Halfords

[Binzie]

I know I know halfrauds are pony

But cheap test and the first of my ownership,and I wanted some pratt to tell me everything was wrong with it

I knew the tie rod ball joint was knackered so expected that to fail as it happened the dust cover came off the track rod end too!

Also the handbrake scored 15% needing 16% to pass

So i failed

the plan

I bought a new tie rod and TRE from eurocarparts £22.60 with brisky discky

And will strip and clean the rear brakes greasing and adjust the cable

Chuck the rod on and get it aligned on Monday

Can you think of anything i missed or might try ?

Oh and look what they quoted :giggle: :giggle: :giggle: :giggle:

[fordfan]

It looks like you've got it covered, lock nuts for the TRE can seize on. Did you get the readings for the service (foot) brake on the rear?, as they can sometimes give you an idea as to what the problem is.

I am thinking about a Halfords £27 MOT, it'll be £2more than usual but will save me messing around under the car for the best part of an hour, unless I can persuade a colleague to test it.

[VWD]

Oh- they make it cheap ,for a reason -to get the re test fee . Surprised there's not a lot more . I took mine into one tyre place one year - same reason . One of the advisories marked as dangerous was a nail in a rear tyre . Rear brakes were binding too ( said they couldn't rotate rear wheels ), but managed to drive car out of test area . In fact only one side was binding. The same side that had the nail in tyre . i examined tyre off car ,and couldn't find nail . I did find that the spare was flat ,with a screw in it. Same spare had never been out of car since fitted ( i replaced tyres and kept best as spare ), and at time of fitting was examined . I did observe the brake test, where the dcar almost shot off the rollers due to the force used on the brakes .

i would not recommend letting Halfrauds work on a pram . Son did a placement there and he has some stories. Me -I did let them change a clutch ,to have battery lead fall off a fortnight later .

I doubt if a main dealer would quote £184 for a track rod end change and re align .

These places love to try it on ,hoping for some car ignorant person .

Surprisingly enough , Nation wide Auto were part of the same group ,and I always found them brilliant .

[ajs_vrs]

Reel you in with cheap mot price then charge the earth to fix and re-test and fail anything that is possibly border line - a pretty good business technique must think people are stupid.

I generally go to a places that only does MOT's and doesnt do any fixes.

A wheel alignment generally costs in the region of £10-15 since the toe is the only adjustable part on a fabia, Halfords are charging over double that.

Edited 2 February, 2013 by ajs_vrs

[anewman]

Nearly £200 - for just one track rod end?! Not including wheel alignment?! Shocking!

[ajs_vrs]

They prey on the non car savy and ladies.

[AP Automotive]

If you have a copy of brake readings this can be useful.

It is possible that only 10Kgf can be the difference between 15&16%!!

I assume the condtion of rear discs & pads are ok?

[trebormint]

I've found them to be brilliant.

Have had three 1/2 price MOTs for my car and three for my missus's car @ Halfords (three different branches too)

Of these, we've had three first time passes. Last year the wife's car needed new front bushes. They quoted a high price, but quickly price matched the cheapest I could find. This year it needed new springs and they quoted over £350, so took it to another garage for £200. Halfords did a free retest.

Mine failed this year on side lights and rear number plate light - I changed the bulbs, and a free test was done.

I'll keep using them, as the price just can't be beaten.

[anewman]

Mine failed this year on side lights and rear number plate light - I changed the bulbs, and a free test was done.

Should anyone knowingly be driving around with failed bulbs at all? Never mind going to get an MOT done with them gone! One of the easiest things you can check and replace yourself.

[Avalon]

Try your local independent test station, ideally where the testers rent the bays by the day/test, as they don't do any mechanical work they have no interest in the result of the test. I'll take that over Halfrauds any day and the cost is about the same.

[danny6189]

Near me the local council have a test centre. Although they charge top price for it they dont do repairs. They say this has failed go get it sorted. The only time the guy got money from me was when I have him a tenner to adjust my headlight beam and that wasent even at mot time.

[Richf]

Seems a justified failure to me, especially if you knew the TRE was goosed

IMO the mot is so lax any car that fails doesnt deserve to be on the road.

[Huskoda]

The family run place I go always charge full price, but I have never in 8 years had them try and have a go adding stuff on that didn't need doing. I don't trust these bargain places as it looks to me they just try and reel people in to add extra work to make their money back.

[Seanl]

1. I agree, Ive taken mine and the missus car to the same place for years, and have a good rapport with the tester. I sit in the cabin whilst he goes round getting me to do the stuff whilst he is doing his checks. He always lets me know if there is anything that may need doing in the near future ut is not enough for even an advisory, as he knows I do all the work on my cars anyway. Never had a failure in 6 years of using him!
   

[Binzie]

Right, Im getting there but I found this, should this have got through

[hutchysrs50]

It looks off centre but I can't see if its split as I'm on my phone at the minute.

[dnlbwls]

tbh had an mot at halfords on my last car out tyres or something they looked put air in one and a suzuki swift sport 58 reg passed with flying colours,whilst i was there a lady came in worried about a puncture or something they looked at it put air in and sent her off no charge,just faulty tyre reading on car

[Binzie]

Bottom spoke has 2 splits by the look of it

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[hutchysrs50]

Yeah looks like its a fail as the bush is worn, perished and split in a few places.

[Seanl]

Well I'd say that yes, that is excessively worn and an MOT failure! lol!

[Binzie]

Aint they rubbish

[rover220]

that bush is a fail in a bad way. id report to vosa, will see the tester in serious do-do

[fordfan]

From that picture, even though it is split, it is still attached. The amount that it has moved looks normal to me as that's the amount which they move on full lock. It's still doing its job, though maybe not as effectively as the manufacturer intended, I'd be inclined to pass and advise that.

The MOT test is a minimum standard, which is quite a low standard.

[rover220]

Mine failed and it had only one small split.

It is of course down each individual tester

[Binzie]

It was on a lateral incline and on lock. Getting changed anyhow<br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br /><br />