landroversforever Posted May 2, 2010 Share Posted May 2, 2010 Popped into Halfords this afternoon for a pair of wiper blades for the Pug, while I was there thought I would pick up a 1/2 to 3/8 adapter for my torque wrench... Asked a guy (not a spotty Yooof ), and he went to the shelf. None there. He made a statement along the lines of haven't had a delivery in a while, all this lot [pointing to all the tools] will be going soon. Said he doesn't know if they are just changing manufacturer or whether they are stopping all together??? :( EEEEEEK!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBobbed Posted May 2, 2010 Share Posted May 2, 2010 All their new tools are quite poor quality now. I think the manufacturer changed when the tools changed from Halfords professional to halfords advanced, the quality certainly did. I have also had problems getting replacements for brocken sockets, spanners & ratchets as they now want to see an original purchase reciept. I have bought various tools over the past 10 years & their reciepts are only printed on thermal paper which fades & can't be read after a few years. 3-4 years ago I would have recomended their tools, now I wouldn't touch them. No big loss in my opinion but as they have a lifetime warrentee I think they should honour it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landy V8 Posted May 2, 2010 Share Posted May 2, 2010 i didn't think people bought a lot of stuff from halfords.They're not nicknamed Halfruads for a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBobbed Posted May 2, 2010 Share Posted May 2, 2010 True, they are overpriced generally. But with a trade card & a suposedly lifetime warentee their tools were well priced. It was good in the past to be able to pop down on a Sunday afternoon to buy the tool required or swap the broken tools over for a replacement. It used to be that you hand over the old tool & find the replacement on the shelf with no questions asked, not even any paperwork to exchange them. Times have changed though. Obviously they are spending too much money honouring their lifetime warentee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Both myself and a mate baught their 150pc professional kit a few years ago, and would have recommended it to anyone. However my brother just baught the same kit just last month (on my recommendation), and while the ratchets seem just the same, the sockets are a lot worse, and they're redesigned the box and removed some of the useful 1/2" drive deep sockets and external Torx bits, and replaced them with a little box containing some useless 1/4" drive bits. The deep sockets they do still supply are all 3/8" drive, and also the actual drive section is the same length as a normal socket, so its not very useful at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top90 Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Who would people recommend then for good quality affordable tools? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milliejasper1111 Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Teng are not that bad, and seem widely available now, but they insist on the crappy rough matt finnish on their sockets, which i think lets them down a bit. Ive got all sorts in my tool box from Signet, Palmera, (spannish snap on? so i was told by their rep) Mac, Britool, Bluepoint, All of which have never let me down. I was lucky enough (or unlucky ) to have been in the motor trade for 14yrs so had reps come in, But the man on the street seems stuck with the likes of Drapper or just cheap and nasty tat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted May 3, 2010 Author Share Posted May 3, 2010 First thought was second hand snap on stuff... but I wonder how much of the stuff on the bay is stolen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bean Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 To be fair the Draper Advanced and the Elora range are also good. But i would recommend Teng to other people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 How does sealey stuff rate? I've been buying the odd bits and bobs to complement my halfords set, and have been chopping and changing between draper and sealey. Most recent purchase was a sealey torque wrench and breaker bar both of which seem pretty well made and were reasonably priced. I fancy getting myself a full set of 1/2" 6 sided "Wall Drive" sockets sometime soon, as i find they can be invaluable for shifting stuck bolts without chewing up the heads that tends to happen with the 12point stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmagnet Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 i had a halfords professional 1/2" drive breaker bar which snapped and they wouldnt change it so i looked on ebay and bought a rolson one for £3 and it is identical to the halfords one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I've been a big fan of Halfords tools over the years. I abandoned SnapOn after their quality went down and the price went up! I broke a breaker bar (using it within spec). Went to get it replaced armed with the receipt and was told they don't sell them any more - and thus the warranty is void! As it's over a year old, I'm not entitled to either a non like for like replacement nor a refund. It seems that if they stop doing (or change) the range of professional tools - the 'lifetime' bit of the warranty goes with them. I'll be looking for a new supplier too. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off Road Toad Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I liked Halfords professional range from 3 years back - top notch stuff. Nowadays my favourite longlasting ultra tough tools are Bahco. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boothy Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Teng for me without question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRecklessEngineer Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I only just managed to persuade them to give me a couple of replacement sockets a few weeks ago. They had to order them and couldn't guarantee that they had any. I think I may be looking for a new supplier too. Just for the record - I've broken 3 Teng ratchet spanners, and only in light use. I won't be touching any of their other products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I rate the sealey stuff - seems pretty good. I've got alot of second hand snap-on stuff, and some teng stuff. Have to say I dont really like the Teng stuff very much. only got odds and ends of Halfrauds stuff, but as someone says - one a sunday afternoon they were always useful. Otherwise my local factors only seem to stock Laser stuff which is really cheap and nasty! Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dengie Boy Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Nowadays my favourite longlasting ultra tough tools are Bahco. Another vote for Bahco tools, as I use these everyday. Bahco catalogue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinny Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 ive been buying facom/britool which ive had no problem with chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedLineMike Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Another vote for Bahco tools, as I use these everyday. Bahco catalogue AFAIK ( well was told by a snap on rep) that snapon bought over bahco about a year ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handy_Andy Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I have always had some halfords pro stuff and have recomended to others. I also have reps comming in and found that the signet stuff was identical. Signets quality has declined in the recent past, so perhaps the people from halfords are changing over their suppliers??? Some of the teng stuff is realy good but i have snapped two sets of balljoint splitters and had them replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger90 Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 i have had a loads of tool from halfords and the ranchet spanners i have used them for 2 years and will scaffold bars on the them and none of them have broke. i say they are bloody good tools for what you pay (still prefer snap-on) cheers sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I've got loads of Halfords Pro stuff, most of it is around 5-7 years old.. the quality is superb and equal to any other pro tools on the market (except maybe Snap-on) - however i've noticed the stuff they are knocking out these days isn't quite so good... I'd recommend Teng or Britool as an alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMc Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 I was surprised to discover that Britool, Facom and Mac Tools (as well as Black & Decker and DeWALT) are owned by - http://www.stanleyworks.co.uk/ . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam300Tdi90 Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Get down your local market and buy cheap stuff! I have only ever broken one ratchet, and I was beating the handle hard with a lump hammer! Still a tenner later and armed with knowledge of how far I can push the kit, I restocked and haven't broken anything since. A FULL set of tools (1/4, 3/8 and 1/2) ratchets, extensions, all sockets, torx bits, allen key bits, etc etc all in cost me around £50, and I've rebuilt my landy with them!! I think they are called toolzone! If you curently have loads of extra cash lying around do buy big brand names, but otherwise, I don't see the point. Yes top quality kit is a good investment, but you can break anything if you try hard enough. So why not just buy cheap stuff, and use your kit within what it's designed for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 I've snapped cheap tools by removing my mudflaps. Split the socket over the entire length Facom I definitely can vouch for, the breaker bars do break (or so I've heard, never done it myself but I've seen them destroyed a great many times ) but are replaced under (life-long) warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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