Definatly ticked off with Makita..

It's really a tough one. I have owned few Black&Deckers, Makitas, Dewalts (which are the new Black&Deckers), Milwaukees, Hitachi, Bynabrade, and my latest Metabo that has worked hard for the past 15 months.



Every machine I have owned has had the cord short. The Milwaukees were very tough, but the very old steel B&D's were probably the toughest of them all. Makitas also had very good luck. The Dynabrade was also one tough machine and I did like that a lot too.



I have burnt out quite a few brushes and spindles, but all were very good for the most part.



The worst was the Hitachi. My favorite so far has been the Metabo. My next will be a FEIN.
 
I agree with Superduty except I would add that I think it is not worth it to PAY someone to repair something. I have never in my life not been able to repair anything that a typical repair service could. Nothing is intricate anymore and if it is then an entire piece, board, or component is replaced. Or its simply more expensive to repair than it is to replace with a newer model.



First of all if I am looking at the right part on Makita support site.. the speed switch costs $58. and the Handle switch costs $23.



I only pay people to repair things if A.) I have been quoted or given an estimate.. and B.) I have already tried to repair it myself and have screwed it up so bad that the repairman atleast has to work for their pay :)



I have a Makita 9227 also and love it!
 
Thinking back to when I was doing a few used/abused cars for a bodyshop, I got a chance to try a Dewalt briefly, it was a bit heavier than my Makita but it felt fine, it did seem to be just a tad smoother and quiet. I don't do detailing full time so maybe my Makita will last as long as I need it.
 
MBenz said:
i just read a post from picus, and he has put over 10,000 hours on his makita with only maintenance being new brushes. Maybe you just got a lemon. Has anyone else had major problems?
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I did have one issue with the cord too (the inside contacts came loose from the cord twisting). I fixed that myself and put a split loom on it. I actually have no idea how many hours my Makita has. I am the second owner. Since I've had it I've put at least 10,000 hours on it.



That said, I've run into long lasting Hitachi's too. A local dealership that I help out has one and has been using it non-stop for year.



I think, like cars, all the rotaries are inherently reliable, but there will always be exceptions.



PS. In my experience the dewalt is much louder than the makita.
 
I'm still going to go with the Makita when I buy my rotary. I think Brandon just happened to buy a lemon, like someone said earlier.



Makita < professional looking than the Flex. ;)
 
MBenz said:
mmmmm. now i am not so sure that i will get a makita to replace the dead dewalt. It seems like a really nice machine to use, but reliability is really important................
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You can't let one failure brand all of the 9227's as having reliability issues. If you look long enough you'll find that any rotary you're going to consider has had a failure somewhere. Almost everything is made cheaper these days, but I still haven't seen any rash of failures that would scare me away from a 9227.



If my rotary failed two months out of warranty and it cost $80 to get it fixed I wouldn't be too happy either. But it was out of warranty and Makita has no way of knowing if it was used for 15 or 15,000 hours. I'd be more upset with the repair shop for not giving a quote than I would be at Makita. Unfortunately it looks like the speed control is the second most expensive part to replace in a 9227.



Disclaimer: I don't own a Makita, I just don't want the 9227 to get an unfair rep from one failure.
EisenHulk said:
.........Makita < professional looking than the Flex. ;)
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:lol
 
Oh I actually loved my Makita and definatly still glad I have one.



I really just think that Makita should have stood behind their product better than that. Or maybe the repair shop should have done a better job with the sale.
 
i think there will be random problems with any brand you buy, it's just the aspect of the customer service from the brand you buy that is pretty important and is a factor in the future if you continue to buy their product. with that being said, hopefully no one else has a bad experience...



p.s. IIRC, mike phillips had a makita that was over 15+ years old and he put countless hours on it. talk about getting your money's worth... :eek:
 
Just for future reference, if these machines do break, it usually is not that hard to fix yourself. When i got my beat up dewalt, i pulled the entire thing apart to clean it up and find anything that might be a problem. I regreased the gears in the head, cleaned out all the dust, removed the carbon from the contacts, replaced the brushes and holders. Total was about 3 hours of work & $20 in parts. I did this all w/o any manuals or instructions and the machine ran great...for a while anyways.:think:
 
Picus said:
Tough call on this one. If you have a car you never drive and it has a warranty issue two months out of warranty, does the dealer fix it? I don't know. It's always tough to say what the cut-off point is for out of warranty comps. Is 2 months ok, 6 months, a year? I think this situation is a bummer but I understand where Makita is coming from. I think the real issue is an $80 repair for a speed control issue; that seems high to me (just imo, of course). I've had two repairs on my Makita (it's got thousands and thousands of hours on it, so par for the course), and both have been under $30.



Is there more than one repair shop in your area?
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Do you think Toyota would warranty me on my supra if something broke even though it only has 22k miles on it.. :lol I mean its only 13 years old.. :rolleyes:
 
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