I'm looking to buy a Makita 8280DWPE 14.4v combi drill but can't find out how long the warranty is on this drill. Does anyone know the length of the warranty for Makita's?
Also, can anyone recommend any starter drill kits (with reasonably decent masionary & other drill bits)?
Is the Makita 8280DWPE 14.4v drill bundled with the Makita 102pc Drill and Screwdriver Set a good buy at =A3105 or would it be better to buy the drill on its own (=A385) and buy a drill/screwdriver set seperately?
Standard Makita warranty is a year. I have the slightly earlier model of this drill and it has been and remains superb - no issues at all.
If you would like a product with a longer (e.g. 3 year) warranty, then take a look at some models in the Bosch professional (blue) range or at Metabo.
All of the above are good quality products with proper service, spares and backup. This is not comparable to the warranties offered on generic tools from the Far East badged for the DIY sheds. The warranty normally consists of a replacement and no proper backup - i.e. if it fails at 3 years it's bin time.
This is a difficult one. I don't know why the marketing people at these manufacturers do these bundles. In comparison to the tools they are supplied with, they are fairly mediochre and not really much better than any generic set of bits and drills.
I suppose that there are a couple of approaches:
- Decide that you don't really need all 102 items in the set - in reality you probably don't - and buy items individually or in smaller groups when needed. This allows choice of better of breed as well. For example, Wiha screwdriver bits are much better than you are likely to get in one of these kits.
- Go for the bundle deal - actually £20 for that lot isn't bad. Some items will get more use. You can replace those as they wear out or break with decent ones. This is reasonable in the sense that you should have coverage for most eventualities. On the other hand, you may find that the screwdriver bits especially can let you down after relatively little use.
Erm! have you tried their site.
Service/warranty registaration.
UK site is
Also, can anyone recommend any starter drill kits (with reasonably decent masionary & other drill bits)?
Is the Makita 8280DWPE 14.4v drill bundled with the Makita 102pc Drill and Screwdriver Set a good buy at £105 or would it be better to buy the drill on its own (£85) and buy a drill/screwdriver set seperately?
Whats that go to do with it? the warranty is the same ie 1 Year. :-)
Some manufacturers offer different warranty periods in different theatres of operation. Terms and conditions certainly vary in accordance with local law, custom and the market situation.
First time I've heard that before? as far as the warranty concerned you can't give a warranty of 1 year in one country and have a warranty of 3 years in another country.
For once I have to agree with you. It's a very good drill with good quality batteries and a decent charger. Dunno about spares availability, though. I bought it for the right angle function.
For some reason, warrienties in the US are usually poorer than here. Perhaps it's because we pay about twice the US price. ;-(
...Or they don't import s**te from the far east and are good at producing precision tools. :-)
Didn't the UK have the finest tools and craftsmen in the world at one time? oh well bang went the economy after the iron lady became a drunk..or was that her hubby? and she lost her marbles?
Of course you can... you can also charge a different price for it, and include different accessories etc.
Absolutely you can.
One example came from a European Directive on the subject which required statute of limitations cover for products sold to consumers of a minimum of two years.
This didn't directly affect the UK, which has 6 years, but other EU countries had all sorts of different arrangements.
Consumer groups in several countries, notably Germany, seized on the ambiguity in the wording of the Directive and pushed for a minimum of 2 year *warranty* which is not the same thing at all.
Thus, there is a situation where some manufacturers are offering two year warranties in some European countries and one year in others. Other manufacturers, in order to reduce complexity with logistics have gone for two or even three years across Europe.
A similar situation exists in the United States. It is typical to offer a one year (or whatever) warranty, and to then have a clause accepting different state-by-state conditions (and there are).
In the end, it's all about cost and market perception.
The quality manufacturers will not have a high return rate because of the engineering design and quality of materials used. Hence you see Festool, Metabo and now Bosch (professional) offering 3 year warranties. The extra two years is provided when you send in the registration card.
The volume Chinese manufacturers have a set of terms and conditions with the retailers which may allow a certain return rate of faulty product, or not. The volume retailer offers his two or three year warranty. It's then a question of risk. At one end, the retailer takes all the risk, paid for out of margin, and dumps any returns in the skip. At the other, he returns product to the manufacturer (or verification of return from the end user) and returns still go in the skip.
They do tend to be in terms of getting products fixed, but there are product liability issues and costs in the U.S. which are considerably higher than here.
But you're right. I've found it a very effective strategy to buy tools in the U.S. and import them.
I always go for branded tools which are available here in Europe as well so that spares are easily available. This has to be watched on some things because occasionally details vary, such as bore of saws (5/8" vs. 30mm) and switches are often different. Even so, one can easily order spares for any branded tool in the U.S. from Grainger and others.
On high value items, it's economic to pay for a Fedex shipment; otherwise I do my buying during trips to the U.S. The latter has the advantage that duty/VAT free allowance of £145 can be used to offset the cost even further. Even above that limit, the normal duty on most tools is 2.7% plus VAT. Generally, customs officers cant be bothered to look up the duty and just charge the VAT.
Err.... no. Same s**te.
In some aspects, yes. The German speaking countries have had a good reputation as well.
Again it comes to cost.
People speak out of both sides of their mouths. On the one hand, they like the idea of precision products, good manufacturing quality, excellent service and long life.
That's still available. You can buy buy power tools from Festool and Lamello for example.
Oh the other, they want to buy on price and are looking for the ever cheaper "bargain"
Of course, it isn't really a bargain in either the short term or the long one......
I think you're getting confused with Harold Wilson and Callaghan.....
I should have made it clear, my budget is limited to around =A380-=A390 (+drill bits & other accessories) & I'm only going to be using it for reasonably light & occasional DIY work - I couldn't possibly justify spending over =A3200.
I was considering getting a lower priced budget drill but the Makita seemed to be on offer at a good price and is reasonably lighweight for the spec.
Given that set of parameters, it's a very good buy.
With the caveat that Bosch blue automatically revert to a "standard" 1 year warranty if the tool is not registered by post within 28 days. You'd only find out if you found the poxy slip of recycled paper mixed in with the multilingual instruction books or saw the asterisk in their catalogue. Wankers.
Not that it would stop me pursuing them through the courts if any of my Bosch tools fail within 3 years or longer.
There isn't one if you buy one of the chinese copies that keep knocking around on boot sales and the like.
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