Halfords/Nationwide Autocentre - West Byfleet

[Howard-]

Has anyone taken their car here? I'm thinking of taking the MX5 here as they only charge £27 for an MOT but I'm a bit wary of a) inexperienced chavs driving it and b) them failing it on something trivial in order to gain business.

Am I over-reacting?

[GWMD]

I cant comment on that specific branch but I booked the 3 series in for one of the half price MOT's at the Halfords Autocentre in Newbury, didnt have any issues it went straight through.

Only thing to note is when you book you specify a time to drop the car off, be prepared for a LONG wait! I went for the before half 1 option. To them that means you drop the car off before 1.30, and anytime between half 1, and whenever they close they will MOT it.........

[motorbreath]

Dont do it is all I can say from experience!! Yeah cheap as chips for the mot but if it does fail, which I think they would try hard to fail you they quote for silly money.

The Mrs took her Polo to them, failed on head lights being too high, quoted £30 each to adjust - makes my pi$$ boil seeing as when I used to do MOT's that was an adjustment carried out by the tester for free whilst carrying out the test! It takes a matter of seconds.

Service with a smile?? - No spanner monkeys which grunt now and again.

Other things they failed it on were a worn suspension bush, and one other thing (nothing major from memory). Total quote to do the work £320 not including the retest!!

Told them to get bent in the end, went to ST Engineering the local garage, did it all for £160 including another MOT! - Oh and they didnt charge for adjusting headlights!

Its called Hal-frauds for a very good reason!

Do the decent thing and support your local independant instead of giving a crap company your hard earned bucks

Edited by motorbreath on Tuesday 26th July 21:34

[supermono]

Don't do it. I ran the 207 round there last week for an MOT and their massive gorilla of a bloke nearly ripped the handbrake off before failing it on no reserve travel. It was working fine, new pads/discs all round. I went and adjusted it to one/two click action (it was like 6 previously out of about 15) and he still ripped it vertical then started getting all unprofessional when I tried explaining he was a moron (but nicely)

Straight to main dealer, their guy was amazed. He put it on the rollers and told me what I already knew, brakes spot on perfect in every way. I even found the same action on two of their brand new 207s. They've done the MOT today straight through.

So best give halfords auto centre west byfleet a miss. I'm taking it up with VOSA and the MD and repost anything of interest here.

SM

[Frimley111R]

They obviously vary, the one in Camberely is excellent.

[Revs_Addiction]

There's a good little place in West Byfleet called Carey's. Family place that has always been fair and honest in my dealings with them. They're just behind the wedding dress shop and the beach suntan place if it's still there, by the lights on parvis road.

[SVTRick]

swerni said:

Very very good.
They MOT all our cars and have just serviced the Pathfinder

They had great fun doing the Stang, especially when I opened the cut outs

That be Bill Carey... is he still drawing breath ??

[supermono]

Thanks for the tip, i'll bear that place in mind. I'm new to the area and it's often tough finding a place you can trust.

SM

[Howard-]

I took the MX-5 to MOTShop in Addlestone in the end. Great place. Was in and out in no time, professional guys, no problems with the car whatsoever and they had a little 'coo' over the supercharger etc Won't hesitate to go back there

[pjd2209]

From my POV the best independent ive found in the area (having lived there for pretty much my whole life until moving to Bracknell 5 years ago) is a little company called JLF Autos on Wintersells Road in Byfleet

Never had a single problem with them and have given them a fair amount of work over the years - give them a try if you need anything done speak to either Roy or Julian

[BlackCup]

Another thumbs up for Careys, can be tricky to find if you're not sure where it is as traffic's a pain but they're really honest, trustworthy and very reasonable. Used them for years...

[stevieb]

Its a little further out but i have had no issues with West Horsley Motor Works Limited (West Horsley). Been using them for 6 years and have been honest on all occasions.

Steve

[hawko1984]

iv just had my van mot there, very good service

[supermono]

hawko1984 said:

iv just had my van mot there, very good service

Another thumbs up for Carey's then, thanks I'll definitely go there next time.

SM