Buying a Cordless Drill TONIGHT - Which One to Get?

I missed the opportunity to post a suggestion, but would still like to comment. 

My DeWalt 18 volt drill has been a work horse for at least 13 years. I'm on my third set of batteries, which is really good for the age of the drill.

AsI was boarding up for Irma, the batteries started to worry me a little. I didn't want to chance having it quit, so I ran up to the big box store.

A new 18 volt battery was going to be about$85 for one, and I found a set of the new 20-volt lithium ion tools for 200. 

I now have two batteries, the charger, and an impact driver plus the drill. These are the 20-volt lithium ion plus they have the brushless motors. Very lightweight, and very powerful.

These were a special release that DeWalt came out with over the summer. I had looked at them, and saw what a good price it was, but didn't need them at the time.

Anyone that is looking for a new drill or impact driver should Scout around for this set. I think that I got the last pair at my corner Lowe's store. Lucked out since the box was stashed off to the side and not with the other DeWalt tools.

I still have my old 18V DeWalt tools, and decided I'd check around on the internet to see if I could pick up a new charger for the 18V NiCad packs, since that was what was keeping them from being used.  In doing so, I ran across a FACTORY RECALL for the particular model of charger that I had - the DW9108.  I stopped by the DeWalt factory store on my way home from work yesterday and traded in my old charger for a free, upgraded replacement.  Woo Hoo!

I also noticed that the store was taking trade ins- bring in your old tools for a discount on the new stuff.  I didn't ask how much they were giving, but they did have a huge bin full of old cordless tools of various makes, so apparently some folks are taking advantage of the offer.  

I hard wired my old Makita drill (18v) and Matco 3/8 impact (14v) so I could clip them to a car battery.  They live in the Chumpcar gear and occasionally get used for various field repairs on cars.  Its a good use for old, bad battery tools. 

In reply to logdog :

I've heard of doing that, seems like a great idea. Maybe a tutorial?

In reply to logdog :

Great idea.  Do the 18V tools work OK with a 12 V battery?

I have an old Milwaukee 18V NiCad drill that I can't bring myself to throw away, even though the batteries and charger are garbage.  I'd love it if I could adapt one of the M18 pack to fit it...

dculberson said:

Do you have or have you ever used an impact driver for screws? It will change your life. You should get a combo kit with a drill and impact driver and two batteries. Seriously the impact tool is amazing - effortless driving of 4" screws into framing lumber, etc. It's not going to remove lug nuts - that's not what it's for - but it's great for taking off the smaller nuts and bolts on a car.

My suggestions, in ascending order of price:

Ryobi - $128

Ridgid - $159

Kobalt - $199

I have no experience with those HF drills but I would be very wary of them. My past experience with HF cordless tools was really really bad, long term. And I have a fair amount of HF stuff that I'm happy with - cordless tools just wasn't one.

I have the black hft 1/4 impact, and got a surprise... it works amazingly well. I've had it 2 years now and use it all the time. 

I did have to take a few batteries that were almost dead brand new back for exchange. Ended up buying the cordless black drill for the battery ($16 drill, battery, charger). The drill is unsurprisingly junk. It drills 1/8th pilot holes well tho

Floating Doc said:

In reply to logdog :

I've heard of doing that, seems like a great idea. Maybe a tutorial?

Basically all you do is pull the battery terminals from the tool handle, cut them off, and connect the new wire.  I can try and grab a picture later. I used large alligator clips to attach to the battery. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to logdog :

Great idea.  Do the 18V tools work OK with a 12 V battery?

I have an old Milwaukee 18V NiCad drill that I can't bring myself to throw away, even though the batteries and charger are garbage.  I'd love it if I could adapt one of the M18 pack to fit it...

The 18v drill is a touch slower but works well.  The 14 volt works better on the car battery than it ever did on the OEM Matco batteries.

Make sure you purchase a drill with variable-speed drive. While higher speed settings and torque clutches are useful, you’ll find that delicate tasks like countersinking a drywall screw are best accomplished with a variable-speed drive and a light touch.

I finally spotted a canoe.

Been a Bosh fan for a long time.