If you could start again with cordless...

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I’ve been using Makita for years.... just drill/drivers and impact drivers. Had an older brushed drill and a great dtd454 impact driver get nicked a couple of years ago and I replaced the drill with the top of the range Makita dhp481. Never got another impact driver as I had used it loads for my roof but could now get away with just the swanky drill.

I’ve now lost my drill. Think I was working outside the house and left it on the porch. Balls.

So now I have nothing. Makita have been great. No issues, tough and a well respected brand. I’d be buying the decent models again, not bog standard diy stuff as although not a professional, I use them a lot and hard.

Dewalt and Milwaukee are 2 other brands I could go with. Would any of you swap now? Are any brands any better than others?

There is a twin pack of the dhp481 and dtd454 with 2 batteries for £389 tempting me.
 
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Have both dewalt and makita, prefer the build and performance of the dewalt. Consider second hand units , plenty on social media etc and therefor local. Picked up drilll/ driver and impact driver , three batteries and charger for £150.
 
Makita for me, but it's down preference / the fact I have Makita kit and the batteries are interchangeable, as of course they are with Dewalt. Anyway I prefer the colour of Makitas (!) was put off Dewalt about 10 years ago, when they had a huge dip in quality, I believe that's been addressed and I have a fair few corded Dewalt tools, but as I have Makita cordless then unless there is a marked decline in quality, I'll stick. But as said, largely personal choice.
 
start again....

I have Ryobi at home and have several units that use a common 18v battery
we have Makita at work and they are much lighter, so if I had to, I'd go Makita - but all my stuff still works and I am tight
 
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Have metabo and will stick with them.
They are part of CAS (cordless alliance system) Which makes Mafell an option.
Also have 18v fein for the nibblers which Metabo don't make.
 
I've ended up with Bosch blue, almost by accident.

I needed a drill / impact 18v set in a hurry, and a Bosch set was available. They are really good. Then I ended up getting a used Bosch SDS for £50, and a Bosch grinder for £40, so I am where I am. Also picked up some of the L-BOXX storage cases used for £10 each, so have capacity for more tools!

I also have a 10.8v Makita drill / impact set, but it's 7 years old and the batteries are fairly done in, which is a shame as having a little set can be quite handy at times.

Might be worth a play with some Hitachi / Hikoki, they seem good value but not sure if they are heavier or not. I like Hitachi corded stuff, feels solid and pretty good value.
 
Another Makita user, here, although I did go into DW for 1st and 2nd fix nailers, however I have recently swapped to Hikokis for 2nd fix guns. Their other cordless tools look pretty good, too, if you can stand the green baseball boot styling that is. Not a fan of DW because as a company they are forever fiddling with products to reduce manufacturing costs (at which point the tools get poorer - see the decline in quality of the DW625 router as a case in point). Milwaukee, on the other hand are very innovative, but the build quality seems a bit poorer than Makita (I have Mak 18 volt and Milwaukee 12 volt stuff, too) and the first generation of of their new tools seem always to be plagued by problems (e.g the 18 volt nailers).
 
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i am not a good advocate as i have dewalt 18/54 bosch 10.8/12v and ryobi
now in the past i shouted the ryobi "light to medium trade giving 80 % performance at 40% the price off big boys toys" but ryobi have upped there game so far more than 40% with overly expensive batteries compared to dewalt so whilst i still buy ryobi and bosch dewalt is my now go to choice as good value reliable but not for every thing
 
My Dewalt Combi drill has done 12 years of hard graft and still going strong, was £3050 with an extra battery iirc but money well spent!.
 
Thanks for the replies.... As I have experience of Makita I may as well stick with it as I’ve had no problems. Shame this will be drill number 3 and not because any have broken on me!
 
I'm on drill no.4 and impact driver no.3 since 2007, all Makita LXT. TBH I've stayed with Makita because they have supplied me with pretty much every cordless tool I've ever needed with the exception of nailers. Every range out there has strong and weak tools, so they all include a few lemons (Including Makita - ever used a DFR550?), but overall every time I've needed a new tool Makita has almost always had a tool in their range which fits the bill and which may or not be best in market, but is competent (with a few minor exceptions). Depending on circumstances some people could find the same to be true of Hikoki, Metabo, deWalt, Panasonic, Milwaukee, etc - they are all good strong trade brands.

Never wore out a drill either - gave one to an apprentice, sold one to a colleague who'd had kit stolen (cheaply of course) and dropped one off a scaffold tower once too often.The impacts I have worn out two of (one of which I have retained as a backup) but they live a hard life
 
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I use a 400nm impact wrench with a 1/4" hex adaptor for the big screws. Usually 70mm or above.
And a 200nm for anything below.
The gear box for the metabo 400bl is £64 quid and diyable to change. Just 4 screws.
Mine has already blown a gear box.
 
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