Tyres - Halfords Autocentre....any good?

sb12

Hi all,


Just a quick question. Just realised that the tyre I need for my car is a rather awkward size. Phoned several garages but with Halfords current offer of 10% off premium tyres, they come in as the cheapest.


My main concern is Halfords as a choice of garage to fit as I've read online reviews of services gone bad.


Are they safe enough to trust to fit new tyres?

Steve059

Trust them, but only as far as you could spit the wheel.

Expect a hard sell for the other tyres. If it's a front tyre, expect them to mess up the tracking to make you have to have it re-adjusted. Check that they tighten the nuts with a torque wrench and to the correct setting.

Then check that they've balanced the wheel properly. Then check the pressures for a week or so to make sure that they've seated the tyres on the rims properly, etc.

Ultrasonic

Have you tried online places like https://www.blackcircles.com?

Westmead_Fan

what size, price & brand did they quote on???

that will tell us if they are cheap or your local garages are expensive, i have never seen or heard of halfords/kwikfit to be cheap

sb12

With their discount the following Continental Sport Contact 5 came in at £142.94(inc. VAT). The size is a 215/50 R17 95W.


Best I could get at my local was £128 +VAT. Not interested in a budget tyre from previous experience. A lesson learned on the performance difference between brands and budget - not worth the compromise!

ElkyElky

Scrootum wrote: »

They will be fine on simple stuff like fitting a tyre, bulb or wiper blade.

They incorrectly fitted bulbs to my mother's car... causing it to fail an MOT. Their staff consist of mainly boy racing neds with very little knowledge of how things are done correctly/legally (in my local store anyway...).

By all means go to Halfords if you want to save a few quid on a tyre fitting but don't moan if the wheel later falls off because some incompetent ned failed to tighten the nuts correctly. :rotfl:

Best to go to a real garage, with real mechanics.

Jamie_Carter

Have a look here. This is just one of many on line companies, and the prices are fully fitted. They are listed with the highest test results first:


http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?suchen=Ordern&cart_id=4767594.110.27858&ranzahl=4&Breite=205&Quer=50&Felge=17&Transport=P&F_F=1&dsco=110&sowigan=So&last_sort=brand&kategorie=6&rsmFahrzeugart=PKW&x_tyre_for=&s_p=Summer_tyres&filter_preis_von=&filter_preis_bis=&Ang_pro_Seite=20&sort_by=tests

Richard53

Had a good experience a few weeks ago with Black Circles. Best price (Goodyear winter tyres) and they directed me for fitting with a proper independent fitter who did a great job. Very pleased and will use again.

bigjl

ElkyElky wrote: »

They incorrectly fitted bulbs to my mother's car... causing it to fail an MOT. Their staff consist of mainly boy racing neds with very little knowledge of how things are done correctly/legally (in my local store anyway...).

By all means go to Halfords if you want to save a few quid on a tyre fitting but don't moan if the wheel later falls off because some incompetent ned failed to tighten the nuts correctly. :rotfl:

Best to go to a real garage, with real mechanics.

I think you might be getting Halfords Superstore type places where they fit bulbs and wiper blades.

And Halfords AutoCentres were Halfords bought out a chain of small garages, it might have been Grays AutoCentres but I can't really be sure on that.

I have noticed that Kwik Fit or Halfords can sometimes undercut BlackCircles and My Tyres, but as above only on less common tyre sizes.

ilikewatch

bigjl wrote: »

Halfords AutoCentres were Halfords bought out a chain of small garages, it might have been Grays AutoCentres but I can't really be sure on that.

I think it was either Lex or Nationwide autocentres that they bought out (round my way at least)

daveyjp

Richard53 wrote: »

Had a good experience a few weeks ago with Black Circles. Best price (Goodyear winter tyres) and they directed me for fitting with a proper independent fitter who did a great job. Very pleased and will use again.

That is the downside of Blackcircles, you are at the mercy of an unknown fitter. The garage which fitted mine were hopeless, thankfully they are no longer a Blackcircles approved fitter.