Halfords tend to be quiet good at replacing broken stuff, although they did start asking questions when i took back 5 broken breaker bars in 4 days

If its got halfords professional/advanced writen on it they can't realy refuse to take it back as its obviously not come from anwhere else

Get your self a trade card, knocks money off anything there class as trade items :-D stupidly easy to get one aswell

If you can afford it go for MAC or simular

trade card ... gives you discounts on ALL car parts, small amount on haynes manuals, big discount on tools, and best of all .... huge discount on wipers lol

all you need really is . a wage slip from your employer (providing you work in the motor industry, or any sort of mechanic) and a form of I.D.

Chris

Another vote for halfrauds professional tools here, had my set ages and done a fair amount of work.. everything's still perfect. I've got some snap on tools aswell an to be honest i would just save your money an get halfrauds pro if youre just doing home mechanics.

I use mainly snap-on and mac tools at work, but mac have recently started selling brittool, which are pretty high quality tools at a good price.

Also, i never have problems replacing tools with snap-on, if you spend enough money with the snap-on man they bend over backwards to sort it out. lol

anyone know anything about teng tools? (i think that's how its spelt)

Teng is pretty good stuff.

Personally I tend to try and keep clear of the fancey brands: snap on, teng, etc.

Its all about the proper stuff like sykes pikevant, bahco, facom, irwin, etc etc. Snap on stuff is just no better than any other descent brand but double the price. I'm sure there was a time when snap-on were the best, but everyone else has come a long way since them and if anything snap-on have gotton worse. They just seem to make them shineyer and shineyer, relying on the big companys that buy them because thats what they have always bought, and the idiots that buy them because they are 'scene'.

If ever I need any tools, I shop around looking at what I want, weigh up the quality of them and their suitability for the purpose I want to use them for, and I buy what I feel is best, not once has it been a snapon product I've gone for (with the exeption of their big waterpump pliers)

Teng is pretty good stuff.

Personally I tend to try and keep clear of the fancey brands: snap on, teng, etc.

Its all about the proper stuff like sykes pikevant, bahco, facom, irwin, etc etc. Snap on stuff is just no better than any other descent brand but double the price. I'm sure there was a time when snap-on were the best, but everyone else has come a long way since them and if anything snap-on have gotton worse. They just seem to make them shineyer and shineyer, relying on the big companys that buy them because thats what they have always bought, and the idiots that buy them because they are 'scene'.

If ever I need any tools, I shop around looking at what I want, weigh up the quality of them and their suitability for the purpose I want to use them for, and I buy what I feel is best, not once has it been a snapon product I've gone for (with the exeption of their big waterpump pliers)

The man talks sense!

I've got shit loads of Britool stuff.. socket sets, spanners and ratchet spanners etc..

Very nice tools and never had a problem with any of them, probably good value for money too cause the parents bought me it all a christmas or 2 ago :p

Britool, yes, quality.

I've got a britool gearless ratcheting screwdriver, absolutely fantastic. Better than the snap on geared ones and half the price.

iv got a draper expert socket set, very good quality and has lasted me a good 2 years without any breakages

One thing I was impressed with are some cheap Bergen sockets that I bought at a tool sale, 6 sided flank drive. They are really pretty good, especially for the money.

Yep draper expert are good for the money. Dont bother with any of the other draper stuff though, not even just as cheap tools to abuse. Total wank.

My main sockets are Britool but I've got a huge set of Kamasa ones, which are 12 point sockets, i think they're all imperial which come in handy, they've been reliable so far and come with loads of extensions and useful accessories..

toys-r-us are pretty good.

ANother vote for Halfords pro stuff here. Rebuilt about 5 engines and worked on many cars (Including a noble M12) with mine and only ever broken one socket and one break bar, both replaced with no argurment or reciept at my local branch.

I've also got a few hand me down tools from my grandad after he died and they lack the bling of modern tool sets but flip me they are well built and strong. Some of them date back to the 40's!!!!

nick

I've got loads of Halfords sockets and they're good. Not perfect but good.

Have Facom ratchets and they're incredibly good, and they've survived my dad using them for racing since the 70s.

Also use & recommend Blue Point, Beta and Sykes Pickavant who make some really solid stuff, as do Britool..

Snapon is good but expensive for what you get.

worked on many cars (Including a noble M12)

Ha! If you want to test tools you need to be working on old fords or those old tractors that you see at the seaside. I would be well pissed if I spent all my hard earned on an expensive car like that only to find everything seized up.

As for Kamasa, dont buy any of their stuff anymore, its all total crap. Used to be a good brand.

Beta are good IMHO.

Mine's been fine (touch wood), i got them for extras, like the 12-points, extensions etc

I'd steer clear of those £2.99 petrol station kits though

Used to buy them when i had my scooter, got home and broke the ratchets within minutes...

Also, i never have problems replacing tools with snap-on, if you spend enough money with the snap-on man they bend over backwards to sort it out. lol

always gets replaced no questions asked. I've got a mixture of different makes,but quite a bit of it is snap-on. Their ratchets are by far the nicest to use, and you know you can trust them when you have to use some serious force. I don't know what i'd do without my battery impact gun now,makes working on cars so much easier.

trade card ... gives you discounts on ALL car parts, small amount on haynes manuals, big discount on tools, and best of all .... huge discount on wipers lol

all you need really is . a wage slip from your employer (providing you work in the motor industry, or any sort of mechanic) and a form of I.D.

Chris

knew it was somthing like that!

all you realy need is to be good at blagging stuff a home made headed letter for a garage that may or may not exist, and a proof of I.D is all i used :-D (before i started working in a garage)

(Id go with a fictional company, work for yourself or a friend family member etc!)

Get wipers cheaper at proper trade price from work :-D

Our local Snap-on man is useless, forgets to call in/ ring back, forgets to deliver tools and they arrive a week later after ringing him every day!

Also, i never have problems replacing tools with snap-on, if you spend enough money with the snap-on man they bend over backwards to sort it out. lol

IMO thats poor customer service...

If I bought 1 tool off them and it broke I would expect them to bend over backwards to sort it... I shouldn't feel the need to spend loads on there stuff just to get them to abide by there policy.

Mate of mine worked at a garage who used pretty much only snap on tools (so they spent a LOT) yet they still had problems getting stuff replaced... And this is a big company (HiQ)

Got some snap-on stuff, and never had any problem getting stuff replaced. Looking to buy some Halfords Professional tools, might even try getting a trade card, wiht working at vauxhall it shouldnt be too hard (:

Our snap on rep is sound. Theres about 6 engineers maybe more that buy tools off us, He treats us all the same, if youve spend 600 pound or 40 pound on tools in the past. Its how you talk to them too, Make good mates with them have a laff. Then the discount comes One lad today got 400 quid knocked off a roll cab.

Most of the deals i get are cheaper than what snap on tools are on ebay!

Halfords pro all the way for the home mechanic, since snap off your arm!! ripped me off years back I've been using halfords pro stripped lots of cars down and built back up. i even use a jack handle to increase the leverage on 1/2 inch for rusty bolts never broke yet in 4 years, the only ones that have were the torx bits doing a silly head so i just bought sykes and pickernose, there brief case box sells for just over a ton well worth the money!!

and if the sockets and such do break theres a no quibble life time money back guarentee cant be bad now, thou I've never needed to use it yet apart from the torx but there not covered?? dont know why??

One lad today got 400 quid knocked off a roll cab.

£400 off and he still got bummed. The fact that they can knock that much off just goes to show how overpriced they are.

We use snap-on at work, thats how I came to realise how poor they were for the cash really. Because at work we get given them, so you dont really have that emotional attachment to them that you tend to have if you have spent a load of dolla on them. As a result you just treat them like you would cheap shitty tools, and as it turns out, they are no better than anything else. Its the same old story with everything thats overpriced I suppose, because you got raped for it you feel as though it has to be the best no matter what.