Halfords Autocentre Bangor

Really disappointing recent visit. Got a set of new tyres fitted spending over £500. The Covid measures were good, chap on front of house was friendly, and the job was done in less than an hour. However, they hadn't bothered with checking the tyre pressures of the new tyres so I was left with a car flashing warnings at me as I drove off. I returned and was advised to drive for another 20 minutes for the car to get used to the tyres. I foolishly believed them then... then car flagged the pressures to me, so we had to go to a petrol station to sort it out. Terrible service, they clearly couldn't be bothered to check the tyre pressures or resolve it when it was flagged.

My daughter has used Bangor Auto Centre for years after moving there for Uni.
Back then the service she received by Rob & his workshop staff was never questioned nor fault found.
However, now we have no confidence in the business nor the staff.
My daughter took her car in to have "noisy" brakes looked at along with a leaking injector seal replaced.
After dropping the car off (in full working order) we had a call hours later off Lee telling us about a very "noisy" gearbox, a broken front spring & that the brakes were perfectly fine.
Looking back, the gearbox noise was constantly being mentioned during the conversation as if they were almost trying to cover themselves.
We were told the gearbox was just noisy & could last 3 months or 3 years.
Bear in mind my daughter had NO issues with the box for the past 4years & drove perfectly to the garage with smooth slick gear selection.
Anyway, we agreed to get the spring replaced along with the injector seal & Lee even agreed to see that the gearbox oil was replaced to see if that helped (not even sure that was even done)
My daughter picked up her car that evening & drove off nearly £300 lighter.
Within less than 3 Minutes up the road the car became totally undrivable with car juddering dangerously at speed.
Not only this but the brakes were STILL making the same noise!
She took back the following day for them to look at it.
Eventually after several hours Lee called to inform that the gearbox was shot & would probably be beyond economical repair!
Apparently he had 3 (yes Three) different mechanics to confirm this (again sounds like covering themselves for something).
Now I don't believe in coincidence but do believe that something happened to her car while in their hands.
Did a mechanic make some mistake while working on the car?
Did someone wreck the gearbox when the car was taken to test the cars brakes by caning it?
Unfortunately this is their word against ours.
Coincidence just is not that common.
& lets not forget that just before they told us the car was beyond economical repair they were more than happy to take nearly £300 off my daughter for other (obviously now pointless) repairs.
Spoke to Lee who not only denied any wrong doing (of course) but took over 2 weeks to get a quote for a replacement box (out of sheer curiosity) after calling back several times only to be told that they "couldn't get one".
Really? The garage couldnt get a gearbox for one of the most common cars on the road?
A likely story & stank of just washing their hands of the problem!
My daughter took her car to a local independant garage to look over what Halfords did & questions were raised over the quality of their work.
I then contacted Jake at Halfords customer services & was told they would take this very seriously & would pass it on to the garage manager & regional manager who should get back to us shortly..
That was over 3wks ago!
My daughter was unwilling to pay over £1600 to repair a car worth not a lot more & was insuring it so was forced to sell it for next to nothing & is now carless miles from where she works!

Thanks for nothing Bangor Auto centre & thanks to their customer services for NOT taking this seriously!

Brilliant place. Took my MINI for its first MOT whilst in my possession and it was such an easy process. Bought online, dropped off the keys and they rang when it was ready. All the staff were friendly and also explained some of the advisories to me and if I should look into them. Will be taking my car here to have its tyres done in a few weeks. When you have an MOT done, they email a full breakdown with photographs as well, which was interesting to see and gives me peace of mind. Recommend here for an MOT, no worry of being ripped off. 10/10

Brilliant service. Managed to squeeze me in last minute on a Sunday to replace a tyre with a damaged side wall. Can’t speak highly enough about the guys here, really good bunch

Booked online i got there 10 min early and they phoned me 40 min later car was ready,tyres reasonably priced

I booked an MOT with Halfords Autocentre in Bangor as part of a trip back to the UK for Christmas. Very good service from the team, very polite and efficient and let me know exactly how long it would take and that the car passed and was in good order with nothing to be concerned about. Definitely recommend them to folks!

Brilliant Service, Very professional. Friendly. As someone without much of an idea about the technical side of cars, they could have told me anything and I'd have been none the wiser. I felt completely assured that they weren't advising me unnecessarily. The information they gave me was clear and easy for me to understand. They took great care of my car. I felt safe visiting the centre (despite being very high risk) and I felt good measures were in place to keep everyone safe. Huge thankyou to Rob, who took great care of me and the car and who also made sure messages and information was passed over to colleagues on his day off. Thanks also to Lee for his friendly manner and patience. Really easy to book online and pay beforehand for MOT and I found lots of availability - super simple. I'll definitely be recommending to friends and family.

Lee and his team, once again ensured a speedy diagnosis and repair to our daughter's car, just in time for some last minute pracrice towards her practical driving test. Excellent, efficient and friendly service is the norm for the Bangor branch. Thank you.