Our Blog - Pellon Tyres And Auto Centre Halifax

Bridgestone Blizzak Winter Tyres- A good Winter Tyres choice to fit most car models

19th May 2019/5 Comments/in All Tyre Articles /by Eric

Bridgestone Blizzak Winter Tyres

These are great tyres the Bridgestone Blizzak winter tyres

Bridgestone Blizzak winter for run flats

I must admit that out of all the leading makes of tyres that are developed for winter use, then Bridgestone are not amongst them. I am not sure why this is, because Bridgestone are by sales volume, the largest tyre company in the world. However, we do not see that, in the volume of their Bridgestone Blizzak tyre sales, at least not here in Yorkshire UK.

Ever since I became a manager for one of the large tyre retailers. Here in the UK, I have made an effort. So, to inform my customers about the safety features of this product. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart. Subsequently, it is not just to sell them something. To me it is the safety issues. When a customer comes in to buy summers in say November. So, then I will make a huge effort to try selling the customer onto winters .

I will try to convince them to fit their winters. Hence, for the whole winter period. Most drivers still do not know. Of course,when the temperature drops to below 7*C. That the tyres rubber compound will become harder and much less flexible, than the winter tyres, primarily because modern winter season tyres have special chemicals added to the compound, including “silica”.

Bridgestone Blizzak Winter Tyres

Less flexible side walls make the summer ones much stiffer and this makes your car harder to handle in cold weather steering and cornering, as well as braking can become very difficult. Winters retain their flexibility in the cold climate and also give the driver more confidence, when they realise that the car handles much better in the snow and ice.

Bridgestone Blizzak winter tyres come into this bracket.

Bridgestone Blizzak will perform in all the bad weather that is thrown at you. They are specially engineered with deeper tread depth and a unique tread pattern to cope with the snow and ice. When Bridgestone blizzac winter, come across any snow, slush and ice, they have a Multi-Cell compound that removes a thin layer water from the treads surface which improves the grip using millions of microscopic pores.

This special compound also allows the tyre to stay flexible in icy and freezing temperatures. Making sure that the car sticks to the road. Also there are a large number of sipes in the Bridgestone Blizzak tread which is also another property of the tyre to retain the grip in winter conditions. of our snow tyres improves traction in the wet, snow, and ice by increasing the number of biting edges.

Bridgestone Blizzak Winter Tyres

This is the time of year, just before winter bites to think about a new set of winters for your car. One of the tyre products that comes highly recommended is the Bridgestone Blizzak WS70. I must admit that it was not familiar with me until I have read some good revues about the winters in some of the press and skiing blogs.

The manufacturer, claim that new technology has gone into their compound, that includes silica and an enhanced system of microscopic tubes and cells that are covering the normal tread compound which helps the tyre to grip better, even when the tyre wears down . These so called “Nano-tubes”, help the tyre grip into the ice and snow, making this tyre very efficient in all kinds of winter driving conditions.

I am pleased to say that the Bridgestone Blizzak has become very popular in the UK this winter and we at Pellon tyres have experienced an increase in the new tyres sale

Winter will soon be here, check out I am pleased to say that the Bridgestone Blizzak has become very popular in the UK this winter and we at Pellon tyres have experienced an increase in the new tyres sale

Bridgestone Blizzac sales increase here in the UK.

I am pleased to say that the Bridgestone Blizzak has become very popular in the UK. Therefore, this winter we at Pellon tyres have experienced an increase in the new winter tyres sales. Bridge-stone are the World leader.So, we at Pellon are very proud to be a stockists in Halifax the UK.

For a further review…

“The Bridgestone Blizzak line of winter tires has a long-established and well-deserved reputation for reliability and grip in all winter conditions, and the WS70 is no exception. The successor to the highly regarded Bridgestone Blizzak WS60, the WS70 is clearly an improvement. Although opinions vary somewhat as to its exact placement, the Blizzac WS70 definitely earns a place among the top tier of tires, although the dry-road performance does leave something to be desired”… http://tires.about.com/od/Tire_Reviews/fr/Review-Bridgestone-Blizzak-Ws-70.htm

This article was compiled by Eric Roberts...www.pellonautocentre.com

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. Working for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days. Before starting my first business. Now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Blogging about anything to do with cars and their related products.Naturally, that will help my business. Members of Point-S and MotorCodes .Also a Unipart Car Care Centre. Of course and Tyresafe.

Flexi-pipes-Saving you Money with an Exhaust Flexi-pipe

18th May 2019/in All Exhausts/Catalytic Converter Stuff /by Eric

You can save money on your car exhaust by fitting a Flexi-pipes

One of the main part of our business is fitting new exhausts. It has been the same now for the past 30 years, when Kwikfit were one of the first companies to give a heavy discount on new exhaust systems that they fitted. Before then we all went to a garage and would have charged for the part and an hourly rate. Some garages still do this type of charging at the present time, and I must be honest we are now doing the same. We make a profit on the part and have an hourly fitting rate, in my opinion the day’s of fast fit car parts are coming to an end.

New flexi-pipe exhaust fitted to BMW Mini

The Exhaust Systems with Flexi-pipes fitted on today’s cars are very different to the ones that were fitted to say the old Ford Cortinas and Vauxhall Vivas. These cars would be coming in for a new Cheap Exhaust system every 18 months. We also used to buy the exhausts in bulk, say from large companies such as Quinton Hazel, Bosal, T.I. Bainbridge and many more. The list of suppliers was endless, all fighting to sell us their products at the best deals. Then as in the tyre trade the wholesalers moved in and the motor factors, such as Andrew Pages, who will sell their parts to anybody, thus cutting our profit margins.

This once again cut our margins and every Tom Dick and Harry started fitting cut price exhausts, this has always been true of the garage trade you have to make money in the early day’s before the rest catch up with you. Then we moved onto the drive to lower the car emissions and the introduction of the catalytic converter fitted with Flexi-pipes . We were all rubbing our hands when the first cats started to break and had to be replaced, I used to travel to Mansfield almost every day to buy catalytic converters at the right price from a company that was in it’s early stages then, B and M exhausts, sometimes they would make them for me while I waited and they were also half the price of other suppliers in Halifax.

After a couple of years other suppliers moved into the market and once again the margins dropped and we were fitting the Flexi-pipe and catalytic converters at discount prices to match our competitors. This brings me up to today’s market. We no longer give exhaust prices out over the phone, in my opinion those day’s are gone. Customers will ring up for a back box only to find that the car needs the inter pipe as well, or the car has a one piece system fitted that we need to cut or the new parts won’t fit. In general we ask the customer to bring his car in to us and we will check the exhaust out on a ramp, we can then give a fair price for the job in hand. At first I thought we would lose out but nearly every car owner brings the car in, as if it was any other part of the car that needed checking out , we give them a price including a profit on the part and the time it takes to do the job.

I feel that this is an honest way of doing things and the customer does not “rant and rave” when you have to tell him that he needs “this and that” in extras, we also charge for new clamps and rubbers and we fit as many exhausts and Flexi-pipes as we ever did, and we can even save the motorist money. A guy rang up the other day with a noisy exhaust on his BMW Mini. We did our usual thing and sure enough the guy turned up. When we checked his exhaust system we found that it was broken at the catalytic converter. When pricing the job up, we found that there was no aftermarket parts for his model and that it was a main dealer part only. It would have cost us just over £300 from BMW. We then asked him if we could fit a repair Flexi-pipes and this would cost around the £100 mark, a huge saving. The guy was over the moon and we carried a successful repair, we were happy and so was our customer.

Exhaust flexi-pipes for Grand Vitara’s

We also carry out Flexi-pipe repairs on the Suzuki Grand Vitara, the replacement parts are only available at the main agents and cost us in the region of £500, we fit a flexi for £120 and the customer is highly delighted, we guarantee our workmanship so we are all winners.

Article written by Eric Roberts…

SUV Safety Winter Tyres- Take better control over your SUV in bad weather by fitting winter tyres

18th May 2019/6 Comments/in Nokian Winter Tyres /by Eric

SUV Safety Winter Tyres

SUV Safety Winter Tyres are a must for SUV cars

Winter tyres on this Porsche SUV in the Halifax Fitting station Yorkshire UK

When you been in the tyre trade as long as I have. Then we often get offered opportunities to help test new tyres. Hence, from the different tyre manufacturers. You may wonder what this has to do with SUV winter tyres. But a couple of years ago I was offered a chance to test drive some SUV vehicle. Thus, fitted with Vredestein SUV Winter Tyres. So to prove how different this type of car performed on winter tyres.

The cars included many different models. Including the new Range Rover the new Porsche Cayenne and the BMW MX and Mercedes ML models. We were all flown to Austria and headed for the mountains.

SUV Tyres-Fear in my eyes

All the cars were fitted with the excellent Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme tyres. Which were designed by the great car designer Giugiari. of course, the cars were driven by professional test drivers (and boy did I know it). I was in the passenger seat and another couple of guys were in the back.

We climbed upwards until we reached the snow line. The drivers then let loose, they were that confident with the snow tyres fitted that they drove these SUVs like mad men. We were driven on ice and snow through forested areas and up and down steep ravines at high speed . I had never been as frightened in my life, my eyes were popping out with fear. I was ever so glad when the tyre tests were finished, but it proved to how good these cars were with SUV Winter Tyres fitted.

Most of these cars come fitted with summer tyres when new so it is well worth investing in a set of SUV Winter Tyres to give you full driver confidence when the winter weather comes along, as many drivers of these vehicles found to their cost when they got stuck in snow and ice in the last few winters.

Apollo winter tyres make excellent Winter Tyres.

One of the top tyre manufacturers to make excellent SUV Winter Tyres for the SUVs are Apollo. They are world renowned at making great tyres for winter. The tyres are now made at the famous Vredestein winter tyre factory in Holland.

Point-S Europe-About Point-S-for- Independent Tyre Dealers

17th May 2019/in All Car Servicing /by Eric

Point-S Europe makes a big difference for the local tyre dealers

Of course, Point-S Europe came to Britain about eight years ago now in 2010. Consequently, we as a country joined the massive European group along with Holland. Following a strong contingent of other independent tyre dealers across the continent.

Point-S Europe depot in Holland

So, the original idea started in France in 1971. When a group of independent tyre professionals. Conclusively,were at the time were trading as solo tyre dealers. Thus decided to join forces. Creating an organisation that combined a better image and more corporate image. Of course, in the eye’s of the tyre buying French public.

After several meetings the group came up with the name POINT-S and was promoted as their national brand. That was 42 years ago, and the organisation has spread to every other country in Europe, becoming the largest independent tyre network and now includes the USA giving the group 2530 outlets up to 2011, the groups 40 year anniversary.

I started my first tyre business in 1979, eight years after Point-S Europe started.

We expanded to three depots in a nine year period, but were soon to start getting our tyre numbers affected by the beginning of the “tyre wholesalers”. These were large companies that sold their tyres to anybody, I know we had no right supply the whole of the public with tyres , but these people drove down the tyre sales in our retail depots.

At that time we were able to buy tyres from the tyre manufacturers, getting good deals and making a healthy profit, but when the wholesalers began to flood the area, we were having to compete and this drove down car tyre prices and profit margins and one or two smaller tyre companies closed down.

The reason I talk about this is because we would have loved to have had an organisation like Point-S for us to join, I feel that being part of a group would have given us a better corporate image. However as is the case now, the general business strategy was becoming “big is better”, similar to what is happening today. We were bought out by Shell oil who were building a network of tyre and auto-centres called “Superdrive”. “Superdrive” were to compete directly with “Kwikfit” but they soon found that it was not going to be very easy handling so many tyre depots and sold them all off to “Kwik Fit Tyres” at a discount price, all within a couple of years ?.

Point-S Europe depot in Germany

I then bought the tyre centre that I still own today.

So, with the same thing was happening again. Just as it did in the late seventies and eighties. The business philosophy once again is “big is better”. The large wholesalers that began life in the seventies, had now become multi-national tyre companies with the backing of big banks. The difference this time is that they now wanted to own retail sites. These tyre companies started to build up large networks of retail tyre depots to supply from their own wholesale divisions. All this kind of activity was also happening across Europe, but the difference was that Europe had an organisation called Point-S Europe .Many small and medium sized tyre retailers were able to join, this gave them the corporate image that could and did help them compete with the big boy’s.

Pellon Tyres- join Point-s in 2012

1. This brings up to today’s situation. We as tyre dealers were now looking at a new threat to our existence, “the internet”. Hundreds of web-sites are springing up selling “cheap tyres online”. Most small tyre retail companies started to develop their own web-sites, but the problem was that we were buying our tyres from the very same people who were competing with us on the internet, not a very good state of affairs. The tyre manufacturers would not deal with us because we were too small. Things were not good ! We were working for less and less and longer hours just to make ends meet. Then by chance I was speaking to a friend of mine called Lenny, the owner of Link tyres. Lenny (now passed away)told me about Point-S Europe. This was just what I was looking for a dealer network. Allowing us to buy better, direct from the manufacturers and with a corporate image, they also have an added bonus a competitive web-site that enables us to trade and compete online, one word- FABULOUS.

Point-S Europe depot in France (closed for lunch)

I have been a member of Point-S now for just over seven years.

Looking nationally, instead of been a local tyre depot in Halifax. So, I now feel that we are part of a national group. Including all the advantages that go with it. Heres looking forward to a great future with Point-S Europe. Of course, any tyre dealer in the UK. Ambitiously, with the same feelings should contact Point-S.

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. Hence,I worked for a couple of National tyre companies. So, before starting my first business. Consequently, I now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Importantly, I am a keen blogger. Of course, about anything to do with cars and their related products. Finally, that will help my business grow.

Continental Winter Tyres- Some Good Advise against driving on winter tyres all the year round

17th May 2019/2 Comments/in All Continental Tyres Stuff /by Eric

Continental Winter Tyres

advise against driving on Continental Winter Tyres all year round E tyres Dr Andreas Topp, Head of Winter Tire Development at Continental, warned: “At warmer times of the year, winter tyres have a longer braking distance than summer tyres, and handling…

eric roberts‘s insight:

Winter tyres all year round

This has always been my point of view. Here in the UK we have had a run of mild and wet winters. Summer tyres fitted to our cars did the job of coping with this.

Then we started to have colder weather from November onwards. Motorists in Scotland were the first to react positively. Thus, to this colder winter climate. Starting to fit winter tyres to their cars. Much the same as the other European countries. Most of Britain’s winter tyres were diverted to Scotland by the big wholesalers.

As the weather became worse as the years rolled on. Of course, then winter tyres became more popular in Northern England. We now have started tyre companies using winter tyre “hotels”. Including here at Pellon Tyres in the UK. Consequently, we will store and refit your winters each season, now very much the same as the rest of Europe.

This guy from Continental Tyres UK Ltd has said the opposite to me, by stating that in his opinion that Continental Winter Tyres should not be used all of the year, this is a complete turnaround by Continental, but I have the opposite view and think that they would be much for the motorist in all types of weather.

Continental Winter Tyres To update my thoughts,

As I have said on many occasions British drivers are coming to terms with the fact that fitting Continental Winter Tyres in November early December to increase safety for themselves and the other road users, in the bad winter weather.

It is also advisable to re-fit your summer tyres after the Continental Winter Tyres has finished around Easter time, or at least after March. This is because there are two differences between summer tyre and winter tyres that are easy to explain. The one that is most obvious is that the tread pattern of the winter tyre, is made up of millions of sipes, these are tiny slits in the tyres tread, that get rid of the water, snow and slush that you will encounter at some stage of the winter period.

The summer tyre tread pattern is of a simpler design and performs differently to the winter tyre, as drivers who get stuck in the snow know to their cost.

The tyre compound is the second main difference. The Continental Winter Tyres compound has additional chemicals in the mix, including “silica”; this keeps the tyre flexible in freezing weather. The summer tyre does not have this additive in the compound and so when the temperature drops below 7 degrees C then the tyre carcass becomes rigid and they do not handle well on a nice hot sunny day.

And so to finalise, Continental are correct in saying that it is best practice to change back to summer tyres are to rotate summer and winters at the end of the relevant seasons.

Continental Winter Tyres

Eric Roberts http://www.wintertyres-yorkshire.co.uk/

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. Members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. Selling Continental Winter Tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk . Using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. Offering courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. Also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes. Carrying out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Peugeot 406- Brakes- Not checked for Two Years? have you checked yours recently?

16th May 2019/in Brake Servicing Halifax /by Eric

Peugeot 406 not serviced for over two years and has a brakes issue.

Car owners sometimes make my “blood boil”. This particular motorist had decided to have his Peugeot 406 serviced and did not realise that the car had not had a service for well over two years, he insisted that the car had a service in 2012 when it was in for the MOT test, but when we looked it up on our computer system, it was in fact 2011 when it was last serviced. He swore us down that it was only last year and there must be a fault on our computer system.

However he left the Peugeot 406 with us and we proceeded with the service and changed all the oils and relevant filters, the oil was thick and black and there was not much of it and the filters were totally clogged up, we think that in another few months the engine would probably have blown up, due to lack of maintenance.

The car was in for an annual MOT test in 2012 and it passed ,but the car had not been serviced as the customer had thought, however he would have known this because his invoice was only for £39.90,the price of the MOT test. Ryan my head mechanic then removed the wheels to check out the brakes as the car had a “ low efficiency reading”,on the rolling road brake tester.

Peugeot 406 brakes discs were just solid rust.

On inspection the front brakes needed a set of brake pads and the discs cleaning up. The rear discs on the Peugeot 406 were completely rusted solid and in a real mess. The rear Car Brake Pads and Disc Brakes had to be completely replaced because they were in such bad condition. In Ryan’s opinion this work would not have been needed if the Peugeot 406 had been serviced at more regular intervals. Car owners do not understand that their car is a machine made from millions of small parts and they need regular servicing and attention, it is not just a money thing it is all about safety.

I wonder how many people would travel by airplane if they thought that they had not been serviced for ages (not many).

Luckily modern cars are now equipped with electronic assistance’s to warn the driver about any pending problems, they warn you if your pads are getting low, a brake warning light will light up on the dash. Modern braking systems also have electronic assistance’s, known as (EBS) and have other additional braking aids such as Anti-lock brake system (ABS) and electronic stability program (ESP) Traction control system(TCS) and also electronic brake-force distribution (EBD).

These systems are now becoming common features on today’s modern cars and are all designed to aid the driver when braking in different weather and bad situations that may occur. When you have to brake on an icy road or an uneven surface the electronic assistance will apply the correct pressure on the front and rear brakes at the right time to avoid the car from skidding out of control.

In my opinion this is all very good but the car owners should take the basic steps of making sure that their brakes ore in good condition by having the car serviced at a reputable service centre or at least have their Car Brakes serviced. . If you do not know one in your area look online for your nearest Unipart Car Care Centre,

Article written by Eric Roberts...www.pellonautocentre.com

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell tyres online from our website www.pellonautocentre.com by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Powder Coating- Our Shot Blasting Service will bring back your old Alloy Wheels to look like New?

16th May 2019/2 Comments/in All Alloy wheels Stuff /by Eric

Powder Coating

Powder Coating will bring your car alloy wheels back to life and treat your car.

One of the most rewarding services that we offer to our customers, is having their alloy wheels re-furbished and Powder Coating them back to a new like condition.

Coloured wheels are another good option after Powder Coating procedure

This service transforms your car wheels back to there former glory. Of course this will make you feel proud of your car again. The alloy wheels look that good when finished. That we have not had one complaint. As a result,all our customers have been highly delighted. Subsequently, with the quality of the workmanship.

The other thing that this service does is to completely shot blast the whole wheel, so that you will no longer suffer from those leaking alloy wheels every time you have a new tyre fitted. The wheels are completely shot blasted inside and outside to take the alloy wheels back to a nearly new state and therefore stopping any leaks that you may have had in the past.

We carry out the full service for you , we remove the wheels and tyres from your car, or if you like you can just bring in your wheels and we will remove the tyres and valves in preparation for shot blasting and then powder coating . Some customers prefer to take their own alloy wheels off or we can do it for you, the choice is yours.

We then take the wheels to one of the best powder coating companies in Yorkshire, who carry out the work us. We are able to negotiate a special price and this helps keep the cost down for our customers.

Powder Coating-Colour chart is available to change the look of your alloy wheels

If our customers would like to see a finished wheel we can show them a sample that we keep in our reception in Halifax,UK. We will also have a small selection of sample coloured alloy wheels so that our customers can see the excellent quality and looks that will enhance the appearance of your car.

We guarantee the refurbished against any faulty workmanship, but up to we have had no problems in the past five years, the guys who carry out the work have a reputation second to none and have been in business for over 40 years.

Please look at this excellent video which shows you the process that your alloy wheels will go through

The whole Powder Coating process from you leaving your car. Including loose alloy wheels. Will take about three days, in total. Of course, we will remove and re-fit the tyres. Consequently,when we get your wheels back we will fit a new valve (not including electric valves) At the same time,also balance the wheels all in with the price.

The price for the complete job including VAT Prices at August 2014

Alloy wheels 16 inch £65 per unit

17 inch £70 per unit

18 inch £75 per unit

The price rises by £5 for every inch of wheel after that. If you have any queries or questions

Please give us a call on 01422-362030. www.pellonautocentre.com

Waste Oil-Do You Know Where your old engine oil Is Going after a car service?

15th May 2019/3 Comments/in All Car Servicing /by Eric

Waste oil recycling is part of good practice

During my many years in the car garage trade, there are things that just happen and we don’t really think about what happens or how is it done. For years and years people would collect our old tyres, and they would sort through them and actually paid us for the ones which were any good, this was for remoulding usually, but we never knew what happened to the ones which were totally rubbish and unusable ?.

Waste oil collecting drainer for when servicing a car

I remember only that we were paid £1 for a good Michelin casing and 50p for the rest that were any good, but we never got to know where the others ever went. I suppose that they were disposed of at the remoulding plant, all our old tyres went to Comet remoulds in the North East of England UK. I would have thought that the majority of the scrap tyres went to Landfill and were buried for ever, who knows.

I recently did an article about waste tyre disposal at the present time and then got to thinking where all our old garage oil goes, after it is collected by the oil recovery company. We all have to dispose of our waste by law now and a good thing it is too. Here at Pellon Autocentre we have a sort of automatic waste oil system, we drain it into a container and with the aid of air pressure we send the oil down some pipes into a double skinned 1000 litre Waste Oil collecting tank. This tank is drained periodically by the waste oil company. To my horror I have recently found out that motorists and some small garages would throw the old oil down the drain, now it must all be collected and accounted for, here in the UK we must have waste transfer notes provided by all waste that is collected from our businesses, including waste oil and oil filters.

Waste oil is now reprocessed and used again

Millions of gallons of waste oil is now collected and recycled, this includes all our motor oils,brake fluids, transmission fluids and coolants. Some garages have used their old oil to fire their garage heaters, but most send theirs for recycling, it is the new green way of doing things. The great thing about oil recycling is that the product produced is almost as good as newly refined crude oil.

It is possible to recycle old engine oil and make it as good as new. Without tying myself in knots trying to explain the process to you, I would like you to look at this excellent video, by Valvoline Oil it really does explain everything…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdFab1h_C0M

OSS waste oil collecting truck

Just for the record the waste oil that we produce is collected by a company called… http://www.ossgroupltd.com/fuel-oil.html The waste oil is treated and recycled into Fuel Oils, another great use for our old oil. This process is named GEN 3 and has been trade marked by the company £6 million of investment.

Our old oil filters can also be recycled. The filters go through a de-fragmenting machine and are then separated into there various components, metal, plastic and paper and are the recycled.

Old oil filters ready for recycling

Thanks Article by Eric Roberts…www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell tyres online from our website www.pellonautocentre.com by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Kumho Tyres Factory launch-$225 million factory in Bibb County ,hire more than 300 workers

15th May 2019/in All Tyre Articles /by Eric

Kumho Tyres Factory may supply Kumho supply many tyres to motorsport

Post updated 3/2/2014

Macon Telegraph (blog)

Kumho Tyres Factory launch $225 million factory in Bibb, hire more than 300

Macon Telegraph (blog)

Kumho Tyre is ready to roll in Bibb County, bringing more than 300 jobs and a $225 million investment to a big tire plant.

eric roberts‘s insight:

Kumho tyres catching the big boy’s up ?

The latest Kumho Tyres Factory to be opened is in Bibb in the USA and will open up the States to a larger market. Not many years ago Kumho tyres were the new boy’s on the block and along with Hankook tyres were virtually unheard of a few years ago. The

giant tyre company sprang onto the World stage after creating a massive dealer network, through British wholesalers such as Micheldever in the South of England. The sister company of Kumho is a brand known as Marshal tyres, originally sold to the American market, but now sold here in the UK through Bond International Tyres in Pocklington near York in the UK. There are no plans for a Kumho Tyres Factory to be built here in the UK, but you never know. I suspect the cost of labour here in the UK is very high compared to the emerging Eastern economies, where a Kumho Tyres Factory has been recently opened in China.

kumho event tent at a recent track event

Kumho tyres have also become one of the top tyre suppliers in the World of motorsport and this is another reason that the company are expanding the Kumho Tyres Factory empire into other countries and markets. The Kumho brand is an excellent product and is selling well against the top tyre companies such as Bridgestone, Continental and Michelin,. The gap is getting narrower between the up and coming Eastern tyre manufacturers and the long standing well known tyre companies.

Thanks Eric Roberts www.pellonautocentre.com

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and MotorCodes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre.

See on www.macon.com

Local Garage Trust Worthy-Do you trust your local garage?Do They Give You a happy Smile?

14th May 2019/in All Car Repair Articles /by Eric

Local Garage Trust Worthy

Local Garage Trust Worthy-Taking your car to your local garage should be a matter of trust.

The local garage I now own will be coming up to its 25 year anniversary in 2014. Believe me I really don’t know where all the time has gone. But it sure has. Many of today’s garage owners are reaching the end of their time. Regarding taking part in the complete everyday running of the business. Leaving, everyday tasks to a reliable manager. Perhaps, sometimes to one of their family members.

In my case the Halifax garage and tyre bays are managed by by sister in-law Debbie. Hence, our online and battery business is now run by my wife Michelle. Of course, I am now concentrating on our battery selling web-sites. Trying to generate new business online.

Pellon garage reception with a TV coffee machine and up to date magazines. This is how your local garage should be

In my opinion the local garage (as they used to be), has passed its sell by date. These have been replaced by a nice modern Auto-centre system. This includes Pellon Autocentre here in Halifax UK.

As a result, this is the start of creating the trust that you must build. Hence, between the local garage and your customers. Most people run there lives in a clean and tidy order. Expecting the same of Autocentres when repairing or servicing their cars. So the order of the day is a nice clean garage. Where the customers can sit in a reception area. Perhaps watching TV or having a coffee. So whilst their car is having a job done. Of course this is the first stage. Subsequently, of gaining the customers trust in your local garage.

Local Garage Trust Worthy give a happy smile

When your customers first enter your nice clean reception. Then they should be greeted by a happy smiling member of your staff. Consequently, In my view this should be all your staff. If you have any grumpy or miserable staff working for you. Of course, you should get rid of them or retrain them to smile. because, in my opinion they will become a liability.Customers will pick this up and loose trust in them. Of course, even your mechanics and technicians. Therefore, should be of a happy and friendly nature.

The next thing is when your customer is greeted, they should be made to feel at ease when dealing with the problem of their car. Try to speak to them on there level and use visual aids to point things out, we use our Autodata system to show diagrams if possible, or show them the actual faulty part under their cars bonnet (hood). This also gives your customer confidence in your local garage and also trust in your garage and staff.

Another step that I took to create trust in your business is join some good trade associations, that can help your garage become more stable and secure in the fact that these trade bodies can increase your garages customer confidence, due to the fact that these trade bodies have to vet your garage premises and business practices in order for you to become a member in the first place.

Adding quality of service will once again add trust between your customer and your garage.

As with many other Auto-centre owners of long standing, I could go on and on about this subject. Also there is no need to throw a lot of money at it, in most cases a lick of paint would be all that’s required and a nice happy friendly smile from your staff.

One of the best things I ever did was to call around a number of garages and tyre depots in my area, incognito so to speak. I was blown away by the amount of bad service and even bad

Being a member of your local trading standards is always a good sign that it is a local garage that you can trust also a member of Motorcodes

language. This even applied to some of the big boy’s depots, where they spend millions on staff training, but the general picture and standards was appalling. I now know why we have done so well over the years and created so much trust between the garage and our customers.

Article Written by Eric Roberts…www.mot-halifax.co.uk

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles.

Members of MOTORCODES

Members of POINT-S