Mystery Shopper

Ok, bit of a weird one. Doing some work for a trade mag and the idea of a mystery shopper feature came up. So has anyone got any ideas on what I could ask places like Halfords as well as independent dealers about the Supra. Was thinking about 'I want some 18in wheels for it' - and then seeing if they know what the best width, offest would be.

As the Supra has 9x16in rears as standard I presume going for 8.5x18 wouldn't be a great move - would need 9x18 on back and 8x18 on front a a minimum. But are there other problems with fitting 18s that they may not be able to help me with? Any help would be good.

As the Supra has 9x16in rears as standard I presume going for 8.5x18 wouldn't be a great move - would need 9x18 on back and 8x18 on front a a minimum

this isn't strictly correct for a start. although the stock wheels were 8j front and 9j rear, my old SZ certainly had 8.5j all round as i'm sure a number of cars do. however, i would agree that it would be a good idea to have staggered fitment on a TT.

the most important thing would be the correct PCD and offset imo.

"What would be a better motor for my Supra, Gallo 12 or Gallo 24"

lool

On a more serious question;

Can you get hold of a set of uprated Camshafts for my Supra and what is available.

That will get them umm'ing and err'ing. Then there will be a quick consult of the computer and manuals behind the desk

They should be able to answer that one as they have a large folder listing uprated Cams and details of applications. But worth testing

Like the idea of the mystery shopper thing

We had the "Mystery Shopper" experience when I worked at Specsavers, the people who came in knew the answers, they were checking we knew them too Good luck!!

I think the fact that you have to ask on a specialised forum for answers really shows that to ask these same questions of somewhere like Halfords is pretty unfair and meaningless to your survey.

If all you are out to do is to catch them out on their lack of knowledge then fine, but you could probably ask a huge amount of garages the same questions and find they didn't know the answers either!

Thanks for this, yeah, I want to make sure I know the fullproof answer before I go in but it seems there are a lot of questions with more than one answer. I guess I need a question where there's just one definitive answer.

CJ, there are a lot of questions you could ask where I'd know the answers, but as I have a Supra then I was going to use that. You don't get to know everything without asking some questions and I don't admit to knowing everything. That's why I thought enthusiasts might help.

And it's not to trip people up, it's more to find who gives good customer service as that's an important part of a business.

Surely in a place like halfords you should be asking........

"Does that wire mesh add 20 bhp to my Saxo"

"How much does under car neons come in at? and do they come with a free gold chain?"

Ask them about the red button?

Ask them about the red button?

Then they will point to the stereo's, come on it's halfords they need a diagram for to put on velcro shoes.

Ask them about the red button?

heheh yeah probably get the usual responce, dealer part only

As the Supra has 9x16in rears as standard I presume going for 8.5x18 wouldn't be a great move - would need 9x18 on back and 8x18 on front a a minimum. But are there other problems with fitting 18s that they may not be able to help me with? Any help would be good.

All depends upon what supe you are on about too

my uk spec has 17" standard, 9.5" wide on the rear.

Bit unfair really, you could ask the same questions at most motor parts shops and not get an answer. I get cleaning stuff from Halfords, and some tools, but i only use specialists for parts etc.

you could demand to know why halfrauds dont stock air filters and fuel filters for supras off the shelf...

Bit unfair really, you could ask the same questions at most motor parts shops and not get an answer. I get cleaning stuff from Halfords, and some tools, but i only use specialists for parts etc.

Thats true because halfrauds dont really specialise in supras or anything supra specific really.

Although, they do sell alloy wheels and to open their doors and welcome all cars so to do that you'd hope they'd have the knowledge to back it up. Not everyone that buys a car might want to go to a specialist or they might want to go to the local parts supplier.

Besides the point though as Halfords may not even figure.

It's to visit companies and try to find the ones that are not doing good things for the industry by suggesting totally the wrong parts or being rude etc. After all, as consumers we all want to know that when we spend money we aren't going to get ripped off.

Hey!... I'm a halfords manager!!

Why don't we stock fuel pumps etc, etc?? Becuase the "ripspeed" side of the business is unfortunatley aimed at the chav corsa and saxo drivers out there.

I've been thinking for ages we should have decent air filters, intercoolers, injectors, fuel pumps etc, etc. When Autobacs bought a large number of shares in the business... I thought GREAT!!... nope, all we got instead was stupid little jap cup holders and mini neons etc.

As for what wheel size etc, etc. We don't train the staff to know what would fit every car. TBH we use information supplied by Rimstock and other alloy wheel suppliers. Either in reference lists, or by phoning the suppliers directly. My staff anyway, would defo go out of their way to help as much as possible.

A bit unfair picking on Halfords I think.

PS : This is my opinion and in no way any opinion of Halfords.

Hey!... I'm a halfords manager!!

 

Why don't we stock fuel pumps etc, etc?? Becuase the "ripspeed" side of the business is unfortunatley aimed at the chav corsa and saxo drivers out there.

 

I've been thinking for ages we should have decent air filters, intercoolers, injectors, fuel pumps etc, etc. When Autobacs bought a large number of shares in the business... I thought GREAT!!... nope, all we got instead was stupid little jap cup holders and mini neons etc.

 

As for what wheel size etc, etc. We don't train the staff to know what would fit every car. TBH we use information supplied by Rimstock and other alloy wheel suppliers. Either in reference lists, or by phoning the suppliers directly. My staff anyway, would defo go out of their way to help as much as possible.

 

A bit unfair picking on Halfords I think.

 

PS : This is my opinion and in no way any opinion of Halfords.

do your staff know where the t-pieces for fitting the dump valve vac lines are????

lmao!!..... they do now!

Alright Jim, wasn't aiming this at Halfords in particular and to be honest I wouldn't expect them to know about wheel fitament, but it would be as much about whether they just said 'dunno mate, try the wheel shop down the road' as it is about the right info.

lmao!!..... they do now!

just checking!

I think these mystery shoppers are as much about being helpful and customer service as knowing the answer- you might pick the trainee. As long as they take ownership and it gets resolved it's ok in my eyes.