pistonbroke Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Daughter visiting from darn sarf this week , I always get the privaledge of checking her car over , noted amongst other things one OS dipped beam out , one OS side light out . Check both bulbs duff before buying replacements On completion she asks why I didnt take it to Halfrords as they do a "cheap" bulb fitting service Oh yea ! sounds a wonderful idea , why didn't I think of that could have saved all the agro as it took me at least 15 mins to swap 2 bulbs that cost under £5 from the local car spares shop Just checked Halfords Headlamp bulb £9.99 side/parking bulb £3.99 plus fitting headlamp fitting £ 9.99 side/fog lamp fitting £3.99 ? maybe got this fitted free with the headlamp ? or " not " Yup ! that's cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Compared to some dealer labour rates, that's cheap. However, I wouldn't trust them to do any work on my car, whatever the price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk89camaro Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 I understand there are some cars where they do not offer a fitting service due to the inaccessability of the bulb. (Wheel off, arch liner out, etc.). I changed a bulb on my x-type for the first time recently and almost wished I'd paid them! Took me about 20 minutes of swearing and skinned knuckles. I will give them a little credit as the clip that attaches the wiper blade to the arm had broken on one of mine, and they sold me a clip for quid, instead of making me buy a whole new set of blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Gibney - Lancashire AO Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 i bought some bulbs recently from halfords only as i was passing. they asked me if i needed them fitting !! i said yes but i think i will manage, i mean come on it was a bulb not an engine re-build...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FILFAN Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 last time i went there i asked about some team dynamics they had on offer. Q. what offset they were available in? A. what cars it for? Q. I need a 0 offset and you wont have my car in your lists A. we can order any stud patern Q. no what offset can you get not pcd or amount of studs silence followed by the sound of someones head exploding and the door closing behind me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 Compared to some dealer labour rates, that's cheap. However, I wouldn't trust them to do any work on my car, whatever the price. I would have to be pretty desperate before paying main dealer rates escp after seeing the cost of routine servicing , my Skoda for e.g. would be £140 for an oil and filter change plus wiping the steering wheel over with an oily rag add to that they have some young scrote on a NVQ coarse doing the job and wages paid for by "guess who " while they hit you with a £70 ph labour bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 £70 ph isn't bad. The manufacturer requirements have forced some dealers up to £150 per hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 £70 ph isn't bad. The manufacturer requirements have forced some dealers up to £150 per hour. Too right - the Chrysler Jeep garage in West Sussex I worked at in 2003 were already charging £72/hr plus VAT, the Mercedes garage in Dorking were nearly £100/hr and that was 10 years ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo1968 Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I used to own a renault megane - I couldn't reach headlight bulb to replace due to various air conditioning pipes etc. And couldn't reach from wheel arch. Was told by dealers that they found it so hard they had to remove entire front of car to gain access! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dombanks Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 i think you lot are being a bit harsh on halfrauds. they are the car shop equivalent of topgear. not everyone is into cars as much as us, infact i would say alot of people are not into cars at all and wouldnt have a clue. so let them go and pay over the odds for a bulb and someone to fit it. is it not better they do that rather than drive about with no lights? and you never know the "pleb" fitting it might actually have some nouse.my dad bough a new camera from currys the guy serving him seemed pretty knowledgable and turned out to have come from jessops that closed down next door curries snapped the staff up he said as they wanted some knowledge for what halfords do they are just fine if you want some wipers/filters/bulbs etc and you dont know you look in their handy book or if your in a rush and want some cleaning stuff etc they are fine. for the average joe who doesnt care and just wants a new stereo or satnav etc they are fine. At least they are not trying to take over the highstreet and destroy all the little shops etc like the evil barstards tesco! lets face it how many of us jizzzed in our pants at the socket set a week ago. i wouldnt expect someone filling the shelf to know about offsets. tbh i didnt till i did the westy and its not just halfords that sit behind the what car question. increasingly im finding motor factors are the same. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 It all started with the EPC (Electronic Parts Catalogue). The manufacturers told us dealers that we could now employ anyone off the street to work in the parts department as the EPC "de-skilled" the job. Some of the dealers who listened to this advice lived to regret it. When labour rates where at £60 an hour (half of todays) having your mechanics stand around for 20 minutes waiting for the lad off the street try and find a part number on the EPC was very expensive. Of course the lads at Halfords will change a bulb for you. But will they recognise a problem with something they see when so doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WINGNUT Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Try fitting and angel eye bulb on the BMW X5 if you wish to struggle it can be done by removing the wheel arch finishing trim and liner, but if you still cant do it then its lamp out!!! Did i mention dependant on side its partial wing removal and the unit comes out the wheel arch not the front! :bangshead: Not the best idea lol Like to see Halfords do it for £9.99 :laugh: :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WINGNUT Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 It all started with the EPC (Electronic Parts Catalogue). The manufacturers told us dealers that we could now employ anyone off the street to work in the parts department as the EPC "de-skilled" the job. Some of the dealers who listened to this advice lived to regret it. When labour rates where at £60 an hour (half of todays) having your mechanics stand around for 20 minutes waiting for the lad off the street try and find a part number on the EPC was very expensive. Of course the lads at Halfords will change a bulb for you. But will they recognise a problem with something they see when so doing? Very true there arent many decent parts crew left, When i left main dealer scene five years ago there were two last there who were phenomenal at parts and there numbers without calling up reg/chassis numbers or even the old system of fiche! Problem like you say Norm is everythings computerised these days because the next generations dont seemed to be switched on and in all fairness there making it so they dont need to be either! I find getting the parts for the westie initially was a pain as there are different variations! so till i found out which year and model roughly was a bit hit and miss! Just to confirm £70 an hour is cheap, when i left main dealers it was £85+VAT back then! And as Peterg said BMW was the same price here ten years back not sure if they are in the region of £120/£130 plus thge dreaded now! Scary really owning a car these days is starting to become a rich mans area! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Not sure if you're aware but my company is one of the system providers to main dealers. One of our customers has a labour charge of £150 ph. His argument is that the customer will only pay for 3 hours servicing in the first 2 years of ownership as the rest will be under warranty. Their warranty rate is dependant on their retail rate* so the higher it is the better for them. I point out that they are losing out on the older cars as no one out of warranty will pay £150 an hour for repair work. They say the workshop is fully booked anyway. Can't really argue with that. I used to do one day seminars on how to run a workshop. I was a bit surprised at how brainwashed the dealer staff had become (brainwashed by the manufacturers). Many years ago I ran an 18 man workshop. It took 4 admin people to run it. Manager, 2 receptionists and a foreman. Now I have customers who have more admin people than technicians. Why? Because the manufacturer has many contractual tasks and methods they have to carry out. I have pointed out that many are unnecessary as the computer does it without any further input but this does not meet the terms of the contract. * The warranty rate is now set by the average labour rates in an area. Before this it was a percentage of the individual dealers retail rate. Then they changed it to be the same rate as the workshop charged to sales department. Guess what the internal rate became retail overnight. When all this started back in the 90's my argument was that if the manufacturers left the dealer to run his workshop the customer would get better service at a good price. Now, I suspect all the managers who could do that are gone and the current managers wouldn't know how to do it any other way. It makes me cringe when talking to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 If as you say the manufacturer sets the labour rate all I can say is that is wrong , in a free market the labour cost should find its own level not what some remote company director (or whoever says ) and stings of a cartel ( no pun intended ) Personally i think they set it to the highest level they think they can get away with , why sell 10 items for £1 each when you can sell 1 for £10 as long as some idiot will pay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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