Do Halfords fit car bulbs ?

wallbash

I personally wouldn't let any of the spanners in Halford's near my car, let alone change a bulb.

Strange statement, that assistant at Halfords spends hours every day just changing bulbs/ wipers. He ( or she) will change more bulbs in a few weeks than most garage mechanics will do in a life time.

Mega pleased to pay for that expertise on my Ford Focus , esp the nearside bulbs.
But if you are happy to change your own bulbs, feel free, will have less of a queue at Halfords.

BeenThroughItAll

wallbash wrote: »

Strange statement, that assistant at Halfords spends hours every day just changing bulbs/ wipers. He ( or she) will change more bulbs in a few weeks than most garage mechanics will do in a life time.

Mega pleased to pay for that expertise on my Ford Focus , esp the nearside bulbs.
But if you are happy to change your own bulbs, feel free, will have less of a queue at Halfords.

Not really a strange statement at all, but based on experience I suspect. I have lost count of the number of friends and colleagues who have been to Halfords and been ripped off for things like bulb changes, wiper blade fitting, etc.

I have seen broken bulb holders bodged into place, incorrect bulbs with offset pins forced to fit, dislodged bulb clips, damaged trim from 'professional' radio fitting, loose wiper arms due to wrong clips being used, and a six inch scratch on the top of the wing of a friend's TR4 caused by a zip on the Halfords bulb-chimp's clothing because he couldn't be bothered to use a wing-protector.

I wouldn't trust a Halfords staff member to fit socks, let alone car parts.

WLM21

As the OP ... I bought a couple of bulbs from Europarts and fitted them myself.

Yes ! It was pretty easy

The hardest part was trying to get the polystyrene jack holder out, then in again, so I could get to the right hand side bulbs.

BeenThroughItAll

WLM21 wrote: »

As the OP ... I bought a couple of bulbs from Europarts and fitted them myself.

Yes ! It was pretty easy

The hardest part was trying to get the polystyrene jack holder out, then in again, so I could get to the right hand side bulbs.

Well done, lesson learned for next time. People could do a lot more themselves if they took the time to find out how like you did, and they'd save themselves a bloody fortune.

Confusedandneedhelp

Agree in general, some bulbs are very easy to replace. I knew exactly what to do with mine, but for £6, i didnt have to mess up my shirt before work and they did it in about 2 minutes, i expect wouldve taken me about 5-8 minutes, as obviously its something they do every day, and i do once in a blue moon.

If i wasnt doing it first thing before work id of probably fixed it myself, so if you have the time, then it's quite straigh forward. if not £6 grand scheme, not alot.

Stoke

wallbash wrote: »

Strange statement, that assistant at Halfords spends hours every day just changing bulbs/ wipers. He ( or she) will change more bulbs in a few weeks than most garage mechanics will do in a life time.

Mega pleased to pay for that expertise on my Ford Focus , esp the nearside bulbs.
But if you are happy to change your own bulbs, feel free, will have less of a queue at Halfords.

While it's nice to know that you had a good experience, make no mistake, the muppets in Halfords are no different to the muppets who work in McDonald's and most people look down on. What? Just because they work in a vehicle retail outlet, you think they're somehow more qualified? Just because they don't flip burgers they're somehow more suited to work on your car? You wouldn't take your car to McDonald's and ask one of those guys to fit a bulb, would you? Most of Halfords staff are kids in college or sixth form dropouts. Some of them don't even have vehicles of their own, I bet half of them don't even have a license. I don't think I've ever seen a staff member over the age of 21. If they leave Halford's they'll be serving your next McChicken sandwich probably.

Halfords is fine if you're going there to pick something up for your own use. It's convenient (although that convenience comes at a price), open late hours and has a wide variety of products, but I would never ever trust them to touch my car. The way I see it, anything they can do, anyone can do.

I've also seen a radio that was dangerously bodged to fit in a car by a Halfords muppet. Just not worth the risk.

w211

From experience, they will only fit bulbs during the daytime.

I asked them to fit a headlight bulb to my Corsa van when it was dark, a few years ago. They couldn't/wouldn't do it, as it was dark. Took my torch out, and did it myself in the car park (was a bit of a hassle), and saved myself the £6 (as it was at that time).

This was the Mile End Road Store, in London.

Probably won't apply now, as it's summer, but something to bear in mind when autumn/winter comes.

booksurr

if you cannot work out how to change a bulb then you are not the sort of person who should be driving - anyone able to use the internet could do this, let alone those able to read the owner's manual

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+change+a+bulb+vauxhall+corsa

poppasmurf_bewdley

booksurr wrote: »

if you cannot work out how to change a bulb then you are not the sort of person who should be driving - anyone able to use the internet could do this, let alone those able to read the owner's manual

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+change+a+bulb+vauxhall+corsa

I believe certain Renault models require you to remove a front wheel and the wheel arch liner to change a headlight bulb. Not something every driver could - or should - attempt.

Buellguy

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

I believe certain Renault models require you to remove a front wheel and the wheel arch liner to change a headlight bulb. Not something every driver could - or should - attempt.

between 1 and 2 hrs to do on a Megane