Thoughts on carlyle tools

[65k10]

If you think spending $150 on a made in Taiwan ratchet or set of wrenches is a good idea buy them all up, I don't give a **** how you spend your money.

Mostly this. I have a number of Carlyle tools and they are generally good. Combine that with decent availability between nearby stores and fairly fast shipping, I can see a case for paying some degree of a premium over other import brands. How much that should be is tough to quantify since for me at least, it is dependent on what Carlyle tool we are talking about vs the competition.

Where things start to go off the rails for me is in cases like the aforementioned R3890 having a current price of $143. A Snap-On FH80 currently lists for about $150. I like Carlyle tools, but when the pricing is butting up against high end US made brands, I'll look elsewhere. I'd rather they just try to find a consistent pricing structure that sits somewhere between last quarter's sale prices and this quarter's noticeably higher prices.

 

[Steve_P]

How much should they cost? Fair enough expected response, for sure, but we all know the drill.

Someday, when they move the manufacturing to China, or even India, we’ll complain about it, and pretend like we don’t know how it all went down.

As said, they should be competitively priced with other nice Taiwan stuff - like Tekton, Capri, etc. And they're mostly not, unless on a major sale. Its very simple: anyone that thinks they're worth the typical large premium can go ahead and buy them.

 

[Rinspeed]

How much should they cost? Fair enough expected response, for sure, but we all know the drill.

They should simply cost much closer to HF money rather than Snap-On money. The fact that NAPA has a sale every other month should tell you their retail pricing structure is not exactly working out for them.

 

[lardy1]

I don't think they care.

 

[Rinspeed]

Someday, when they move the manufacturing to China, or even India, we’ll complain about it, and pretend like we don’t know how it all went down.

How did that work out for Sears or SBD. Just my opinion but if you are going to market and sell tools made in Taiwan that is fine but you sure as hell better stay in your lane. I really like my Carlyle ratchets but they sure as hell aren't quite SO quality. You can buy made in USA Wright wrenches, made with US steel, for similar money as Carlyle.

 

[nicks78camaro]

It seems NAPA wants to primarily stick to marketing their Carlyle line to their commercial customers as a tool truck alternative.

That way, when you buy with your commercial account, they can show a big "discount" off of an inflated list price that mostly no one pays.

And they can deliver your tools when they deliver your parts.

 

[Ton ton]

Napa sells Vessel screwdrivers . They sell brand name stuff other than Carlyle. Carlyle is only a portion what all is available through Napa.

 

[dstblj52]

It seems NAPA wants to primarily stick to marketing their Carlyle line to their commercial customers as a tool truck alternative.

That way, when you buy with your commercial account, they can show a big "discount" off of an inflated list price that mostly no one pays.

And they can deliver your tools when they deliver your parts.

Basically retail gets a sale every few months for the price sensitive and commercial has negotiated discounts which means Carlyle pricing is basically a made up list number that isn't really charged. However they are surprisingly competitive on rebranded made in the USA lang stuff.

 

[cgrutt]

It seems to me from many of the comments some of you guys think NAPA is in the tool business. I don't believe that is necessarily correct. Parts both automotive and industrial and service is their bread and butter. I think tools are a distant third and they price them where they can make a profit. I don't believe they really care about the Harbor Freights/Sears type stores or care to compete with them. They sold $23 billion in a recent annual report, made a significant profit and returned a fair amount to its shareholders. The lion's share of their business comes from parts not tools.

 

[zendriver]

How did that work out for Sears or SBD. Just my opinion but if you are going to market and sell tools made in Taiwan that is fine but you sure as hell better stay in your lane. I really like my Carlyle ratchets but they sure as hell aren't quite SO quality. You can buy made in USA Wright wrenches, made with US steel, for similar money as Carlyle.

Not well and Funny I was going to mention craftsman

For decades they struggled to continue to manufacture tools here to a “price point” of what US consumers were willing to pay - not much.

Well, we all know how well that went, including their ill-fated “reshoring” debacle that failed for the exact reason.

Consumers didn’t want to pay a price that justified manufacturing costs.

 

[nicks78camaro]

Not well and Funny I was going to mention craftsman

For decades they struggled to continue to manufacture tools here to a “price point” of what US consumers were willing to pay - not much.

Well, we all know how well that went, including their ill-fated “reshoring” debacle that failed for the exact reason.

Consumers didn’t want to pay a price that justified manufacturing costs.

Yes but these tools are already offshore. Many other brands sell Taiwanese tools for significantly cheaper, so it can be done. If NAPA doesn't want to move a lot of tools, they are free to continue their current price structure.

 

[lardy1]

I don't think that competing with the likes of Tekton, Capri or any multitude of others matters much to NAPA. Where I live NAPA is nothing like large urban areas with corporate stores. Shops that utilize the corporate system get volume discounts on their accounts, dependable delivery, quality parts and, as an aside, Carlyle tools with many of the benefits of the tool truck such as warranty coming to the place where the tool is used. I get this from reading you guys. Not from any NAPA experience you may have out here where the counter guy looks at you funny if you use the word "Carlyle".

Point being.......many of us have never experienced NAPA and Carlyle for it's potential because it isn't available to us. Their website ***** and so do their regular listed prices.

 

[Fedwrench]

Whether it's the old Armstrong made in the USA Napa Professional Tools, the Gearwrench Clones that followed briefly after Armstrong's demise, or today's Carlyle tools, NAPA tools have never really been cheap. Now, I admit that there were some legitimate great deals on Carlyle when they first rolled out a few years ago. I think some of the best Carlyle 90 tooth ratchets were discontinued in favor of the 72 tooth quick release series. I like the Carlyle tools I've picked up over the last few years. They're all going strong and making me happy along the way. I haven't purchased any new Carlyle tools recently largely because, I don't need anything. No one should ever pay list price for anything so, shop accordingly. Corporate NAPA stores tend to offer a better Carlyle selection and better sales for that matter.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Napa Carlyle are good tools. However the price tag isn’t nice. Most of their tools you could get at other stores for cheaper and generally just as good. I’ve picked up a few wrenches or sockets or whatever if I needed one or just because I wanted to try them. My stores don’t stock many tools but said they could order anything you wanted. I’ve used their warranty without issue before. I took it to the Napa that lacked tool selection just to see how it went and they replaced it no questions asked. The two I exchanged were old 1980s or 90s era Napa USA tools and they replaced one with a Carlyle tool and the other with Evercraft because one said Napa Professional and the other just said Napa but they were more than happy to replace them and didn’t ask questions. I just hate paying the price for them when you have places like Advance Auto, Auto Zone or O’Reilly which all have decent tools too and cheaper. Napa does have a few more specialty tools however than the other ones like long ball hex sockets for example.

 

[Rinspeed]

Not well and Funny I was going to mention craftsman

For decades they struggled to continue to manufacture tools here to a “price point” of what US consumers were willing to pay - not much.

Well, we all know how well that went, including their ill-fated “reshoring” debacle that failed for the exact reason.

Consumers didn’t want to pay a price that justified manufacturing costs.

Good points, I always thought it was a crying shame someone didn't buy up WF and continue manufacturing. I guess without Craftsman they couldn't remain profitable. Or did WF close up before Craftsman went to China?

 

[Ton ton]

Whether it's the old Armstrong made in the USA Napa Professional Tools, the Gearwrench Clones that followed briefly after Armstrong's demise, or today's Carlyle tools, NAPA tools have never really been cheap. Now, I admit that there were some legitimate great deals on Carlyle when they first rolled out a few years ago. I think some of the best Carlyle 90 tooth ratchets were discontinued in favor of the 72 tooth quick release series. I like the Carlyle tools I've picked up over the last few years. They're all going strong and making me happy along the way. I haven't purchased any new Carlyle tools recently largely because, I don't need anything. No one should ever pay list price for anything so, shop accordingly. Corporate NAPA stores tend to offer a better Carlyle selection and better sales for that matter.

I wonder if there is any corporate Napa stores close to me. Most of the Napa's I have been to are mom and pop style.

 

[thetoolguy37]

Avoid the Carlyle wire strippers. They're junk. I was able to get a pair replaced under warranty but the replacements are not much better.

Great to know thank you

 

[mudflap]

It seems NAPA wants to primarily stick to marketing their Carlyle line to their commercial customers as a tool truck alternative.

That way, when you buy with your commercial account, they can show a big "discount" off of an inflated list price that mostly no one pays.

And they can deliver your tools when they deliver your parts.

This... County garages are full of Carlyle tools. The driver shows up every day with whatever you want, or need replaced on their normal parts run. Prices are alot less than retail. and we get alot of free swag. Hats, shirts, mouse pads, can cozies, NASCAR, NHRA, World of Outlaws tickets. It's alot like Grainger or Fastenall tho . Without a commercial acct..u get robbed..

 

[Andres26tnt]

Good points, I always thought it was a crying shame someone didn't buy up WF and continue manufacturing. I guess without Craftsman they couldn't remain profitable. Or did WF close up before Craftsman went to China?

They closed after. WF was in shambles, so no one was willing to buy that up. would have required million to prop up again. Only real buyers would have been the Chinese companies, and we all know how that could end(SK).

 

[Ton ton]

This... County garages are full of Carlyle tools. The driver shows up every day with whatever you want, or need replaced on their normal parts run. Prices are alot less than retail. and we get alot of free swag. Hats, shirts, mouse pads, can cozies, NASCAR, NHRA, World of Outlaws tickets. It's alot like Grainger or Fastenall tho . Without a commercial acct..u get robbed..

The last phrase has way too much truth in it. You get robbed with an account too, speaking from experience.

 

[scooby074]

The last phrase has way too much truth in it. You get robbed with an account too, speaking from experience.

I dont know if there was a change of ownership of whatever at my local Napa, but last time I was in , I felt raped when I left, couldnt poop right for a couple days.

 

[Oldbear]

My toolbox has a lot of the UltraPro stuff from Napa - but I worked there when I was first setting up my tool collection.