Dewalt 18v tools on ebay - any good?

[A.Lee]

I will soon be in the market for a cordless recip saw, and a SDS drill. The saw is pretty much narrowed down to a Dewalt 18v unit, available as a bare unit on ebay at around £80.I realise that the battery and charger are going to cost another £40-50 each.

Now for the drill, decent corded drills are £80 upwards, Dewalt cordless off ebay are £100ish. The cordless would be a real boon for mobility, and with the same make, I can buy the bare unit, and use the battery and charger that I would already have from the saw.

This sort of thing would not be used all day - occasional drilling through walls for passing through pipes, and holes in concrete fence posts would be it uses mainly.

So, the query, is, are the recon'd units on ebay worth it? Any particular sellers to avoid, or ones to buy from? Are the 2 Dewalt 18v units a reasonable choice?

Thanks Alan.

[Lobster]

Well I think most would agree that Dewalt tools are generally pretty good; but if you're buying refurbed then all bets are off: clearly the tool is only as good as the refurb.

You'll find some tools sold as refurbished which are nothing more than simply second-hand; it's more cost-effective for a seller to knock out clapped-out items without doing any servicing, on the basis that the number which are returned for refund/replacement will be small versus those which last a 'fair' length of time in the hands of the seller. Caveat emptor I'd say!

David

[dom]

I've bought several pro tools off ebay (mostly bosch blue stuff) and had almost no problems (one turned up with no docs). There are lots of clapped out secondhand pro tools on ebay though - wouldn't touch 'em. Also avoid buying non-genuine batteries. Other scams include non-UK market products (possibly no warranty support) and deals which are cheap because it's got a cheap basic charger and not the pro fast charger. However, besides all that caveat emptor stuff, I've had some very good deals - particularly on naked units.

[dom]

I've bought several pro tools off ebay (mostly bosch blue stuff) and had almost no problems (one turned up with no docs). There are lots of clapped out secondhand pro tools on ebay though - wouldn't touch 'em. Also avoid buying non-genuine batteries. Other scams include non-UK market products (possibly no warranty support) and deals which are cheap because it's got a cheap basic charger and not the pro fast charger. However, besides all that caveat emptor stuff, I've had some very good deals - particularly on naked units.

[auctions]

It's almost always cheaper to buy tools with batteries and chargers than to get them separately - I recently got a Makita drill with 3 batteries because it was cheaper than just buying the batteries. It might work out best to get the drill with batteries, then the bare saw

- prices may be more competitive on the more common tools.

A