We're off on holiday tomorrow so I checked the oil & coolant levels today. The coolant level is well below the minimum line so I guess I need to top it up, but obviously don't have a chance to get to a dealer to get it checked out before tomorrow.

Is it safe to top up with some generic Halfords coolant, or would I be better off leaving as it is and getting it sorted out on our return

If you can't get the proper coolant (G12 PLUS, check your manual) then just top it up with water and get the strength/concentration checked when you return from your holiday. Mate had his coolant replaced with the wrong spec, resulting in a screaming water pump, luckily flushing the system and using the correct coolant cured it with no lasting problems.

Enjoy your holiday

Thanks - I suppose the level of anti-freeze doesn't really matter at this time of year

Water (preferably pure water) is fine in emergency

Don't mix different brand or type coolants!

I assume there are no visable signs of water leaking ?

FWIW, G12 works fine for all realistic UK conditions at up to 60:40 mix in either direction (think it's actually in the manual). So anything up to about 500ml of de-ionised water should be fine. The other thing that might be of interest is that Halfords' "Advanced Protection" (pink) coolant is the same spec as G12, although it's listed as Audi / VW spec TL774D. They're just different codes for the same spec, however. G12, G12+ and G12++ can all be used together without any issue AFAIK.

Hope this helps!

Well we're back without any major dramas - haven't checked the level yet, but will pop down to the local dealer to get it all checked out in the next few days.