Snap-on tool prices are out of sight.

i6pwr said:
With Snap-On, how many times do you purchase the product and pay for your own warranty?

I'm not in the loop of the finances of Snap-On, but I don't see how their tools can command these prices. Are you telling me they can't profit off even a $50 spark plug socket...or a more reasonable $25 socket.

Their tools are super nice to use, but I can do the same work spending half as much..on the high end.

Their 18V 1/2" impact is what....like $1K.....who in their right mind pays this over a Dewalt 900 or a M18?
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The power and air tools prices are beyond insane and have a lousy warranty of only 2 years and non of them are anything special.
I have read the cordless tool internals are made in China/Taiwan and possibly assembled in USA. Given their performance comparisons I can guess who is building the components but that is only my guess so I wont post it. Are they worth it? Not to me, some would say they are a ripoff but its not my money they are spending.
The tool or the tool box does not make the mechanic, a good highly skilled mechanic with decent tools regardless of brand will do better work than some not very skilled guy with the biggest box full of tool truck tools.

 
i6pwr said:
With Snap-On, how many times do you purchase the product and pay for your own warranty?

I'm not in the loop of the finances of Snap-On, but I don't see how their tools can command these prices. Are you telling me they can't profit off even a $50 spark plug socket...or a more reasonable $25 socket.

Their tools are super nice to use, but I can do the same work spending half as much..on the high end.

Their 18V 1/2" impact is what....like $1K.....who in their right mind pays this over a Dewalt 900 or a M18?
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Snap on is publicly traded. Ticker SNA. You can look them up.

They are extremely profitable. I am sure your not shocked.

There also shrinking in real terms (after inflation). They manage to sneak out tiny nominal gains each quarter to satisfy Wall Street, but adjusted for inflation there shrinking. Based on there product pricing I am guessing in unit volume terms there shrinking quite a bit. However they juice there earnings by raising spark plug sockets to $100 as long as people will pay.

At some point people will not pay an they will likely implode, but until then they will milk there customers all they can.
 
I had bought a used Blue-Point air impact and I wanted to get it fixed because it would only tighten and not loosen and so my dealer sent it in and they sent it back saying they no longer had any kits to fix that model as it was obsolete. It was only 6 or 7 years old then and I’m like what the heck that’s so dumb. And then i made the mistake of buying a 3/8 air impact and that thing sucked so i sold it on eBay for a slight loss lol.
 
Snappy air tools and battery tools have never been a good value. The good stuff can be hand tools, specialty, and some diag stuff -- not scanners but more like top end cleaners, fuel/transmission pressure gauges, leakdown etc

None of it's worth retail but someone has to buy it so it can come up second hand for me.
 
danstraylee said:
Due to NDA agreement I'm unable to discuss the specifics or which companies I worked for. I can tell you every single employee from mechanics to janitors to the CEO had to agree to full disclosers of financials and debt due to the nature of business model. And this was with multiple employers throughout my career until retirement.

Not every company is like this but the money making outfits I worked for did. As far as going into debt with tools or getting hooked into it I can't comprehend that. I was not, nor my family, or taught in school or lived life swimming in debt in the private sector.
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You are correct. I have seen the same.
 
Just bought a Milwaukee Sawzall 90's vintage for 5 bucks at a garage sale. I don't care where the tools come from as long as they're cheap and high quality.
 
D60 said:
Snappy air tools and battery tools have never been a good value. The good stuff can be hand tools, specialty, and some diag stuff -- not scanners but more like top end cleaners, fuel/transmission pressure gauges, leakdown etc

None of it's worth retail but someone has to buy it so it can come up second hand for me.
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Ingersoll Rand, Chicago Pneumatic for me, The Snap-on 14.4V stuff is decent but certainly overpriced. Snap-on 14.4V batteries are far superior to Milwaukee 12V batteries....I have a lot of M12 batteries to compensate.

I like Snap-on scan tools, I have a Solus Ultra, Solus Plus, Apollo D9, MT2500, & a First gen Modis. I can navigate the SO interface far better than anything Android based.
They're battle tanks.....I use my Modis as a multimeter & quick/dirty scope stuff a lot, I've dropped it off lift arms hundreds of times & it's no worse for wear.
 
clinebarger said:
Ingersoll Rand, Chicago Pneumatic for me, The Snap-on 14.4V stuff is decent but certainly overpriced. Snap-on 14.4V batteries are far superior to Milwaukee 12V batteries....I have a lot of M12 batteries to compensate.

I like Snap-on scan tools, I have a Solus Ultra, Solus Plus, Apollo D9, MT2500, & a First gen Modis. I can navigate the SO interface far better than anything Android based.
They're battle tanks.....I use my Modis as a multimeter & quick/dirty scope stuff a lot, I've dropped it off lift arms hundreds of times & it's no worse for wear.
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Yeah I recently had to buy a donor Modis to get the "4-way" button you use to navigate. But otherwise my Modis looked like it had seen some wars before I got it. Once I swapped the button I no longer have to bruise my thumb trying to use it.

I've never used Snappy's 14.4 but not willing to step into more chargers and another platform.

Are you still finding the M12 2.5 compact and 5.0XC insufficient? They do seem better....
 
clinebarger said:
Those things are cool 'til you have to run a dirty extension cord through the house!
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You have more than one extension cord right - keep one clean. Or wipe the jacket down with rubbing alchol.

Every room has an outlet. 25 feet in the house handles most spots.

Unless your constructing a house how often are you using power tools inside? I am not talking pro's but homeowners.

I bought a rigid set of impact drill and drill because I had one small project I needed the impact drill for. This was a couple years ago. I may have used it twice since. I am not unhappy, I needed the impact for that job, but if I already had a corded version it would have then and since offered no true benefit.
 
Trav said:
Thinking back before cordless we used hand tools on car interiors as not to drag a filthy air hose through someones interior. Cordless was a game changer.
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Man every time I have to drag out and then put away my Clore power supply it seems like such a chore. First World Problems I know, but I hate cords so much.

Last night I was putting away my smoke machine and with three things to roll up, it really hates me.

If I get within 20' of a cord, hose, chain or shoe lace it tangles. It's like how aliens make compasses spin in circles....
 
SC Maintenance said:
You have more than one extension cord right - keep one clean. Or wipe the jacket down with rubbing alchol.

Every room has an outlet. 25 feet in the house handles most spots.

Unless your constructing a house how often are you using power tools inside? I am not talking pro's but homeowners.

I bought a rigid set of impact drill and drill because I had one small project I needed the impact drill for. This was a couple years ago. I may have used it twice since. I am not unhappy, I needed the impact for that job, but if I already had a corded version it would have then and since offered no true benefit.
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I have a wife & three daughters......What rubbing alcohol ;)
 
SC Maintenance said:
You have more than one extension cord right - keep one clean. Or wipe the jacket down with rubbing alchol.

Every room has an outlet. 25 feet in the house handles most spots.

Unless your constructing a house how often are you using power tools inside? I am not talking pro's but homeowners.

I bought a rigid set of impact drill and drill because I had one small project I needed the impact drill for. This was a couple years ago. I may have used it twice since. I am not unhappy, I needed the impact for that job, but if I already had a corded version it would have then and since offered no true benefit.
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In all seriousness, Most home repairs don't require a full size reciprocating saw, I keep a M12 Milwaukee Hackzall at home....It's compact size come in handy!
 
clinebarger said:
In all seriousness, Most home repairs don't require a full size reciprocating saw, I keep a M12 Milwaukee Hackzall at home....It's compact size come in handy!
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I've got a friend doing the "van life" thing and he's getting rid of M18 in favor of M12. In that instance I think it really makes sense because every 1/8" can matter when packing in a small space. If you live out of a van you probably shouldn't be doing much that requires M18, anyway.

I'm pretty blown away by my new M12 3/8" impact. It's extremely zesty for being so small.
 
Unfortunately for certain automotive specialty tools SnapOn may be your only option as no one else makes many of these special tools. Snap on power tools (air and battery) are not very good and don’t have much of a warranty. Their general purpose hand tools are not worth the price anymore in my opinion and that’s coming from someone who owns a fair number of SnapOn tools and an outrageously overpriced SnapOn tool box which i bought at a significant discount due to a dent in the back but still cost a small fortune. Had Harbor Freight had the Icon line been when I was getting started as a mechanic I wouldn’t have bought most of the general purpose SnapOn, Mac, Cornwel, or Matco stuff that I did back then. The only low cost option back then was Sears Craftsman and for professional use they were far inferior to SnapOn or any of the tool truck brands for that matter. HF Icon tools are amazing for the price however they don’t have much of a lineup or any specially tools so your still going to have to spend money on the tool trucks from time to time.
 
I'm 69 years old, started with my dad working on everything you can imagine. In my whole life, I think I've owned two or three SO tools and at least one was a gift. Never saw the need, never liked the design of some of them. I saw plenty of mechanics get in over their heads in debt buying SO. It was like someone selling drugs, and they just couldn't quit. Such a shame, lots of divorces over money and some of it attributable to overspending on tools.

I've never had a job I couldn't complete with other brands at a much more reasonable price.
 
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