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Serious question, is anyone else seeing way more cordless tools fail right after the warranty ends?
I was at a supply house in Tacoma yesterday and the guy behind the counter said he's had five people this week alone bring in dead 18-volt drills that were just over two years old. That's basically the exact warranty period for a lot of them. My own impact driver from a major brand just quit turning last month, and I bought it 26 months ago. It feels like they're built to a price and a timeline, not to last through a real workload. I'm starting to think the old corded tools my dad had, which still work fine, were a better investment even with the hassle of an extension cord. Has anyone found a brand that actually builds these things to survive past that two-year mark without costing a fortune?
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hunt.hayden5mo ago
Yeah, that "built to a price and a timeline" thing hits hard. It's not just tools, it's everything now. My washing machine, my phone charger, even the light bulbs seem to have a clock on them. Feels like the goal is to get you to buy the next one, not to own something that works. Makes you miss when stuff was just built solid, even if it was heavier or less fancy.
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garcia.wren5mo ago
But what if cheap and fast is all most people can afford?
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john5065mo ago
Tell me about it. Bought a fancy blender last year and the plastic base cracked after six months. They don't even sell the part to fix it, just told me to buy the new model. It's a total scam that they design things to fail. Makes you want to hunt down old appliances from the 90s at yard sales.
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aliceharris3mo ago
and honestly @hunt.hayden you nailed it with the "clock on them" thing because it's not random failure, it's calculated. I've been noticing the same pattern with my own stuff - my last coffee maker died exactly 13 months after I bought it, one month past the warranty. it's like they have a tiny little timer soldered in there lol. the corded vs cordless tool thing is especially frustrating because we're paying a premium for "convenience" but getting half the lifespan of tools from 20 years ago. my dad still uses his old corded Skil saw from the 80s and it fires up every time, meanwhile I've replaced two cordless drills in the last three years because the batteries or the motors just give out right after they're paid off. it makes you wonder if they're testing how much we'll put up with before we start demanding better built stuff again.
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