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Have Halfords killed my car?

ossify · 2024-04-16T10:26:29Z

Back again with the car woes... I have a Renault Grand Scenic (petrol, 2011). Second hand but so far so good, it's been fine. The battery might be starting to go, 2-3 times over the last 8 months or so it's gone flat and refused to start. Local guys with a jump start thingy come out and it starts up just fine. Anyway. It went in to Halfords for an interim service and MOT last week, had to replace 1 tyre, the ball joints & suspension arms (which hurt) but otherwise fine. A few days later the battery's gone again... same people come out but this time instead of starting instantly it tries a couple of times and then dies altogether: all dash lights completely dead. We give it a couple of minutes and then try again... after a couple more tries the engine starts, but sounds really rough. Helper guy drives off and I try to go home - no power! The car sounds awful and won't get above 20mph. Also the dash lights up with warning messages: the "needs service" light comes back, I also briefly see a message to check the injectors. The car's now at home. Called Halfords, they say the battery seemed fine when they checked it, no other comment unless I bring it in again. Local garage will have a look for £60 or so. My questions are: 1) Could Halfords have caused this? They weren't (AFAIK) doing anything too invasive, just a service. Friends are advising to go back with all guns blazing and force them to fix it for free, graaagh, I'm not so sure. 2) Is it the engine or the electronics? In other words, did the battery going flat kill the computer somehow, or are the injectors/engine dying and it's a massive coincidence to happen at the same time? I have a OBD reader but a) I'm not sure what to look for and b) if I start the engine to use it I may not be able to start it again tomorrow to get it to the garage, as the battery's not charged. Thanks for staying with this unnecessarily long and rambling post 😛

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molgrips

Posts: 91165

Free Member

I can bet almost any chain will suggest replacement of battery that isn’t under their warranty if it shows anything a bit low on a test.

Mine came back a bit low on some numbers but he said I'd probably be ok and didn't sell me anything. He was wrong, as it turned out, but he wasn't trying to flog me anything. A bit like when I went to Kwik Fit and specifically asked for an A/C regas but he tested it and told me it was fine and sent me away.

Posted : 18/04/2024 8:59 pm

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