So after waiting in all day Halfords finally appeared to fit my new battery.

 

I'm moving from a EFB to AGM. First problem, it won't fit, as it's longer than the original battery. Eventually he finds a second set of bolts under the hood and fits it.

 

Second problem, I ask him to code the battery to the car. He tells me he has no equipment and does not need it. I turn the car on and a plethora of warning messages appear, such as ACC not working, TPS inoperative.

 

He then moves the wheel full lock left and right a couple of times and the messages have gone and he departs.

 

However in the car, I have noticed that all my long-term data such as MPG has all gone.

 

Is there a risk driving it without a recode and what can I do to get this data back?

 

 

Hello Dave, welcome to the forum. Unfortunately, the long-term driving data is probably unrecoverable. Re. coding the battery, this is definitely required as you have changed from EFB to AGM - which has a slightly higher charging voltage, and it also sounds as if the Amp-hours capacity is now larger than the old battery.  

The risk is that the car will think the old (presumably duff?) battery is still in the car. It will charge it accordingly. This could prematurely age the new one. Definitely get it coded. Either get something yourself (OBDeleven is best value) or look up on here where someone is local to you and pat them in beer/tea/biscuits.

Thanks both, I have phoned Halfords and asked them to send out a Tech to do it tomorrrow,  so should only be a couple of 20 mile trips before that is done (if they turn up).

 

The annoying thing is that I spent 5 minutes telling the dude it needed coding and he was adamant it didn't 'having spent 2 years working in a garage'. Oh and Briskoda forum is not to be trusted apparently.

Wonder how many other people this 'mechanic' has misled and are driving around at risk of damage to car systems and battery. 

 

Even the Halfrauds website mentions the need for it !

 

Don't worry, I'll be taking this to their Customer Service department

 

The line about not trusting briskoda is warranted. A bunch of keyboard warriors giving advice on stuff they only know about because they once owned a Skoda 😀

58 minutes ago, Northerndave said:

Wonder how many other people this 'mechanic' has misled…

Probably as many as the Halfords idiot who said SWMBO Aircon was full of gas, so it was “broke” and it was probably the “condenser”, the “absorber” or the pump. He also noticed the clutch on the pump was not working.  
Took it to Kwik-Fit the following day and yes, they checked it and within 30 mins we had ice cold aircon. You guessed, it was completely out of gas; no leaks, no issues. 

31 minutes ago, numskull said:

He also noticed the clutch on the pump was not working.

 

An imaginary clutch could never work!

Exactly… it was the “absorber” that made me smile! 😀

Better known as the 'dryer'. Absorbs any water that gets into the system. Tubular feature on one edge of condenser. Not as fictional as the clutch.

3 hours ago, Northerndave said:

I have noticed that all my long-term data such as MPG has all gone.

Remember the bit where the old battery was disconnected?

Your first problem was trusting Halfords with your car… Wouldn’t trust them with a bulb let alone anything more.

 

New battery will need coding properly. Steering lock to lock and also clear all related fault codes

2 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Remember the bit where the old battery was disconnected?

I do....but the 'Service due in 13 days' and Total mileage still displays so was hoping the long-term data might be still held on a chip somewhere. 

I had exactly the same problem with Halfords.

 

I only bought through them and paid £25 for them to fit it so that I could get the new battery coded in.

(I could have done the actual battery swap myself!)

 

Apparently there are only 2 working laptops in Halfords in Scotland and by the time my fitter went to get one they were both out.

 

I was going on a 500 mile trip the next day so I rushed round to my local "guy who used to work in a VW garage" and he took another £25 off me to do the coding.

(he also gave me a lecture about using Halfords and not taking it to him in the first place!)

 

Halfords then sent me a request to rate their service on Trustpilot, which I duly did, and mentioned their inability to complete the essential coding.

 

To be fair to Halfords, they read the review and replied to the criticism by saying that they would refund my £25, which they duly did in a week or so.

9 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Better known as the 'dryer'. Absorbs any water that gets into the system. Tubular feature on one edge of condenser. Not as fictional as the clutch.

👍🏻 I knew what he meant, but it was the fact he was just talking utter boolucks as he had no idea what the feck he was doing. This particular bloke has been there for years and is no doubt OK at changing the odd bulb and wiper blade but this was way beyond his level of competence. 

halfords says it all . total bunch of morons. the only use for halfords is a desperately needed part when they are the only ones open. never let them near a car. 

I had my car jump started (five year old battery), drove to my local Halfords, they had the battery I needed on the shelf, it was fitted and coded in and I drove away happy two hours later. £150 all in.

4 minutes ago, freelunch said:

I had my car jump started (five year old battery), drove to my local Halfords, they had the battery I needed on the shelf, it was fitted and coded in and I drove away happy two hours later. £150 all in.

thats about what it cost me for a new battery and a coder reader to register the battery to the car . the battery on mine did not need registering. 

14 hours ago, ApertureS said:

Your first problem was trusting Halfords with your car… Wouldn’t trust them with a bulb let alone anything more.

 

 

I'll second that.  Many many years ago I took my car to them with an intermittent problem.  It didn't have an intermittent problem when I picked it up, it had a constant one instead, meaning it wouldn't even start, so I was stranded in their car park too close to closing time for them to be bothered to try to fix it.  The manageress came out and warned me that if I didn't move my car in the next 30 minutes it would be locked in overnight.  Luckily the AA arrived before the car park was locked and managed to fix the problem caused by Halfords.  The AA technician said.... "Don't trust Halfords with fixing your car".  I then pointed to the "AA Approved" sign on the wall and he said "Don't take any notice of that.... Bikes are about their limit".

 

Hi, I went to Halfords as reading previous posts on here, the Halfords battery is a Yuasa with a 5 year warranty and my car was stuck on the drive with no way of starting it. I actively have avoided Halford as they are muppets, but naievely thought how could they **** this up.

Latest is they set an appointment to code between 4-6pm. 6.30 get a call of the Mechanic....'what's the problem with the battery'. I mention it needs coding to the car and he states he doesn't have the equipment !

 

F&*^*ing jokers. I'm off to their Altrincham store to get the f*&*(&rs to code it, or else I'm dumping the car across their Service bays.

 

Advice-----Don't ever use Halfords !!!

 

 

5 hours ago, DB72 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.... Bikes are about their limit".

 

you would trust them with anything that complicated