# Makita from China?



## Bullmoose

Most of my power tools are Makita and they have served me very well for years. They are all marked "Made in Japan" and the quality and durability has been excellent.

Yesterday I made two mistakes:
1. I went to Home Depot for tools
2. I bought a 4 1/2" Makita angle grinder without really checking it out.

At home I unpacked the grinder and was surprised to find it was "Made in China". To me China is the maker of cheap, disposable products. The grinder is going back to Home Depot.
Shame on you Makita.


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## slickshift

Yeah, it's sad
But if they don't sell a de-spec'd version to The Home Despot, The Despot won't carry Makita
And The Despot sells too many tools for Makita to say no
Shame, really

Personally I'd rather pay a little more, get a better tool, and support my local tool supply store owner
I think we all need to think about it

The HD thread:
http://www.diychatroom.com/showthread.php?t=471



slickshift said:


> It's CPV
> 
> Lets say Porter-Cable has a framing saw, you see it in your local tool shop for...say $189
> It's quiet, light, strong, and has a great blade
> You shop around a bit and see it in HD for less
> It's only $159...what a bargain!
> 
> Hold on there partner, here's what happened
> HD brass saw the P/C saw and said great, we want to carry that, but we want to charge less than $189
> P/C says we can't lower our price to you, it's a great price
> 
> Now comes the CPV
> Customer Perceived Value
> 
> Big Box says well, our average customer won't see the value (extra $) of that magnesium guide...can you make it steel?
> Our avg. cust won't perceive the value of those fancy motor bushings, or that fancy blade
> Make your saw for us to these new specs and we'll carry your saw
> And we'll sell it for $159
> 
> If P/C says no, then Big Box won't carry a P/C framing saw
> 
> Voila, Home Despot has a de-spec'd P/C saw that looks like the one at the local tool shop


In the above example, the irony is that if the local tool shop carried the de-spec'd tool, it would be $139


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## cryingeva

I living at asia country, actually i`m makita big fan,i got 9 makita tool almost made in china. it was everyday use for 4 years but still going strong because makita had good quality control.i not going to argument...both i prefer made in japan it see last longer.


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## KUIPORNG

I got Milwaukee drill make in China ... in the beginning I was having the same worry... but after using it for a while... found out it is strong and solid... I think the brand name has some sort of guarantee on it even it is made in China... but I agree... made in Japan give you double guarantee...


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## concretemasonry

You are right about the place of manufacture dictating the level of quality.

Many good companies have products manufactured in China the THEIR specifications. They are will to put their name on the product and stand behind the guarantee.

Granted, many people want to sell something cheap and they end up going to China because of the relatively low labor rates. These type of companies set the specifications and they are the ones to blame for the low quality.

An example - China sells more violins than anyone else and they are the cheapest in the world by far. They also win the international prizes for quality violins.

No matter what you want, it is a customer driven market (both price and quality).


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## troubleseeker

Bullmoose said:


> Most of my power tools are Makita and they have served me very well for years. They are all marked "Made in Japan" and the quality and durability has been excellent.
> 
> Yesterday I made two mistakes:
> 1. I went to Home Depot for tools
> 2. I bought a 4 1/2" Makita angle grinder without really checking it out.
> 
> At home I unpacked the grinder and was surprised to find it was "Made in China". To me China is the maker of cheap, disposable products. The grinder is going back to Home Depot.
> Shame on you Makita.


I have said it many times, and will say it again. Everyone wants to blame the big boxes when the buy a tool from them that doesn't meet their expectations, but you summed it up in your #2 statement.."without really checking it out". You have to be sure you are getting the same model tool , not just the same color and generic tool picture on the box. An abc model from the big box is exactly the same as an abc model from the tool supply house, but most of the time the one at the big box is only going to be an ab model. And yes, it has been manufactured to lesser specs to meet a certain price range, and that is exactly why you probably won't find that model at the contractor supply dealer, it is not a pro grade tool. It will most likely be 2 or 3 amps smaller, have fewer ball bearing, or possibly bushings instead of bearings at all, have lesser quality gears, etc. If you look at a blue four door BMW with a price tag of $80K and then go to another dealer and look at a blue four door BMW with a price of $60K, you would not expect to get the same car, would you.


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## bobtools

Search the Makita site and they have some tools that are made in USA, Japan, China. They don't make different tools for different stores I have compared the tools. I have Makita's that say made in China and they are exactly the same as the ones made in Japan as far as quality from my miles of use. Like stated above many companies have factories all over the world. They have tools made in their own plants with their specs the labor is cheaper I suppose. Heck if it still holds up then it's a good tool no matter where they want to make it.


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## slickshift

troubleseeker said:


> If you look at a blue four door BMW with a price tag of $80K and then go to another dealer and look at a blue four door BMW with a price of $60K, you would not expect to get the same car, would you.


Good example
And yet some consumers still think "volume" alone can explain a 20% reduction in the retail price
(rather than the 2-4% that is the more common actual discount from the manufacturer)
Unfortunately the retailers that do this don't mind that perception and don't try and educate consumers about it


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## KUIPORNG

I wish it is that simple price and quality be proportional. Many times it isn't, some business try to make a fat profit.... like I saw an exact same model of sink price different between two store HD and Rona, the price is double in one of them... they all are regular price..... so like everything... it isn't that simple...


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## troubleseeker

KUIPORNG said:


> I wish it is that simple price and quality be proportional. Many times it isn't, some business try to make a fat profit.... like I saw an exact same model of sink price different between two store HD and Rona, the price is double in one of them... they all are regular price..... so like everything... it isn't that simple...


I don't think any of us are saying that it is not possible to buy the same product at a better price from a different store, just that you have to be sure that the less expensive price is for the exact same item, not just one that may visually look the same.


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## bobtools

troubleseeker said:


> I don't think any of us are saying that it is not possible to buy the same product at a better price from a different store, just that you have to be sure that the less expensive price is for the exact same item, not just one that may visually look the same.


I have heard of other companies making lower quality tools for Home Depot and Lowe's but from my experience the Makita tools are exactly the same quality as you buy from anywhere else.


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## KUIPORNG

The item I saw is America Standard metal sink Casdal style... there isn't much quality difference you can do to these already cheap sink... one store selling for 50 the other selling for 100.... I almost bought the 100 one before checking the other... luckily I did a random check and got the 50 one for the replacement of my Dad's condo a couple of years ago...


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