Re: ***** Makita Addiction Thread *****
After using many Makita corded tools over the years including a palm sander, D handle router, 1013 miter saw and several 9.6 volt screwguns, and having good luck with all of those, I took the plunge on the LXT line when it came out in 2005 with the 5 tool set (circus saw, recip saw, hammer/drill flashlight and impact gun). Looking back on it I must say overall I have been pretty disappointed. At the time the only Lithium ion sets that were out was Makita and v28 Milwaukee which was quite a bit more expensive.
Flashlight was dead out of the box. Replaced under warranty. Replacement was dead within a year. Seems they have a problem with the wiring between the head and the body of flashlight which leads to intermittent on off problems.
Circular saw and reciprocating saw still work but are way underpowered. Circular saw has always bound up so easy with lack of power. Used a Dewalt 12 volt nicad circular saw at work that blew the Makita away.
Hammer drill/driver (BHP451) Worked for occasional use for 3 years before transmission went out rendering drill dead. Turns out they used some plastic parts in transmission that wore out easy and had to redesign the new transmission with all metal. Problem is they want $61 plus shipping for the transmission plus $30 labor making it kind of impractical to fix when that is cost of a new drill.
Impact driver rocks. Plenty of power. Only complaint with impact is that gray trim piece fell off back when set was new. I fixed that with some 2 sided tape.
Set came with 2 3.0AH batteries(still work 10 years later) green charger, Makita bag and some accessories for the tools. Cost was 750 bucks on sale at home depot back then (2005). This set is homeowner use.
I needed to replace the drill and didn't want to start with another new battery platform again. So last Black Friday I had bought the 1 drill+ 1 impact, 2 more battery, black charger, blow molded case combo. They were running the 1 free bare tool or 1 free battery with any combo then so I grabbed another drill, making 2 new drills.
Both the new drills are 2 different model numbers. They are both smaller than the BHP451 and both have 2 speeds (451 had three speeds). Then I find out the new batteries won't work with the original tools.
Looking back I wish the Milwaukee m18 was around back then. I will see how these new tools hold up. If they don't I will be changing tool platforms once again.
