Halfords tells motorists: STOP wasting cash on repairs at franchised dealers

Boss says: ‘It’s clear that car owners are paying more than necessary’

Halfords tells motorists: STOP wasting cash on repairs at franchised dealers
Photo: Bigstock

Motorists are paying 50 percent more for repairs and servicing at franchised dealerships than they could be at independent garages or national chains.

While hardly surprising – especially to independent garage owners and the nation’s car mechanics – this is according to Halfords, which used mystery shoppers to compare its repair costs against the main dealers.

Common repairs cost on average 43 percent more at dealerships, it says, pointing to the replacement of a timing belt. At Halfords, it costs £576, while a main dealer charges £1,279.

It found that Ford dealers are the most affordable, with prices around 14 percent more expensive than at its network of Autocentres.

Halfords boss Graham Stapleton told The Sun: “When you look at what some dealerships are charging for basic repairs, it’s clear that many car owners are paying much more than necessary.

“Motorists can get their vehicles serviced and repaired at any garage that can follow the manufacturer’s requirements – with no impact on their warranty from the moment they drive the car off the forecourt.“

Britain’s motorists spend around £21 billion on car maintenance, servicing and repairs, with Halfords claiming that this is about £200 million more than it should be.

Source: The Sun

7 Comments

  1. what you fail to see is that a dealer has many hidden costs and requirments that need to be paid for
    we ara an independent who charge a fair but higher rate so we can ensure skilled mechanics work on the cars and to date we have a zero complaint record
    we also get compared to cheap repair centres
    you get what you pay for and i do not think halfords are a good bench mark

    Reply
    • I Agree on that one

      Reply
  2. Timing belt,timing belt at Halfords (LOL) wow yet all we see is light blubs that can’t be replaced at our local Halfords So cam belts wet belts I don’t think so, all that takes skill not tyre fitters They may have some tec’s that can we have employed ex Halfords/national staff and found that anything more than a punture / mot there Nackerd this is not to tarr everyone at Halfords with the same brush just maybe they have a person that can.

    Reply
  3. Halford can’t even fit headlamp bulbs correctly.

    Reply
  4. All well and good until the aftermarket can’t workout how to switch your electric handbrake off

    Reply
  5. When you go to a main dealers you expect to get staff experienced in that manufacturer’s vehicles.

    Yes some faults and things are the similar across all cars, but there really is no substitute from working on the same exact models of one manufacturer’s cars every day. The main dealers staff become specialised in just a handful of models, which if you have one of those models means they’re more likely to fix the complicated things properly first time. Yes they’re a bit dearer, sometimes that’s worth it.

    Reply
  6. We are an Independent Garage wining the IGA (Independent Garage Association) for Large Garage of the Year 2023 and have operated over the last ten years.
    Most people are NOT aware of – ‘Block Exemption’.
    Block Exemption Regulation is a regulation that allows independent garages to carry out servicing and repairs on vehicles without invalidating the manufacturer’s warranty.
    Under the Block Exemption Regulation, car manufacturers ARE required to make technical information available to independent garages.
    Therefore, by paying each manufacturers annual subscription, to keep in line with the manufacturers specifications allows us to meet manufacturers servicing schedules and update our customers vehicle online history.
    We invest heavily in various Diagnostic equipment in order that we can serve all the Marques we specialise in, to manufactures specifications.
    Our qualified, experienced staff have a wide range of skills and are regularly offered training courses to keep in line with the changing industry standards.
    It is a very tough industry to be in and most vehicle owners do not realise they have a choice to use an Independent garage who offer manufacturer scheduled servicing over the franchised dealerships and ultimately saving on their vehicle maintenance costs.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Have your say!

0 0

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.