freeagent Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I've got a trade card for Halfords, which i've been using to buy a few bits for tha Disco lately.. I bought a new air filter yesterday, ticket price £8.99, Trade card price £3.59!!! Which is cheaper than a coopers filter from Paddocks... on examination, its a Coopers air filter in the Halfords box. (even had the same serial number and tooling marks as the coopers one I replaced) I also saved £40 on a battery before Christmas, and Bosch wiper blades are also working out at less than half the ticket price! You also get discounts on tools and fluids (inc screenwash!) I'd certainly recommend it to anyone on here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yes, i've got one and rather handy it is too. i think it's about 20% as a rule of thumb on tools , and i've had almost 60% off parts/consumables. You don't get anything off electrical/audio stuff, which is a shame. Bosch blades are a cracker though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smo Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Thing is....how do you get one?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 The normal way is to have a mechanics qualification or garage/workshop payslip but, since i have neither of those, i found out it's not too difficult anyway. They were happy to see a payslip and business card in my case, even though my job is not auto industry related. The small print mentions the alternative of 'auto factor receipts' or similar. I think they're happy to give you the discount if you prove that you're spending your money often elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgnas Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Print yoursef some headed notepaper and a business card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 My 'Landrover repairs' business letter head worked for me... God bless microsoft office... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxtherotti Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 i have one too makes a big difference to the price of oils too rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Thing is....how do you get one?? i just took in a few previous trade account invoices and that was fine. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smo Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I just popped in and had a chat with them - wish i hadnt bothered! "are you a mechanic" "no, im an engineer but i work on and repair vehicles" "oh, so your an engineer in the army" "no, i never mentioned the army, im an engineer, i dont have a mechanics qualification so im not a mechanic, but i am an engineer and work on vehicles" "in the army?" ......i give up and walk away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsr341 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 i went in guy just said , if you work in a garage no problem take in a pay slip i told him im not a mechanic but am a mechanical maintainance fitter , he said no problem just take any qualification , city+guilds, NVQ etc and will take around 10 mins to sort out you account and it will be acctivated there and then still got to dig out all my paper work may just use the heading bussnes paper route using my dads hydralic platform bussness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 headed paper plus a fistfull of recent 'paddocks' receipts seems to work OK.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headhunter Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Had mine a few years. Just asked for one then no proof of status required THEN. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintman Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Seemed happy enough with my business card. You could always google Halfords & click on the bit that says Trade Card. Tells you all about it & what you need to get one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger90 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 i have one.. its great.. i didnt know of such thing. but my brother know one of the girls in my local halfords and he told.. i went streight up there and got one. saved a fortune on oils, tools. i get all my tools from there.. there good enought for me. i got a big tool kit.. was £100 trade was £67! and ratchet spanners £37 trade was £20 cheers sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRecklessEngineer Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 It took me a while to find it so I thought I would post the qualifying info for the trade card here: From this page: Clicky linky Qualified Technician - City & Guilds in Motor Mechanics Certificate or garage payslips Self–employed Mechanic - High volume of local motor factor invoices from last 3 months Mobile Mechanic - City & Guilds in Motor Mechanics certificate or high volume of local motor factor invoices from last 3 months Small Independent Garage Mechanic - Recognised payslips for employee, high volume of local motor factor invoices from last 3 months or City & Guilds in Motor Mechanics Certificate High Volume Parts Buyer (or frequent user of car parts) - High volume of local motor factor invoices from last 3 months I particularly like the last one as any Landy owner would qualify Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smo Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Self employed mechanic or high volume parts buyer probably covers most of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cartman Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Well I am off tonite to give it a go. I have a pile of receipts from the past 12 months, letter headed paper and a business card with a load of engineering qualification letters after it. They won't know they're not automotive anyhow? B) http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/...tegoryId_173019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cartman Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Well I am off tonite to give it a go. I have a pile of receipts from the past 12 months, letter headed paper and a business card with a load of engineering qualification letters after it. They won't know they're not automotive anyhow? B)http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/...tegoryId_173019 Well I have the card, but more by luck than anything else. It requires 'the managers discretion' if no garage related pay slips are shown. The manager wasn't there so the two guys at the trade counter made an 'executive decision' - that's rare these days? So I have said card so thought I had better give it a try out:- Halfords EP80/90 GL4 1 litre - normally £6.99/l I paid £5.49 Barrs rad flush - normally £4 I paid £2.50 Halfords chain lube - normally £6.50 I paid £5 Halfords washer jet one way valve - normally £2.50 I paid £1.50 No where are the discounts outlined so it is pot luck and as mentioned above the discounts are only on 'automotive consumables'. So what level of reduction has anyone else received? Here is a breakdown of some for info http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=676691 Cheers, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&S Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Well I have the card, but more by luck than anything else. It requires 'the managers discretion' if no garage related pay slips are shown. The manager wasn't there so the two guys at the trade counter made an 'executive decision' - that's rare these days? So I have said card so thought I had better give it a try out:- Halfords EP80/90 GL4 1 litre - normally £6.99/l I paid £5.49 Barrs rad flush - normally £4 I paid £2.50 Halfords chain lube - normally £6.50 I paid £5 Halfords washer jet one way valve - normally £2.50 I paid £1.50 No where are the discounts outlined so it is pot luck and as mentioned above the discounts are only on 'automotive consumables'. So what level of reduction has anyone else received? Here is a breakdown of some for info http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=676691 Cheers, Paul That's a good link, some REALLY cheap prices too, wish I'd had my trade card a year ago! I got my card by taking in my certificate of incorporation (I run a ltd company). I told them I do service work off shore and purchase a lot of tools and they were happy to give me one. Saying that, I just bought 20 litres of 5W/30 fully synthetic oil for £52 from Unipart, Halfords would have been near double that even with the trade card so it's still worth shopping around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Tools are, as a rule, 20%. Consumables vary not only from brand to brand, but size/variation too. Discount on Bosch wiper blades for example varies between lengths. Shopping around is definitely still keyas you said. The trade card isn't a magic solution! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyb Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Shopping around is definitely still keyas you said. The trade card isn't a magic solution! Halfords will match a price if you are a trade card holder and you find it within 20 miles of the store within the next 7 days. Doesn't sound really convenient, but if you ring a couple of motor factors and get a price, then you can use that info at your Halfords store. I have on occasion because the Halfords is closer to me that any motor factor.....however, flip side is that a motor factor more often than not will have most stuff on the shelf and will get anything else next day. You pays yer money..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 aye, Halfords don't do drums of oil either..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I'd rather go to Partco or similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 I'd rather go to Partco or similar. Yep, same here for some things, but for some service parts Halfords Trade are cheaper, for exactly the same items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest otchie1 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Yep, same here for some things, but for some service parts Halfords Trade are cheaper, for exactly the same items. Never known that happen. I suppose it all depends on your PartCo discount rate. Brown Brothers are also good although Camberley Auto Factors are getting as pricey as Halfords now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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