White 477 headlights... Illegal?

[Blackie]

Yeh I ****ing hate halfords tbh... The windscreen wipers I got there were good for the space of a week and now they leave marks across the windows -_-
@Gavlar Are there any of them in south Belfast?

Do you know where the mot centre is off the Boucher? Near it is a motor factors called Givran who would have looked after you or there is Crieghtons on the Lisburn Road in Finaghy as well

 

[Gavlar]

Yeh I ****ing hate halfords tbh... The windscreen wipers I got there were good for the space of a week and now they leave marks across the windows -_-
@Gavlar Are there any of them in south Belfast?

Wouldnt know for South Belfast Im afraid im not from those parts. If Nicky and Blackie mentioned those as good then you can bet they are tbh any motor factors will be better than Halfords lol

 

[Artoir]

Lesson learnt - the average Halfords employee knows as much about cars as my Ma.

I'm going to start a blog, "Things I was told in Halfords."

I'd be kicking up a stink on principle though.

 

[Jordy]

£31 to fit headlight bulbs......holy sh1t!

 

[Aimee-Lee]

@Artoir you really should lmao!

 

[Paddy_R]

£31 to fit headlight bulbs......holy sh1t!

I was beginning to think I was the only one that though that this was the biggest rip off in this story.

Buy your bulbs from hid direct (they do normal bulbs too) and be done with it. Shouldn't take long to fit them yourself. Failing that your local mechanic would only charge a fraction of the £31 Halfrauds charged you.

 

[Andy044]

Would be interested to know the outcome of this, keep us informed

 

[pobmk4]

E11 is classified for uk road use, so the fact he was telling you they are illegal is wrong! Id love to know what they done to charge you the £31 for the bulbs, if ii charge anymore than £5 for fitting 2 bulbs I didn't supply people would go nuts!! (apart from some of the newer vehicle when bumpers have to come off!! LOL)

 

[Aimee-Lee]

£16.99 for the two balls yellow bulbs, £6.99 per fitting (2 fittings) and £5 something for tax -__-!!


Well guts the outcome is: I went to halfords, and asked for a manager.however the manager was in a meeting. However! The CA on didn't much care for halfords and hates them himself so he gave me two xenon white bulbs for free and let me keep the crap yellow ones as spares ! Result ^^!

 

[Sgt_Major]

Did he fit them for you?

 

[Artoir]

That's stil £17 for 4 bulbs.

They're £2-3 in a motor factors.

 

[Aimee-Lee]

@Sgt_Major no he said it was too late for them to fit them but its grand I put them in myself about 10 minutes ago ^^! I just needed them to show me how to do it xD!

@Artoir -_-! I shall not be returning to halfords for bulbs then xD!

 

[ace275]

Did he tell you to make sure you don't touch the glass on the bulb? Naturally oily fingerprints can overheat the bulb apparently

 

[ace275]

And it still dosent really help the fact your still money down when you didn't need to be

 

[Stevie91]

The amount of people this must happen to daily is crazy. My girl's brother recently spent just over £50 for 4 litres of Halfords branded oil for his 1.4 Mk4 Golf :/

 

[Terry]

It seems to be standard pricing in Halfords of around £16.99 for the likes of a twin set of H7 bulbs. Then with the trade card they come down to £6.99.

The things about buying in a motorfactors too is the chances are someone there or outside will fit them for free for all the time it takes if you ask nicely (that is if it's not a silly headlight out or bumper off job).

 

[Aimee-Lee]

@ace275 no he failed to mention that ! They're working fine though!

 

[davey-dimples]

I went to Halfords today because one of my dipped headlight bulbs were out.

The guy told me that my current headlights were illegal beause they were white and I ended up buying two yellow ones (which I really didn't want) and had to pay freakin £31 to get both put in. The guy said another guy in Halfords said they were illegal and the packet says for off road use only.

But I've now been told that's a lot of c***! Also I've been driving with those white headlights for 11 months now and I've passed traffic police loads of times and they haven't said anything AND I passed my MOT with them in.

So are they ACTUALLY illegal? Because if they aren't.. I'm going to give halfords hell tomorrow xD!

CBA reading all this crap but you should have went to Boucher and got RMS rates from @k11_mad lol

EDIT Just had a read through - maybe not then

 

[Gobsheene]

There is legislation somwhere that i'm trying to find that states that your headlights can be from Amber - White and anything in between.

Not blue, purple, green or any other colour.

Halfords is a last resort, theres plenty of places in South Belfast, but stick with EuroCarParts for your car, they have OSRAM nightbreakers for handy money at the moment.

I'd go back down with my receipt and this legislation if I can find you it, to get your money back as they are a total ripoff for bulbs.

 

[davey-dimples]

Id ask for the manager and ask him the question "what are you going to do for me to put this right?"
Threaten to report them to the OFT or something lol

 

[Gobsheene]

HA found it... eventually @Aimee-Lee :

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2000/169/pdfs/nisr_20000169_en.pdf

Page 56 & 57. Highlighted below in red for you.

SCHEDULE 5 Regulations 21 and 23
PART I
REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO OBLIGATORY MAIN-BEAM HEADLAMPS AND TO
OPTIONAL MAIN-BEAM HEADLAMPS TO THE EXTENT SPECIFIED IN PART II

1. Number—
Any vehicle not covered by sub-paragraph Two
, (c) or (d):
A solo motor bicycle and a motor bicycle One
combination:
(c) A motor vehicle with three wheels, other One
than a motor bicycle combination, first used
before 24th January 1996:
(d) A motor vehicle with three wheels, other One
than a motor bicycle combination, first
used on or after 24th January 1996 and
which has an unladen weight of not more
than 400 kg and an overall width of not
more than 1300 mm:
2. Position—
Longitudinal: No requirement
Lateral—
(i) Where two main-beam headlamps are
required to be fitted—
Maximum distance from the side The outer edges of the
of the vehicle: illuminated areas must in no
case be closer to the side of
the vehicle than the outer
edges of the illuminated
areas of the obligatory
dipped-beam headlamps
Maximum separation distance No requirement
between a pair of main-beam
headlamps:
(ii) Where one main-beam headlamp is (i) On the centre-line of the
required to be fitted: motor vehicle (disregarding
any sidecar forming part
of a motor bicycle
combination), or
(ii) At any distance from the
side of the vehicle
(disregarding any sidecar
forming part of a motor
bicycle combination)
provided that a duplicate
lamp is fitted on the other
side so that together they
form a matched pair. In
56such a case, both lamps
shall be treated as
obligatory lamps
(c) Vertical: No requirement
3. Angles of visibility: No requirement
4. Alignment: To the front
5. Markings—
Any vehicle not covered by sub-paragraph An approval mark or a British
or (c): Standard mark
A motor vehicle first used before 24th No requirement
January 1996:
(c) A solo motor bicycle and a motor bicycle No requirement
combination:
6. Size of illuminated area: No requirement

7. Colour: White or yellow

8. Wattage—
A motor vehicle, other than a solo No requirement
motor bicycle or motor bicycle
combination, first used on or after
24th January 1996:
A motor vehicle, other than a solo motor 30 watts minimum
bicycle or a motor bicycle combination,
first used before 24th January 1996:
(c) A solo motor bicycle and a motor bicycle
combination—
(i) having an engine not exceeding 250 cc: 15 watts minimum
(ii) having an engine exceeding 250 cc: 30 watts minimum
9. Intensity: No requirement
10. Electrical connections—
Every main-beam headlamp shall be so constructed that the light—
(i) can be deflected at the will of the driver to become a dipped beam, or
(ii) can be extinguished by the operation of a device which at the same time
either—
causes the lamp to emit a dipped beam, or
causes another lamp to emit a dipped beam;
Where a matched pair of main-beam headlamps is fitted they shall be capable
of being switched on and off simultaneously and not otherwise.
11. Tell-tale—
A motor vehicle first used on or after A circuit-closed tell-tale shall
24th January 1996: be fitted
57 Any vehicle not covered by sub- No requirement
paragraph :
12. Other requirements—
Every main-beam headlamp shall be so constructed that the direction of the
beam of light emitted therefrom can be adjusted whilst the vehicle is
stationary.
Except in the case of a bus first used before 1st October 1969, where two
main-beam headlamps are required to be fitted they shall form a matched pair.
13. Definitions—
In this Schedule—
“approval mark” means—
a marking designated as an approval mark by regulation 5 of the
Designation of Approval Marks Regulations and shown at item 12 or 13
or 17 of Schedule 4 to those Regulations; or
a marking designated as an approval mark by regulation 4 of the
Designation of Approval Marks Regulations as shown at item 1A or 1B
or 1F or 5A or 5B or 5F or 8C or 8D or 8E or 8F or 8M or 8N or 20C or
20D or 20E or 20F or 20M or 20N or 31A or 31D of Schedule 2 to those
Regulations; and
“British Standard mark” means the specification for sealed beam headlamps
published by the British Standards Institution under the reference BS AU 40:
Part 4a: 1966 as amended by Amendment AMD 2188 published in December
1976, namely “B.S. AU40.”
PART II
REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO OPTIONAL MAIN-BEAM HEADLAMPS
Any number may be fitted and the only requirements prescribed by these
Regulations in respect of any which are fitted are those specified in paragraphs 7, 10
and 12 of Part I and, in the case of a motor vehicle first used on or after 24th
January 1996, paragraph 5 of Part I.

I have a copy of this in my car somewhere as I have yellow bulbs fitted.

 

[Gobsheene]

.... forking Smileys! lol

 

[k11_mad]

My input.

Aimee Lee came to us asking for a headlight bulb to be changed. The guy who served her came to me and showed me the blown bulb. The original white output bulb she had wasnt originally ours. The closest bulb we have to give closest match would be the 80w bulbs which are for off road use only. They had the same tint that was on hers to which I said our equivilant are illegal and then he had told Aimee Lee That hers was illegal when shouldn't of done, We stock 3 different types of brighter white bulbs which are all 55w. We couldn't tell of which 3 we stock would match her current working bulb without having a huge brightness difference when driving making the car look odd with different lights. To which we advise getting original bulb from given brand or buying 2 New bulbs of which wasn't said in this circumstance.

And to the comment about we know nothing about cars is a joke in our store as some of the employees I work with are mechanic trained and some very knowledgeable in vehicle maintenance. The new guy who did serve Aimee Lee is still learning.

Don't think there's much more to add.

 

[Artoir]

I was careful to state the average Halfords employee knows as much about cars as @Aimee-Lee

 

[ace275]

I'll have to agree, whilst yes you do get the odd knowledgeable employee, most halfords guys I've come across don't have a first clue what they're talking about. They're just salesmen at end of the day, very few are genuine enthusiasts