd head unit with aux in for the XM that didn't look mental. I wanted something simple / elegant.

 

Ended up with a second hand Sanyo Excedio from ebay, which is a bit of an oddity in itself. Funny no other bids!

 

Halfords is more a leisure shop now, the one near us has more floorspace devoted to bikes and camping stuff.

They are handy for basics like coolant and oil as they tend to be open more often than a normal motor factors, but thats the point - most people only buy service bits from them when desperate as ECP etc are cheaper. So you can see why theyve dropped a lot of that stuff.

 

Their tools are very very good and seem to sell well, theyve a bit of a niche there as most local factors stock super expensive or super cheap tools.

 

They also have an exclusive deal on Boardman bikes which are amazingly good - I've a full suspension MTB which gets a shit load of abuse and a Hybrid, would buy another. However thats more to do with the Boardman brand than Halfords - would I let them service it? I dont think so....

 

 

 

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[adw1977]

All this makes me wonder how Haynes are still going. Surely YouTube has killed most of their market?

My local Halfords seems to stock loads of Haynes manuals.

I always get a Haynes manual for any car I own (even though 90% of it is beyond me) but I don't buy them in Halfords because they want full RRP.

[SiC]

This came through on my email today: http://x.email.halfords.com/ats/msg.aspx?sg1=4203bb7fe2b32ead87586a1b27e978c6

 

WORKSHOP15 to get a further 15% off tool prices. Might be a good time for me to stock up on Imperial tools.

[SiC]

My local Halfords seems to stock loads of Haynes manuals.

I always get a Haynes manual for any car I own (even though 90% of it is beyond me) but I don't buy them in Halfords because they want full RRP.

Halfords were cheaper for the MGB Haynes for me than even Amazon!

 

I noticed that Haynes do a app/web version that contains all their manuals for £18.99 a year now.

[artdjones]

Halfords going back to their roots.They used to be bike shops and are becoming bike shops.Except about 10 times the size they used to be.

They own Boardman, incidentally.

[taxi paul]

I would agree with everything really. I got my bluetooth head unit from Halford.The young lad advising me was great and came out to the Japanese bus to check and make sure it would be fine. I did want a double din one but he said it wouldn't fit and for half the price I could have a single din that would fit better. When my daughter needed an exhaust for her 1.6 petrol zafira I had to wait till the next day at ATS for ECP to deliver it. The lad at ats said they don't carry much stock any more.

[PiperCub]

I personally buy almost nothing from Halfords these days (or in the last 15 years come to think of it) as prefer proper motor factors & now the web too. That said, occasionally they have something like their pro socket rail for a bargain/offer price that was well worth the money and last year bought the specific oils for the gearbox and axle for the MX5 from them. The Castrol product I was after was off the shelf at the same price as Amazon were doing it so I got it from Halfords as they are about a mile away and I didn't have to faff about and wait for delivery.

Other than that, they aren't much use to me, if I don't have something in my workshop (fixings, connectors etc.) then they aien't going to either frankly. So I'm not really affected by this change. 

 

To be fair though, I get why they are moving away from car parts as the sheer diversity/range, fewer people DIY'ing plus competition from the biggies GSF/ECP etc and the interweb must mean the volume of sales isn't there any more so not worth the hassle therefore from a commercial point of view that doesn't make sense. Shifting bikes and camping gear etc must make them more money. 

[Captain Furious]

I tend to buy stuff from main dealers these days, Halfords always have to order stuff in and I find the quality of parts from ECP questionable at best.  Frexample...I ordered a head gasket set for the 205 from ECP - it arrived with everything but a head gasket - when I phoned up to enquire they told me, in all seriousness, that this was correct and the head gasket was separate - This was clearly bollocks, even their website said so, but I couldn't be arsed to argue because I decided I'd rather put a genuine one on anyway.

 

Most of the stuff I need is from Ford - my local main dealer always gives me trade discount (I think they just give it to anyone who asks) which means the price often isn't much dearer than ECP, they usually have it on the shelf and if not can get it the same day, but most importantly I don't end up having to do the job twice because of some chinesium kwalitee part grenading 3 months after fitting it.

[Captain Furious]

Also, I think this whole "oh you can't work on modernz because its all computers innit" is mostly bollocks.  It was probably true when they first came out and the diagnostic tools were £000's or unavailable to your average DIY enthusiast, but now the scanners a few quid or free software downloads off t'internet - if anything working on moderns is a piece of piss - plug in and it tells you whats wrong.

[Rod/b]

For what it's worth, I used to park in the Halfords at Hemel Hempstead and walk down to either GSF or the independent factors in Apsley, which didn't have car parks.

[artdjones]

Diesel head sets don't include the head gasket because there are usually two or three alternative thicknesses, depending on the piston protrusion of the individual engine being worked on.I admit that I've often just ordered the thickest one if I haven't been able to look at the car beforehand or been too lazy,and it doesn't seem to make much difference.If you look at a diesel engine there will be a tab of the gasket sticking out with holes or notches in.The more there are the thicker the gasket, usually.So it's not "bollocks" to sell the headset minus gasket.

There maybe should be a warning on the listing,though.

[twosmoke300]

Was about to say , headgasket quite often doesnt come with a top end set .

[Captain Furious]

This was the exact part I ordered

 

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Peugeot_205_1.9_1989/p/car-parts/engine-parts1/engine-parts/car-gasket-seals/?362545790&1&5f4d7a60451a50a1e7f502a4f58e2c2abe94a80b&000174

 

Other Information With cylinder head gasket, With valve stem seals

 

 

Even the friggin picture is of a head gasket..

[HillmanImp]

They own Boardman, incidentally.

 

Didn't know that. My commuting bike is a Boardman Comp mountain bike. Without wanting to tempt fate as I have a 15 mile ride home to do tonight, its fantastically well built. I have ridden it several thousand miles over the last two years with absolutely no upkeep other than a liberal application of oil every now and then. All my other bikes grenade themselves for one reason or another on a regular basis.

 

For proper cyclists I am probably like those people who buy a car and never change the oil in 70,000 miles but the Boardman must be the cycling equivalent of a Toyota. 

 

I keep thinking it must be due a service soon but I keep thinking if I take it in, it might not work as well once the spanner monkeys have been at it so will carry on until such a time that it becomes rubbish to ride for whatever reason.

 

I realise that its just a frame with lots of other manufacturers parts on but everything seems to last considerably longer on this bike than anything else I own, possibly as the frame etc has been designed for the parts, not sure? Great bikes anyhow.

[reb]

On the "young people don't tinker with cars" thing; I'm 21 and as you can probably tell I spend a lot of my free time tinkering with cars. Many of my friends do too at varying levels, almost everything I might need help with there's someone I can call upon to get me out of the shit. Halfords for us is where you go for tools and screenwash, maybe a bulb if we need it right away. I can't think I've ever bought any parts from them, honestly it's something I'd forgotten they did.

 

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[HillmanImp]

On the "young people don't tinker with cars" thing; I'm 21 and as you can probably tell I spend a lot of my free time tinkering with cars. Many of my friends do too at varying levels, almost everything I might need help with there's someone I can call upon to get me out of the shit. Halfords for us is where you go for tools and screenwash, maybe a bulb if we need it right away. I can't think I've ever bought any parts from them, honestly it's something I'd forgotten they did.

 

I'm 40 and I used to tinker with cars when I was 20, now I just leave them on my drive to go rotten as I just don't have the time or money to do anything to them.

[reb]

I'm 40 and I used to tinker with cars when I was 20, now I just leave them on my drive to go rotten as I just don't have the time or money to do anything to them.

I don't really have the time or money, but I give it a good bash anyway.

 

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[Lacquer Peel]

Also, I think this whole "oh you can't work on modernz because its all computers innit" is mostly bollocks. It was probably true when they first came out and the diagnostic tools were £000's or unavailable to your average DIY enthusiast, but now the scanners a few quid or free software downloads off t'internet - if anything working on moderns is a piece of piss - plug in and it tells you whats wrong.

Brakes, driveshafts, suspension, etc. haven't changed much if at all, they've regressed in some cases, you don't need a code reader to replace the purely mechanical parts on modern cars.

[stephen01]

Halfords seem to stock less and less cleaning stuff, you're right. People seem to think you're a bit weird if you wash your own car these days. Hand car washes seem to have sprung up like mushrooms allover the country - in direct correlation to the boom in financed cars...

Oddly, I used to always be washing my cars but now I'm quite adverse to it. I begrudge cleaning the outside. 

 

Between the ages of 13-16/17 I used to have a 'car cleaning round' this consisted of me on my bike going round to my regulars on a Sunday and cleaning their cars, I did a fair few miles TBF but one street I had 4 cars to clean and I was charging 3-5 quid then. The more salubrious the area the more I'd charge. I was making about 50-60 quid a week doing this! you ask me to clean my own car now and I'll think of a good reason not to -  it's not that I don't like doing it it's just no one pays me for doing it now to my own cars! 

[Ghosty]

As far as I'm concerned Halfords is a bike shop.

One of the local factors in Hyde is not particularly close to a Halfords, slightly cheaper for tat, same range of paint etc, and one of the the fellas in there is super helpful, went in with a sample of weatherstripping I'd got, and he gave me a load of pointers on where to find some for my sunroof.

Good place all round and I'll probably keep going there now, tbh.

[Lankytim]

I'm about to pop up Halfords to get some fuel pipe but as I can't find any trace of it on their website I'm going to have to go somewhere else.

 

Pointless having a trade card.

[PiperCub]

Also, I think this whole "oh you can't work on modernz because its all computers innit" is mostly bollocks.  It was probably true when they first came out and the diagnostic tools were £000's or unavailable to your average DIY enthusiast, but now the scanners a few quid or free software downloads off t'internet - if anything working on moderns is a piece of piss - plug in and it tells you whats wrong.

 

Exactly, now it's buy a OBD2/Bluetooth plug-in and connect it to your phone or tablet - as you say, for literally a few quid. Won't do all the shit the mega-quid stuff will, of course not but it'll do for most of it.

[Hendry]

I tend to buy stuff from main dealers these days, Halfords always have to order stuff in and I find the quality of parts from ECP questionable at best.  Frexample...I ordered a head gasket set for the 205 from ECP - it arrived with everything but a head gasket - when I phoned up to enquire they told me, in all seriousness, that this was correct and the head gasket was separate - This was clearly bollocks, even their website said so, but I couldn't be arsed to argue because I decided I'd rather put a genuine one on anyway.

 

Most of the stuff I need is from Ford - my local main dealer always gives me trade discount (I think they just give it to anyone who asks) which means the price often isn't much dearer than ECP, they usually have it on the shelf and if not can get it the same day, but most importantly I don't end up having to do the job twice because of some chinesium kwalitee part grenading 3 months after fitting it.

 

Totally agree with everything you said there.

 

I recall going to a local factors and buying new wiper blades for a 2009 Clio, they werent cheap at 25quid, but were made by Continental so I thought theyd be decent and a fair bit cheaper than a main dealer, alas one edge of the drivers blade didnt touch the screen so there was always this unswept area in the middle that stuck out like a sore thumb, took them back and got a replacement set thinking they were just a dud set, nope 2nd set exactly the same, got money back, went to Renault, 11quid more for Valeo ones in a Renault box, 100 times better. 

 

Main dealers round here dont often offer you trade discount even when you ask, but sometimes on service kits, timing belt kits etc. they will give you it, and if you ask for trade on other stuff they will give you sometimes 20% discount which can make a huge difference to almost being OE quality parts at factor prices. 

 

Buy cheap buy twice as they say! 

 

PS anyone been in Halfords and seen how much they charge for a pair of plain standard number plates!! 

[sierraman]

Sometimes though on an old beater it's not worth a visit to the main dealer. When the thermostat went on the Mk3 Mondeo I had, a new Ford one was nearly £120. ECP had one in for £20, pattern part but it worked fine, never missed a beat after that.

[Lacquer Peel]

Who the fuck buys parts at the main dealer unless it's impossible to get elsewhere?