Coolant Change at Halfords

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killie77

Active Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
68
Location
Glasgow
Car
E270cdi
Had an email from Halfords this morning. Their doing a Winter Service thing.
Reading through it appears they do a coolant change as part of the offer along with something called Ducks Back for the windscreen.
Popped in to the local Halfords this afternoon to find out if they drained the coolant or just checked and topped up the antifreeze. Appears they drain and i guess flush out the system then put new coolant.
I've booked it in for next Tuesday.
Ian
 
Thanks :thumb:
Got my lucky rabbit's foot hanging from the rear view mirror
ian
 
I will not let Halfords anywhere near my car as I rate them even lower than Kwik-Fit.
 
Agree with you on Kwik Fit. Have used my local Halfords for Mot's and have found them very helpful. If it was anything other than a Coolant Change and whatever else their doing on this winter service thing. I would probably go to the Indy in Ibrox. The price they quoted seem very reasonable. If they mess it up it's on them to fix it.
Ian
 
I have used Halfords years ago and no problems. Once they did a cambelt change on a Vauxhall and I had no issues after selling the car a few years later with another 50k miles.
I use my local Kwikfit for tyres and have found them satisfactory.

Like any garage chain, main dealer or independent, at times people may have a bad experience.
 
I thought the modern red coolant was "fill for life" I know we cast a judgement on Fill for life in other areas like transmission oil but maybe they really mean it with coolant.
 
I suppose if youre unsure of the previous history its an inexpensive thing to do and be sure of its condition.
 
I thought the modern red coolant was "fill for life" I know we cast a judgement on Fill for life in other areas like transmission oil but maybe they really mean it with coolant.

Depends if you want life to mean 100K or 500K miles.
 
"Red" coolant is fairly meaningless, it's just a dye and there are no standards about what flavour should be what colour. Traditionally the coolant spec for MB cars is 325.0 which includes G05 and G48 coolants. Both are HOAT (hybrid organic acid) flavours with silicates*, the former is usually yellow/amber while the more common G48 can be green, blue and various shades of greeny blues/bluey greens depending on brand. The same flavour of coolant has a much longer service interval on newer MBs than it used to, maybe partly due to the silicate packet they stuff in the header tank although some 124s had those and a 2 year coolant interval. Having just taken my daily cynical pill i reckon the longer service intervals are mostly to appeal to renters/fleet managers...


* Silicates are one of the usual corrosion inhibitor suspects in 'old fashioned' IAT coolant. IAT stuff has a shorter life than OAT stuff as it works kinda like sacricial anodes, coating surfaces and getting depleted in a few years. Silicates provide more protection for aluminium in areas subject to cavitation like water pumps which is kinda irrelevant for many modern cars as they use cambelts instead of chains and the waterpump is pretty much a consumable because if it dies it can take out the timing belt followed by the rest of the engine...
 
MB service specs for both my W209 and W168 specify a 15 year coolant change interval
 
You do get good guys working at Halfords you know.

A contact of mine has been a mechanic for over 30 years working on all the VAG brands, MB, Volvo during his working life from technicians, senior tech's, foreman, head of service etc..

Last year he decided he wanted to scale back his working hours to focus on a side line business he runs (non car related) but as he cant keep away from cars he now works reduced hours there.

He knows his stuff very well and is a mentor to the other guys there too all doing pretty well i hear.

You only hear the bad things reported... if every branch, every member of staff where that poor as some people seem to suggest the garages would not be in business.

Don't forget, a lot of the jobs they do are simple step by step ones rather than highly complex tasks.

Also, just remind yourself when your paying £115 an hour plus at a Merc dealer for lets say a oil change, coolant change, pad replacement you are not getting the master tech doing it... its the 17 year old lad on the YTS scheme / apprenticeship who will do it as hes based placed to carry out the job to enhance his experience getting £3.87 per hour or £5.30 if 18 yrs to 20 yrs or £6.70 if over £21.

How did you think dealers make their money ?
 
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You do get good guys working at Halfords you know.

A contact of mine has been a mechanic for over 30 years working on all the VAG brands, MB, Volvo during his working life from technicians, senior tech's, foreman, head of service etc..

Last year he decided he wanted to scale back his working hours to focus on a side line business he runs (non car related) but as he cant keep away from cars he now works reduced hours there.

He knows his stuff very well and is a mentor to the other guys there too all doing pretty well i hear.

You only hear the bad things reported... if every branch, every member of staff where that poor as some people seem to suggest the garages would not be in business.

Don't forget, a lot of the jobs they do are simple step by step ones rather than highly complex tasks.

Also, just remind yourself when your paying £115 an hour plus at a Merc dealer for lets say a oil change, coolant change, pad replacement you are not getting the master tech doing it... its the 17 year old lad on the YTS scheme / apprenticeship who will do it as hes based placed to carry out the job to enhance his experience getting £3.87 per hour or £5.30 if 18 yrs to 20 yrs or £6.70 if over £21.

How did you think dealers make their money ?

Good people at Halfords - I agree most probably are.

Massive generalisation!!
You may get the odd apprentice. There is a viewing window at my local dealer and the workshop contained several cars being worked on but I didn't notice any 17 year olds. we must encourage apprentices anyway but they do need proper supervision. YTS stopped years ago anyway
 
Looking trough the comments it appears that Halfords don't have the best reputation for carrying our service tasks. My local seems staffed by older guys who appear to know what their doing. The Car I'm having the Coolant Change on is an 04 270 cdi, haven't a clue what mercedes charge but I guess their a lot more than Halfords ☺
Ian
 
....Like any garage chain, main dealer or independent, at times people may have a bad experience.

Quite right... large chains seem to have issues with staff training and standardisation of service levels.

It's not 'Halfords' or 'Kwik-Fit' or 'MB Dealers' that are the issue as such... it's the fluctuation in service levels between different branches which stems from variations in local staff and management.

Or in plain English... if you find a good one, stick with it :D
 
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Good people at Halfords - I agree most probably are.

Massive generalisation!!
You may get the odd apprentice. There is a viewing window at my local dealer and the workshop contained several cars being worked on but I didn't notice any 17 year olds. we must encourage apprentices anyway but they do need proper supervision. YTS stopped years ago anyway

All will work under supervision or shoulder working to ensure the job is checked pre workshop exit, but the point is non dealer garages with such a vast garage coverage will always get negtive press due to the customer numbers.

Look at the likes of dealer owners, Arnold Clarke comes to mind which seems to get slated too. Fact is you get good dealers and shall we say some which don't meet expectations.

Your money, your car, your choice..... Horses for courses as they say.
 
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