$74.03 - Makita 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Brushless 1/4 in. Impact Driver Kit - Price reduced - B&M Extreme YMMV

For those that found them, did the inventory checker show any in stock before you went?

jebus, it's ridiculous how crooked all these home depot employees are... that's all i'm gonna say after my experiences tonight at two locations and coming home empty handed

good luck everyone else, whatever you do, try to keep as little information as possible away from the employees

To be fair I saw this in the store when it first came in and bought it without reading the specs first. That said this thing is a big step back from their older 454 in power and speed. It's half way between a 12v and my older 454 18v in that regard. The good news is that it is small, light, and comfortable to use for long periods. The bad is that it is only maginally more usefull than some 12v's. The M12 hammerdrill for example has the same RPM, and almost as much torque in a much smaller package. It does run forever and the batterys charge quickly. You'd be hard pressed to run it down before you could fully charge a new one. However that is the only real advantage this drill has. It's a bit of an odd drill and I'm not quite sure what Makita was thinking. If you are doing a very repetative light duty task the ergonomics and runtime would are great, but as a general purpose hammerdrill it's power prevents it from being competative in the market. It also lacks the dual led and metal chuck of the 454 and has a cheaper feel to it.
The impact that comes with the kit is fine, but it's a shame they included this cheaper version instead of the 3 speed brushless they sell as a standalone model.
These really fall more within their white/black homeowner grade line, they are not truly the pro grade stuff I and other contractors have come to love. Its a shame becasue I would have loved to see what Makita could do with brushless if they put their best foot forward with it like Milwaukee and DeWalt instead of building a mass market product to a price point.

I found one, but forgot a gift card and $10 coupon at home. So they said they would hold it until I came back later in the day. Well "someone" supposedly put it back on the floor and it got sold. Not sure what the moral of the story is here. But the manager was nice enough to deduct $180 from an LXT239 set so that I got it for $130-ish with coupon and gift card.

Initially, he was going to offer me this for $74:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-2...RMHGh0701I

But it wasn't brushless. It wasn't LXT.

So, I negotiated this one instead:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-2...er_reviews

But I am concerned about some of the reviews:


At first I thought the 2-speed versus 3-speed wasn't going to be a big deal. But apparently it is. The manager was looking for some sort of equivalent replacement, but this store didn't carry any 3-speed brushless LXT models other than the clearance model. Darn!!

And the fact this reviewer is criticizing the 18V as closer to 12V is even scarier.

Should I resell it? Keep it?

anyone have another inventory checker?

What are peoples thoughts buying it online for $299 and then return/rebuy (putting the charge on a different credit card or other method) at a store that had it for $74 but obviously out of stock? I've done it at BB to get a $1600 LED down to $659 but not sure if it's doable at HD... any thoughts?



Google "Home depot inventory checker" and about 2 or so links down is another one.. I think it's checkinventory.home.comcast.net

There's a store 1 hour away from me showing 4 in stock... I think before class tomorrow I'm gonna go give it a shot without calling... I hate to waste the gas, but I'd REALLY hate to blow the deal all together

Give yourself half an hour just to search the shelves and the stores on top of the shelves if you want to make the most of the trip.