Customer Reviews

Makita LXT218 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless 2-Piece Combo Kit

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have used this tool for 2 months. I feel this is a great combo tool set and I am completely satisfied.
After reading some of the reviews, I was hesitant to order the set but being a very satisfied owner of several Makita tools including earlier generation Makita cordless drills, I decided to give the Combo set a try (even knowing it is Made in China; read on.)
Makita does a great job with ergonomics. The drill is a good manageable weight, has plenty of power, battery life, is well balanced, and does not have any skin pinch points. The trigger and reversing switch are positioned for easy fingertip control (I checked out the competitors and the Makita BHP454 in the combo set had the best fit in my hand.)
The hammer drill is very effective. I was surprised how efficient the hammer drill is at drilling 3/8 inch holes in concrete. I drilled 6 holes in the same time it used to take me to drill one with my older, non impact, cordless drill.
I checked the chuck run out by mounting a 1/2" diameter precision dowel pin in the chuck and measured run out with a 0.0005" increment dial indicator. Run out was less than 0.005" which I figure is very acceptable for a hand held drill.
Regarding being "Made in China". I am generally very ANTI when it comes to Chinese made products. My experience has been that most Chinese products are made with poor quality control, poor heat treatment, inferior components, etc. I have experienced the inferior junk that often comes from China and, after many bad experiences, I have made it a habit to, whenever possible, completely avoid purchasing Chinese Made products. However, knowing Makita's reputation and quality, and working as a Manufacturing Engineer for many years, I have had the experience of working directly with Japanese companies and evaluating their workforce transition to China. What I experienced and I believe this is the case with Makita, if properly done, the product quality does not suffer because components initially come from Japan until such time the China operation can prove they can competently and consistently manufacture quality components. When making this transition, the Japanese are experts at exercising Complete Quality Control so the product is comparable to those coming from Japan.
Amazon is excellent at taking back any product that a customer is not satisfied with so I figure there is no risk to the customer if a product does not perform as advertised.
In summary, this is a fine set and I would not hesitate to recommend purchasing the Combo Set.

I purchased this kit instead of the LXT211 because it has the more powerful hammer drill that you won't find in any other combo kit. I noticed right away the first time I used the drill that the chuck wobbled, as have others who own this kit and have reviewed here on Amazon. This is a problem if you need to drill holes in concrete or masonry for screws, lag shields or the like. I took it back to the store where I bought it and asked the tool technician to either fix it or replace it. He replaced the chuck, it still wobbled and he said that all hammer drill chucks wobble. Not true, case in point: Milwaukee's M18 2611-24. Wish I still had it, one of the best I ever used. Or the Maktia BHP451, their original lxt hammer drill. That was a great drill that some tweaker decided he needed more than me. I digress, but I hate it when I feel like I know more than the guys who are fixing or selling me my tools. All said, this is still a good kit. Nothing but praises for the impact driver and the hammer drill is still quite good, it's just that at the prices Makita charges I expect darn near perfection.
Updated 2/1/11: I have found that I can get around the wobbling chuck problem that resulted in holes in concrete or masonry ending up oversized. Just use a 1/16 size smaller bit than what's called for. I still feel disappointed with the drill, but now I can at least expect it to do what it' supposed to do. Man I hope Makita reads this. Bring back the BHP451! I would gladly put up with it's minor quirks for a straight chuck and 3 speeds.

I purchased this combo set because I wanted an impact driver and a hammer drill. Let's start with the batteries and charger supplied. The charger works great and fully charges the batteries in less than 30 minutes. These batteries are great. They never seem to run out of power and as other reviewers have said, once they begin to lose their power, they shut down very fast. It's great that 2 batteries are supplied so that you always can have a backup, fully charged and ready to go. Now for the impact driver. It's a Makita model BTD141. This thing is awesome. It seems to drive any type of screw in any type of job that I throw at it. I've been using this impact driver for a couple of months now and it hasn't failed me yet. And no more stripped screw heads! I'll never use a standard drill to drive screws again. This is an awesome impact driver and is very well built too! OK, so now to the other part of my "50-50". The Makita drill hammer supplied is a model BHP454. It is very well built and runs great. My first job with this hammer drill was to drill about 60 tapcon holes in a conrete slab to secure a subfloor to it. While this drill hammer has plenty of power, it has one major flaw. The chuck wobbles so hence, the drill bit also wobbles. When drilling pilot holes in concrete, it ends up drilling the pilot holes to wide (because of the wobbling) and then the tapcon screws won't grab and secure. About 2 out of every 3 holes I drilled were useless as the screw won't properly secure. Since I purchased this hammer drill to drill into concrete, it's a pretty much useless tool with this problem. I had seen this chuck wobble issue in a coupleof other reviews but assumed it was a freak thing. Apparently, it's fairly common (I got bit by this issue too). Since I was in a pinch to get the concrete drilling/screwing job conmpleted quickly, I went out and purchased a corded DeWalt hammer drill and that tool did the job without a flaw. I'll probably use the Makita hammer drill just to drive screws (it works pretty well for that, even with the wobbling chuck) but for srilling pilot holes into the concrete, this tool is useless (go DeWalt!). If your looking for a great cordless impact driver, go for the BTD141. It's super. But buy it separately because the hammer drill is flawed.

I compared this drill with Milwaukee 0824-20 and it is much faster and powerful than Milwaukee. Makita took 39 secs to drill a 1/2 inch hole in 4 inch concrete block (not hollow). Milwaukee did the job on 52 sec.
Both Batteries drilled 5 holes and then died. Milwaukee is super heavy makita very light, but because of this the Milwaukee felt better when drilling, more compact with less vibration. Also the Jacob chuck on the makita was somewhat wobbling.
(Please send comments on how to fix or improve this), the Milwaukee chuck was very stable.

For the weight, speed, power I will go with Makita. For feel Milwaukee.

I have been extremely pleased with this purchase. I love their size and ergonomics. The power is wonderful, and the batteries' charge last a long, long time. Just a note of mention, they are almost like a light switch when they are discharged. They either are working great guns or needing charged, not much in between.

The impact driver gets a 4.87 out of 5 stars. My only beef is that you can't insert a new bit without pulling the collar out away from the driver. Otherwise, the feel, weight, power, light (LOVE the light), and quality are fantastic.

The hammer-drill gets a 4.35 out of 5 stars. I like the chuck, feel, fit & finish, power. I am disappointed with the lighting on the drill. I was expecting a lot having used the I.Driver first, but the drill proved somewhat of a letdown. It has two LED's, and yet doesn't really shine the light where you want it. It puts out A LOT of light, just that where the bit is will be in a shadow usually. I can't bang on its weight to much because it's made very heavy duty and carries the hammer drill action to boot, but it's a bit heavier than I'd like.

The charger works fine, but I'd like something a little simpler for setting up. Changing the audio tones for different states of charge can be a little bit of a challenge.

Overall, I really enjoy using them and don't think that you can go wrong buying this item.

I bought a new house and wanted a tool set that will be good enough for all the new installations in the new house, So I decided to buy this tool set and it is perfect.
I used the Drill for 2 weeks intensively and didn't need to charge it, only after 2 weeks of drilling concrete and hanging shelves I used the second battery, and after 30 Min I have the first one already ready to be used, amazing. I love this tool set and the power / use time it has.

I just received and tried out my new Makita LXT218 kit (454 drill and 141 impact) and I must say this far surpasses my expectations. Coming from an older model DeWalt XRP hammer drill/driver with regular batteries, this kit is simply amazing.

The batteries charge must faster (I even had the 1hr charger for the DeWalt) and the drills are of the same build quality. I like the extra perks on this set like the lights (very useful although they come on the new DeWalts as well) as well as the bit holder, belt clips (actually very useful) and the case... the case is huge. Not size wise. Size wise the case is perfect, but just to have a case instead of dropping the drills into a contractors/tool bag is very pleasant. The case is of much better construction than I anticipated as well. The DeWalt combo similar to this one showed a case as the main picture, but after further reading in the description it actually just comes with a bag.

I will update my review after I get a few big projects under my belt but my initial tests and handling of these tools leaves me with a big smile on my face.

Update (8/25/11):
I am even happier with these tools now that I have used them for a few projects (latest one building a work bench). The impact driver is something I should have learned about and bought a long long time ago. Through the few projects I have done there has not been a single stripped screw, or even any skipping! It is very light and easy to maneuver, and the lights on the front are really helpful when working under low light conditions. The case is very nice as well, much better than a contractors bag or just carrying them around.

I initially purchased this drill because I got sick of having to charge up my NiCd battery pack before using my drill.

I decided to pay the extra for the hammer option because I will be hanging shelves in cold storage (with cement walls), otherwise, I would have gotten the step down.

This drill delivers consistent power for a long period of time. The batteries charge quickly and completely, and store for a long period of time with little self-discharge. I live in an area that is cold 4 months out of the year, and I read a lot of reviews for the Milwaukee cordless that said that the batteries decreased in efficiency in cold weather.

Another great thing about this combo is the number of additional "bare bones" tools you can purchase that use the same battery pack. Makita has a long-term commitment to this battery and its mount, which is evident in their tool lineup.

If you are sitting on the fence between this drill and any other drill, look no further. This is the best drill in it's class!

I have used an older version of this set and decided to upgrade my tools from an lder 14.4 volt set. The drill/rotary hammer is surprisingly easy to use. It is lightweight and powerful, not too noisy even on the hammer drill setting. The light is a nice addition. The driver works well but I can tell it will not get as much use as the drill. Batteries last a long time, certainly plenty of reserve to allow for recharging of the spent one and not interrupt work. I would recommend that, if someone were to be using both tools simultaneously, they buy another battery. There is a space in to box for a third battery.

This seemed like a great deal until I received it. It arrived quickly and I was excited to open the box and view my products. Upon inspection, the hammer drill/driver chuck was out of round...not really a big deal if drilling a conventional hole but not acceptable when hammer drilling. I sent the items back for a refund which was promptly given. Sad to see makita has gone down hill since my last drill purchase many years ago.