Ahmotorsport Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 (edited) Just a word of advice before purchasing anything Snap On. Don't. That's the simple answer. Mega bucks and the quality just is not there any more. I finally dug it out of my Snap On dealer that it's made in China now. Or at least some of it is. I've had no end of trouble with my stuff keep breaking, here's a little list. 3/8 Air gun - about £200 all in - It wouldn't attempt to turn, it just shot air out. Sent off for repair and came back exactly the same, told him to keep it and take it off my bill. Torx screwdriver set - about £200 all in - Broke the T20 on first use undoing a diesel filter from it's plastic housing, the bolt wasn't tight, my ratchet screwdriver did the job in the end. Flexy head 3/8 ratchet - £150 all in - I used it today on some caliper carrier bolts (after using my knuckle bar to slacken them off) and it kept skipping teeth. Solid head 3/8 ratchet - £100 all in - After my flexy head gave up, i grabbed this one and it did exactly the same thing, got my Halfords one out, no problem. Punch and Chisel set - £100 all in - First blow to the chisel bluntened it and took a chunk out of it, used the other two in the set, exactly the same, told him to take them off my bill and take them back. Bought a Neilsen £15 set of big chisels, beaten ten bells of sh!t out of them and they haven't budged at all, still just as sharp. Digital tyre pressure inflater - £50 all in - Couldn't get on with it, had to force really hard to get it to open the schrader valve, there was no spring in the end of the inflater to hold the bit in that opens the schrader, also it was very inaccurate, going by three other inflaters and two tyre pressure gauges. Again, take it off my bill and have it back. I am hugely annoyed with all of this now. Every week the Snap On dealer comes in and i always give him something back. It's not just me either, some of the other guys i work with suffer with it. I nearly said to him yesterday "Enough, take everything back , i don't want it." I was quite happy with paying lots of money for tools as i knew they were going to last, well, clearly i know nothing! I've got better tools of eBay and pikey wagons than what he sells. Even my impact 3/8 sockets are getting chewed up and i've only had them about 2 months. My Step Dad has some from before the war and they still look perfect! Rant over. Edited January 17, 2014 by Ahmotorsport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyb0127 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I had heard alot of it is now made in china, fortunatly I don't really buy much from them anymore. As I already have most of what I need. But hate to think how much its cost me over the years. I've recently had issues with mac-tools over a spraygun, which as soon as its put in a gunwash machine then taken out, pull.the trigger and it gets stuck open. Found out the reason is the brass collar behind it has a rubber o-ring on it. So every time thinners goes near it the o-ring swells up as its not chemical resistant. Mac-tools idea was to send me spare parts for it, meaning every time I use it strip it apart and renew it. Went on for about six months, eventually after kicking up a right fuss they finally refunded the money back. Bearing in mind i have four sata jets, three devilbiss, two iwatas, and nine of these have.ever had any issues. Alot of stuff is like it now, nothings made like it used be. Snap-on is over priced now for what it actually is. Your just paying for a name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidrick Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 The only folk I've seen spend serious money on snap-on are youngsters who want to take advantage of being able to pay it up. As you've found, the Halfords professional range is really quite good! I'm a Teng man myself. Never has an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottybo Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Ive always used kamasa tools myself. The older stuff mind. Always been fantastic for me and very well priced Their more recent stuff doesnt seem as good though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort_Kid Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Have to agree too. I broke my snap-on 1/4 ratchet awhile ago, had it replaced with new internals and its still not right slipped straight away on the teeth with new internals. Used my halfords pro 1/4 ratchet instead and no problems at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danzetec Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I've never been able to justify spending the money for snap-on tools, imo its not worth spending three-times the amount on a tool that you can buy twice again if/when they break. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest they are manufacturing in China, and that in itself isn't an issue, but the quality that they manufacture to should of been correctly maintained. I've got halfords tools which are generally adequate and they replace them if broken, Teng stuff is very good, I've got a Beta ratchet which I quite like and I've been impressed with the Makita 18v LXT for battery-power stuff too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy 3i Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 You must all have monkeys for snap on dealers...I've got loads of snap on stuff and it's perfect, punches, chisels, screwdrivers, sockets, ratchets, extensions and a huge tool box. To be fair I couldn't rate them enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahmotorsport Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Aye. Wont buy anything else off them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeWee Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Ive always used kamasa tools myself. The older stuff mind. Always been fantastic for me and very well priced Their more recent stuff doesnt seem as good though These great tools, great price solid as a rock in use and with a good beating too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongo Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 cant afford snap on,so just bought the 150 piece set from halfords which is fab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahmotorsport Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 cant afford snap on,so just bought the 150 piece set from halfords which is fab.Aye ive got that one. Cant fault it. Especially for £100 trade! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongo Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I paid £95 non trade boxing day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahmotorsport Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 I paid £95 non trade boxing day.Aha bargain. The one in a plastic box yeah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I've been happy with halfords tools, supplimented with a few cheap bergen and sealey tools, i'm not using them every day, but been happy they have taken some abuse. Yet to find any decent torx bits though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy 3i Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Just out of curiosity...how many of of you are mechanics full time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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