The voice of reason speaking right there

Well my specific car didn't appear here, but i think we've covered all bases with the big 3 domestic and big 3 euro brands lol. No Japanese cars on the list, but who buys a Mishibishi anymore anyways...

I was way off with my guess. I thought maybe $30,000. $200,000 you can practically buy a house with that kind of money.

You can get a CAT wrench set made by Snap On for 200$ that’s what I work with. Just as good. Does not leave marks either. CAT sockets literally come in a Snap On case. I try to buy American tools even if the Jippo quality has gotten better. Lol don’t yall get tired of seeing made in Taiwan/China on everything in our beloved land.

I (we I am sure) look forward to seeing fill that Icon box with great tools. Then you can compare apples to apples. Don’t get rid of what you have, just add. Look forward to the comparison. Maybe build a wall of Icon boxes to rival the Mr. Big but, do it for a fraction of the price.

I still have a ratchet/socket set I purchased from a Western Auto store in 1965, to rebuild my first V8 Chevy engine. That set still works well. None of sockets rounded off. I have used that set a lot over the years on a tractor, on automobiles, on boat docks, on mowers, etc. I wonder what company actually manufactured that set of tools.

Good advice for a collapsing trade.

I am 75, I've been working on cars (DIY) since I was a teenager helping my dad. Between wife and self, we have 4 old cars (1947-1997), most of the work I do myself. Many of my tools are only used a few times a year so basically I need what is necessary to get the job done. Sometimes I buy a tool for a specific job--one of the rear brake drums on the 47 Jeep was really tightly stuck on the tapered shaft, and I wound up buying a drum puller from the Walmart website.

no regrets, but made a video ...mmmhmmmm... next thing you know we landed on the moon

[Dr. McCoy voice] It's dead Jim. [/Dr. McCoy voice]

I'm a 65 year old mechanic that has my Craftsman tools now since 1974, so 50 years. I been working on industrial floor scrubbers for over 40 years and due to the water and chemicals that rust and degrade the nuts and bolts, it can be tough to take things apart. I NEVER had a n issue in 40 years of my Craftsman slipping on a bolt/nut. Sorry, I like your channel but I have to disagree and Snap On tool ability VS Craftsman. Never. I do have a few Snap On and few SK tools but 90% is Craftsman stuff.

I watch at least 1 to hours of your videos ever morning. Ole dog learns new trick ever day.

the right tool for the job is what makes the most time advantage not necessarily the brand or price.

If you are combining VW and Audi, it would be helpful to tell people the breakdown between the two so they can have an idea of what is driving costs. If it's 2:1 VW:Audi, one can assume their VW experience will probably be representative. If it's the other way around, they can assume that it will probably be less than that. The repair for crankcase valve issue you show will not occur on a VW because they don't have a supercharger to remove in order to gain access. If that is relatively frequent as you say, that will skew the average "VW" bill upward while not representing VW at all.

My box has snap on, icon pittsburg, blue point, craftsman and mac

40,000 dollars

TESLA

Strap on boys mad mad .. 😂

It sounds like cars are just expensive to repair lol

Hello to everyone from the Republic of Estonia! I also have many personal tools. China, Taiwan. I read from your comments that a mechanic in the USA, UK, and CANADA must have a personal collection of tools to do the work. In Estonia, we have everything from the employer, even though Estonia is a poor country, none a mechanic working in a company to buy wrenches for himself. Why does a worker in a rich country have to buy wrenches for himself.

I have thousands of dollars of Snap On tools…in an ICON rolling toolbox.

I made a lot of money with the cheap tools and worked my way up to better tools from there. If I would have started out with $30,000 debt, not knowing for sure I would love working on vehicles, that is dumb.

Cnc machinery has advanced so much since the 90s its not hard to produce equal quality to higher end tools or anything for that matter. Manufactors understand now they cant just sell garbage these days

Time will tell that's how

I have a 1/4 inch of sk Socket set I've been using over 40+years .there still awesome today

Believe this list. I’ve been in the auto repair business for half of my life, and I guessed all five of these before the video started.

I do mine every 3 months hell most times there 1500 miles on it. I run conventional in a 99 rav4.

For those who do their own work, it may be nice to see the avg cost broken down into parts and labour. Nevertheless a very good video.

China is cheap because the industry is subsidized. The purpose is to erode our economy. Buy american if you are a patriot. Or anywhere but from china.

both a new kia and a new mercedez will bring you from maine to florida both will get you there in the same time, one is just a better ride. excuse my spelling i dont know why i cant spell correctly, always been this way

If I'm buying a ratchet, I go by feel, tooth drive, quality, and cost. The Snap-on, 1/2 in drive low profile, 80 tooth is $231.50 The ICON, 90-tooth, low-profile, 1/2 in drive is $44.99. That's a $186.51 difference in price. Is Snap-on worth that huge of a price difference? I would never spend that kind of money on a ratchet (even if I were a professional mechanic) because I'm betting the ICON will last, and the ICON has the same lifetime warranty.

The ratchets are actually good I use them every day and have snap on for the last 30 years . I'm building a tool set all from harbor freight and have been using them and nothing but them for the last 3 months as a professional and killing it !! I wish we had these options 30 yrs ago !

My dad was an aircraft mechanic and he swore by snap on tools. He died when I was a kid and the dicks at the shop he worked at stole all his tools, they claimed he moved them the day he died. I do have a couple of his wrenches that he had brought home to fix the lawnmower. I have TAT sockets and craftsman wrenches and Stanley screwdrivers/ pliers, that have had them for years. I am just a driveway mechanic on my own motorcycles and cars. I have tried a few harbor freight stuff for that one off tool I needed. The quality doesn't seem bad for home use, but I think if you needed the tool for your lively hood, it might be a different story.

I used NAPA for years and did not realize the change. Thank you for the heads-up!!!

You know, tool truck debt could be the same thing as a student loan.

noise coming out of his mouth. good bye

Go to love the man bun😅

Icon is a good line of hand tools, and I have some of them. Alternatively, if/when China invades Taiwan, that supply chain will likely be closed for years/decades. That happens, the domestic producers, if they’re still around, will be the only game around - and if hostilities result in a war of attrition…. American tool manufacturing needs to be more pragmatic about profit margins and deemed a critical part of our industrial base.

Great info. Thanks

Torque test channel did this comparison in a much more accurate test and snap on lost. The best wrenches so far is the Mac RBRT wrenches.

Take everything into consideration; Employers will find every way possible to maximize profit, including cutting mechanics pay, I've seen it way too many times. Employers will also make sure comebacks are on the mechanic, sure they lose tying up the mech time wise, but many will not pay for comebacks or warranty. Add the the customer trying to maximize their dollar at the expense of the mechanic. Now I made good money, but at the cost of my home life, my children and wife. So, if I had it to do over, I'd buy the cheapest quality tool, and stay off the Snap-on and Mac trucks. That would have kept me home with my family a lot more. Because in the end, taking care of your family is your goal to begin with.

There is no arguing that Snap-On makes (almost all) high quality tools. The problem with Snap-On is that their profit margin is insanely large. They have built up a mythology about the delta between their quality and the quality of those (GearWrench, Icon, former Craftsman, etc.) tools that literally are one tenth or less of the cost. Snap-On makes money by selling franchises, lending money, and marking up their products over their production cost by factors of 5 to 10+. They have built their brand on the backs of very hard working techs and tool truck drivers; they have leveraged the human desire to be 'elite' and have tied their name to that elite definition. They prey on that psychology and consistently take financial advantage of their customers. It is nice to see this come home to roost, especially as Snap-On moves more of their production overseas, which they are doing to make even MORE money.

I enjoy your videos, been watching on Insty. They only thing you did not address this time was the made in America part. Thanks, lookin forward to more.

It's really hard for someone who paid $700 for a set of wrenches to admit they overpaid, especially if there is peer pressure and shop pressure to buy the extremely overpriced tool. Misery loves company.

You may be able to buy snap-on outside the shop but good luck trying to contact the local truck to warranty a tool. Dude 100% refused to work with me because I wasn't in a shop or had a million $ in tools. So I literally sold ALL of my snap-on stuff and bought all Harbor Freight. I can get a tool replaced that day with no problems at all.

Between 98 and 2007, I spent $14 thousand on Snap On tools, not sure what I spent on the Mac tools, definitely not as much

My guess for your tool investment is $400k

Great video! Are you familiar with Paul Danner's (aka Scanner Danner) book? If not, a brief introduction. He's a veteran automotive tech and a vocational automotive instructor. He couldn't find a text that he liked for his classroom, so he wrote his own. Many and most times he bypasses typical flowcharts saving a lot of time and money making the correct decision on what's wrong with the vehicle. His motto is "Don't be a parts changer!" He has gone as far as listing shops that use his book on the Internet. He has a map with links. I'd like to see more shops listed on his site so I can recommend a shop to someone knowing that they won't be involved in the expensive parts changing game and get their vehicles repaired honestly!

I would say by looking at your tool box I would say over 125k .I have a krl box 3 bank I bought in the early 90 s love it. Same cranberry color

Snap on tools are far from perfect. Seen quite a few broken 10 mm sockets that were visibly thinner on one side of the socket than the other. Honestly there are plenty of Japanese higher end tools out there that are still cheaper and made with better quality.