OBDeleven, the connected car diagnostics and customisation platform for everyday drivers, is now available in 180 Halfords stores across the UK and Ireland, as well as on halfords.com. It is the first app-based car diagnostic tool stocked by the retailer, and the Lithuanian company’s most significant step yet into mainstream UK retail.
The pocket-sized device plugs into a car’s OBD2 port and connects to the OBDeleven app on iOS and Android, so drivers can see what is behind a warning light, run maintenance tasks and personalise their car from their phone. The rollout covers 140 stores in England, 15 in Scotland, 10 in Wales, 7 in Northern Ireland and 8 in Ireland. Strong online sales of OBDeleven prompted Halfords to bring the range into its physical stores.
OBDeleven’s UK data shows how drivers already use it. In the last 12 months, 207,498 UK vehicles connected to OBDeleven, and 85% of them ran at least one diagnostic scan. Together they ran 1.2 million scans, almost six per car a year. The average car connected to OBDeleven in the UK is ten years old, and the three most-used One-Click Apps are all maintenance tasks: oil service reset (607,255 uses), inspection reminder reset (597,598) and brake pad replacement (577,244).
“OBDeleven has already proved popular with our online customers, so bringing it into our physical stores was a natural next step. It helps drivers understand what’s behind a warning light, keep on top of servicing and personalise their car from their phone, which is exactly the kind of confidence we want to give every Halfords customer. We’re proud to be the first UK retailer to stock the OBDeleven range in store,” said Lee Mountain, commercial director at Halfords.
“Dealer-level diagnostics used to be something you either paid a garage for or picked up as a hobby. Seeing OBDeleven on the shelf at Halfords shows that’s no longer the case,” said Dainius Sapežinskas, CEO of OBDeleven. “Our UK drivers are already using it for the basics: resetting the oil service light, clearing an inspection reminder, logging new brake pads. Halfords is where British drivers go to look after their cars, so it’s the natural place to meet the ones who haven’t found us yet.”
Founded in 2014 in a Lithuanian garage and bootstrapped ever since, OBDeleven started out as a tool for car enthusiasts and has since broadened its audience to everyday drivers. It is now connected to more than 6 million cars in 60+ countries.
