I contacted the Halfords AutoCenter Swindon (Paddington) garage asking if they could help me with my car a Mazda CX 5 that the engine, oil light and vehicle system malfunction lights were coming on and the car was going into limp mode on the 3rd September. They were very helpful on the phone and said they could help. I had an extended warranty on this vehicle through AutoGuard warranty. They said if I could get the car to them they would be able to diagnose the problem. The car was recovered from my address through my warranty to the garage on Monday 5th September. I received a phone call from them on Tuesday 6th September to state it was the battery which was bringing up all warning lights and taking the car into limp mode. They informed me it was not covered under my warranty and would cost me £294.53. I agreed to get the new battery and pay for it myself. I then received another phone call on Wednesday 7th September to say they took it for a road test after installing the new battery and no codes came up, so I could pick the car up. My partner picked the car up that night at 17.50pm as per arrangement over the phone, I was informed the garage shut at 18.00pm. My partner collected the car and within 2 miles driving from the garage all error lights came on and went back into limp mode again. Due to the garage being shut I couldn't contact them till the following day so my partner had to drive the car back home in limp mode as we had no other option. When I contacted the garage on Thursday 8th September, they informed me to bring it back in and they would plug it back into the diagnostics. I then had it recovered again through the warranty to them from my address on Friday 9th September. I was told they would drive it down the dual carriage way with diagnostic machine plugged in. They phoned me back on the 9th September and informed me the codes have came back up and they would have a look at it. On Saturday 10th September they phoned me and said it could be one of three things, oil pump, oil sensor or carbon in the sump. They said they would take it apart on Monday and phone me that day when they would know more about the problem. There was no contact Monday, no contact Tuesday, in fact I had to phone them on Thursday 15th September. I spoke to a member of staff on the 15th September that informed me he was from another depot and didn't know what was going on, so he would speak to the mechanic. While putting me on hold he went to speak to him. He came back and informed me he had spoken to the mechanic and the message to me was "it was above the technician's capability and couldn't fix or diagnose the problem any further". I asked what I was meant to do and he just said it will have to go to another garage. I did ask why there had been a delay in them contacting me as I was meant to get a phone call on Monday 12th September and heard nothing until I phoned them on Thursday 15th September, he just said he didn't know as he was from another depot and it was then left to me to sort out recovering my vehicle from them to another garage. This meant I had already used my 2 recoveries that my warranty covered, so I then had to beg and plead with the warranty company to let it be recovered again and taken somewhere else, after finding out that the warranty company hadn't even been informed by Halfords Autocenter that they had the car or that there was even a problem with the car. I've now used 3 recoveries on the warranty and I feel that the garage has dragged their heels and taken me for a ride. I'm in a worse position now as i haven't still got my car back but also had to buy a cheap car and have paid out £294.53p for a battery that I obviously didn't need, just to be told it's above the mechanics knowledge!! They have said each time when I have contacted them or they have contacted me that they knew what the problem was and was able to fix it. I feel that if I hadn't of rang them, they would never of rang me back, I've now (17 days later) had to take it to another garage as they have not sorted the problem out. There has been no apology, no contact, nothing, and I'm gutted this has happened to me and will never use Halfords again read more

DO NOT USE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {flemingway} halfords autocentre went there for a clutch did extra stuff without telling me told me i will need a dual mass flywheel price would be 650 good price. Phoned up when finished told me it would be 650 and they did not even do the dual mass it was only when i kicked off they knocked off some money.DO NOT BELIEVE there guarntee they do not stick to it DO NOT USE BEWARE BIGTIME read more

I had two tyres changed and instead of swapping the old back tyres to the front and putting the new ones on the rear they just fitted the new tyres to the front. Seems odd as garages have never fitted them this way for me before. After the tyre fitting they said that the front brake pads are worn and would fail an MOT. After asking how severe they were and how quickly they need to be fixed they responded by saying 'Do you like being able to break'. I took this as it needed fixing quickly. I then took my car to my normal MOT garage who informed the pads were only 20% worn. I had already ordered the new pads when I booked the car in but they were kind enough not to charge me for that but there was some chargeable time that I did have to pay. Halfords auto centre tried to upsell parts that I did not need and made me feel that the car was not safe in order to get an additional sale. I will never go back to this particular garage again. I feel they would rip me off if they could. read more

My car was inspected and failed its MoT at Halfords (Paddington Drive) and they wanted in excess of £300.00 to do the repair and issue a pass certificate on it. I phoned around and Kwikfit offerred to do the same job for £205.00. That's about £100 cheaper !!!!!!!! Halfords agreed to price match, so the job was done and pass certificate issued. Not happy about having to chase around for a better quote for them to match however. I then got in touch with them a few months later to see if they would price match a simple oil and filter change, quoting Kwikfit's price. Halfords website clearly states that they will price match any like for like quote from a competitor within 3 miles of their centres. The local manager refused to accept or follow the published website policy however even after me reading out the policy statement for him. How bizarre is that? In the end, Halfords' customer services booked me in with their other branch in Sttratton instead and they accepted price match and did the service for me. read more