Halfords is challenging bodyshops by trying to undercut them with its new scratch, chip and dent repair service.

Halfords is promising to save customers 75% in comparison to “traditional bodyshop prices”. Customers will be able to choose from fixed menu pricing which is based directly on the size of the damage.

Halford's advertisements for the campaign have already been challenged earlier this year and have been deemed to be false in statement and a complaint was upheld by the Advertsing Standards Agency.

Halfords said it could not comment insightfully on the evidence provided by the complainants because they had not been given the opportunity to view the actual damage on which the quotes were based. Halfords said it offered two services, one in-store and the other at the customer's choice of location; the 'in-store' service being the cheaper of the two. It believed the complainants had based their comparison on the equivalent prices of their 'in-store' service.

Halfords said the claim was based on a rolling national pricing survey based on bodyshop quotations for repair of actual vehicle damage. It sent a copy of the recent results of the survey to the ASA, which, they maintained, substantiated the claim of at least 75% savings against bodyshop prices.

The ASA noted Halford's savings claim was unqualified and considered that readers were likely to expect that they could achieve that saving against body shop prices in all instances.

Halfords repair services

Services available include scratch; dent and bumper scuff removal and alloy wheel refurbishments. All repairs are carried out by bodyshop-trained technicians and are guaranteed for three years.

Prices start from £50 and include, scratch repair from £65, dent and chip repair from £50, bumper scuff repair from £65, alloy wheel refurbishments from £65 per wheel.

Customers can choose whether to have the repair undertaken either at their home address or place of work, and all Halfords stores are able to provide quotes.