Halfords/National Tyres Service 15 February at 10:27AM edited 15 February at 4:02PM in Motoring 2 replies 153 views

Cameron1590_2

Hello,

I have recently purchased a new car from a large online dealership. The car is a BMW g31 520d and has full bmw service history and has just turned three years old. 

In the past I have always carried out the service myself as I enjoy working on my car and like to know that it has been serviced correctly with care. However given how new this car is, I feel that I best keep up the official service history of the car. 

The dealer has offered me a service plan for £35 a month which included national breakdown, recovery, home start, onward travel and hire car, along with one major service per 12k miles or once a year and warranty cover (which let's be honest probably isn't worth the paper it is written on).

The catch? The services are completed by Halfords and or National Tyres. 

Many years ago Halfords had a very bad reputation, has this improved? One part of me thinks the service plan is good value and an easy solution, the other part of me worries about Halfords going near my car. 

Thanks,

Cam

CliveOfIndia

£35 a month is £420 a year - sounds expensive to me.

Do you have a competent and trusted independent mechanic in your locality?  If so, I'd be letting him do the servicing.  It's likely to be a lot cheaper, hopefully he's someone you can trust to do a good job, and probably a lot more trustworthy and competent than Halfrauds.  Quite apart from anything else, a small local outfit will place a high value on their reputation.

It's your call, of course - but if it were me, that's the route I'd be going down.

Dave_5150

Ask your local BMW dealer for a service plan quote. I wouldn't expect it to be any more than you have been quoted. It won't include breakdown or warranty. However, breakdown cover isn't expensive and you've already noted the warranty is unlikely to be of any value.