Sears Tools That Suck On The Price

[Bird]

i won't use kenmore anymore... sears stuff used to be good.. but has turned to expensive junk.. might as well pay a cheap price if buying junk.

I can remember in the ld days, moving and taking my washer dryer with me.. they were investments and lasted 20ys. now if you can get 10ys out of them you should get a plaque!

soundguy

I bought a Maytag washer & dryer about 7 years ago from Sears. The washing machine lasted just over 3 years and would have cost more to repair it than I paid for it new. So we went back to Kenmore. They're now just over 3 years old, so we'll see what happens.:laughing:

 

[stevewatr]

i won't use kenmore anymore... sears stuff used to be good.. but has turned to expensive junk.. might as well pay a cheap price if buying junk.

I can remember in the ld days, moving and taking my washer dryer with me.. they were investments and lasted 20ys. now if you can get 10ys out of them you should get a plaque!

soundguy

What your probably seeing is a general lowering of quality in most appliances, not just the Kenmore brand. Reason I say this, is because I use to do repairs, and Sears uses several differant OEMS for Kenmore branded products. For example, for several years, every Kenmore microwave I repaired was made by Sanyo, every Fridge was a Whirlpool, and my 12 year old washer (still running strong), is made by Frigidaire. The vaccuum cleaners look like Hoovers, not positive on that one, but you get the point.

I also thought of another positive for Sears, my local Sears Outlet Store. Not sure if they have these all over the country, but when we were building our house, I made regular stops there to see what turned up.

Bought some nice stuff there cheap. Jenn air electric range, GE fridge, GE wall oven, Kenmore front load washer, and dryer, Kitchenaid dishwasher. All were deeply discounted, mainly due to scratch and dent issues. The wall oven and dishwasher were the most damaged, both worked fine, but had busted plastic front panels. Bought new panels for about $100 for the pair, easy fix, made them look like new. They also have what they call "used" items, but they really mean returns. Like that table saw "Bird" spoke of. It may very well have been sent to an outlet store where some tech replaced the switch, and it was sold again.

Regards,
Steve W.

 

[Soundguy]

What your probably seeing is a general lowering of quality in most appliances, not just the Kenmore brand. Reason I say this, is because I use to do repairs, and Sears uses several differant OEMS for Kenmore branded products. Steve W.

that's exactly what I stated in my post.

if buying junk anyway.. might as well pay junk prices.. not premium prices.

when my kenmore washer just went, the part to fix it cost 20$ less than a new washer of a lesser name.. which.. not that I have it.. I LIKE BETTER than the kenmore. it's quieter.


same deal with my dishwasher. repalcement cost less than a repair..

no brainer..

if they all are gonna last 3ys.. buy cheapest.

ps.. when my fridge actually died under warranty ( kenmore ) it was all maytag parts that went in it...


soundguy

 

[Bird]

Steve, there's one of those Sears Outlet stores, such as you describe, in the Grapevine Mills Mall just north of the DFW Airport. I look around in there every once in awhile and they have some pretty good deals. One of our daughters bought a washing machine there a few years ago, but they didn't have exactly what we wanted when we bought our washer & dryer. About six and a half years ago, we bought 2 refrigerators from Sears, but again, the Outlet store had lots of refrigerators, but not the right ones for us.

 

[TedBell]

I bought a dryer at the Sears Outlet, which had a few cosmetic dings but was "certified" by Sears to work. It took three dryers that were delivered before I got one that worked. The 1st wouldn't start and the 2nd made an awful noise as the drum rotated.

 

[MrWhippy]

I wanted to chime in on Sears tools.

I grew up in eastern Oregon, so Sears Craftsman tools were the standard for most of us. Dependable and FULLY covered under warranty. They were a joy to work with.

In the 1980's when I started collecting my own tools, when I had the cash for it, I bought Craftsman. They were convenient, good quality and fully warrantied. Sometime in the mid 90's, Sears started giving me a hard time when returning broken tools. Sometimes they refused to replace the tool. With this as a backdrop, I started buying NAPA tools and Kobalt tools at Lowes. The quality was similar to what I was seeing at Sears and NAPA and Lowes actually stood behind their warranties.

About 5 years ago, when Sears fell on really hard times, I decided to give them another shot. Their tools were much lower quality than the previous Craftsman versions, and tool lines have been slimmed down BUT I was pleased to see that they were standing behind the Craftsman warranty again.

I agree with many here. Care must be used in selecting Craftsman tools. Some are fine, others are junk. Sears Craftsman precision tools like torque wrenches are no where near what a Snap on torque wrench is. I'd like to see Sears survive, but to me, their tool lines will have to improve in quality AND Sears will have to graciously stand behind their warranty.

 

[JRTJH]

I wanted to chime in on Sears tools.

Sears Craftsman precision tools like torque wrenches are no where near what a Snap on torque wrench is. I'd like to see Sears survive, but to me, their tool lines will have to improve in quality AND Sears will have to graciously stand behind their warranty.

Totally agree with you on this... In the Aerospace industry, the "gold standard" is Starrett. In fact, at Boeing, the only tools they'd let us use to measure Airplane parts or repair parts was Starrett. The Precision Measurement Lab wouldn't even accept a Craftsman to calibrate.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I also thought of another positive for Sears, my local Sears Outlet Store. Not sure if they have these all over the country, but when we were building our house, I made regular stops there to see what turned up.

Yeah, one just opened up down the road from us...In the same lot as Harbor Freight.

 

[Johnp33]

I had my tools stolen and was paid out to get new ones the tools from Canada are junk I bought sets from Bellingham Washington Sears. They are all made in the USA.
The tools I took to work were junk from KMS discount center, I used them for 6 years 12 hours a day.
Snap-on makes the best torque wrenches, They make good specialty tools, I use Mac impact 12 point, Craftsman 6 point, impact sockets.
Proto or gray for chisels and pry bars. Snap-on chisels will hurt you.
Measuring tools Starrett, Mitutoyo, NSK are all good.
Impacts I use Chicago Pneumatics, in 1/2 drive and ingersoll in 3/8 pistol grips. Air ratchets, and I used them a lot and tried every make there is Campbell Hausfeld is by far the best.
I bought a lot of air ratchets and they never made a year and I soak mine every night in Synthetic ATF.
The cheapest one I ever bought has lasted years.

 

[Jeff Lary]

I've had very good luck with Lowes, too. Unfortunately, their hand tool selection is still lacking depth. Their orientaion is towards the building industry, so they don't have a lot of mechanic's type gear - for instance, torque wrenches. Hopefully, this will change as they make Sears more irrelevant over time. In my area I notice a distinct difference in the HD vs Lowes stores (I have 3 of each within 20 minutes of me).

At HD, if I can actually find an employee, it's always someone I've never seen before. I always get treated like "Oh, I hope that guys doesn't ask me anything" or they look at me with a blank stare and say "An eye bolt?".

At Lowes, there's the same crew working as the last time I was there and they know their inventory. They also seem eager to help customers. Based on this, I suspect they treat their employees better.

Lowes has become my first destination in big box buying, with HD (usually right across the street) my back up, if Lowes doesn't have what I need. Sears has become a hail-Mary third (if one's nearby) for me.

I find the same here in Maine as well. Lowes employes actually look for someone to help, While at the H.D. thier employes look for someplace else to be when they spy you comming.