Guys and girls,

Seen snap on vans around the area and mate at a garage says they visit the garage and sell tools. Was wondering what the deals were and how it all gets paid for? 0%apr, monthly payments etc?? and most importantly do they sell to people outside the trade? would really like a nice set of Snap On tools and a quality box but couldnt even think about buying them all with out certain payment plans!

Cheers in advance.

B

 

phone snap on and request a visit from your local dealer, he'll come to your work

 

Does it not matter that I don't work for a garage? howdoes it all work before i go ringing around?

 

Buy second hand off Ebay for instance ...

Dont be getting sucked into the Snap-On Vans ... I went on one day to change a bust socket and end up with an Extra 300 Notes on the already bulging chucky ..

 

I know there is other ways to get the tools, I'd prefer to buy new if i can spread the cost and its not over the top.... wanna know what the APR is and how it works.

 

Yeah the SnapOn vans are good for draining your bank account. It is good stuff though but I often find myself questioning wether I actually need something of such (claimed) high quality for working on cars at home. Fair enough for in the trade or in the back of the rally van (which is when I use the tools) but it just seems a lot of hard earned for tools which aren't going to make you any money back. Maybe I'm talking rubbish but thats what goes through my head when Im standing in the SnapOn lorry holding a Ł75 + VAT 3/8" drive ratchet!

They do a 0% 10 week finance deal. If you sign up to their mailing list you get sent the special offers and they are pretty well thought out. They do starter sets on most tools so over the year for example you could build up a comprehensive tool box and then up grade or add accessories after or as you go. On a lot of things they also do a trade in for your old item but it has to be one of their's to start with.

 

use the link below mate, that will let you contact snap-on uk and they will answer all your questions

http://www1.snapon.com/display/router.asp?docid=3743

 

some of the snap on tools are dearer on ebay than they are on the van, snap on tools are good but ou might struggle to get a weekly account not working in a garage, halfords tools are brilliant if you want a decent set for fair money, also some of the machine mart gear is decent too, as are sealey and franklin and laser teng facom to name but a few, really depends on what your expecting and how much your gonna use them

hth

 

if your just using them in a garage at home to mess around with your car then i wouldnt waste your money on snap on stuff mate as your just spending the money to have the name, as said above there are loads of different makes which will do the job for a lot less money.

 

I use to just pay weekly, didn't get charged interest. As above if you go on a snap on van for a box you'll come away with one the size of a fucking house and it will be full to the brim with tools with them banging on about how you'll never have to buy new tools again etc ! Snap on do make good tools, but so do other companys.

 

Aye .... I always had 0% interest on my Gear (Forgot the arrangment)

I always gave atleast Ł30 a week to the bloke ..

Remember the Snap-On gear is allot cheaper to the dealer .. I Buy Caterpillar Tools these days that are Snap-on and get them for 70% of the price so beware of Mark-ups ..

Studabear is right ... Buy Halford gear .. Signet Tools ... Fuck'em/Brittol are are Quality and allot cheaper than Crap-on ...

I buy the Good stuff as I cannot afford to Bust a socket in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I wouldnt buy it if I wasn't in the trade and just wanted some pub crack ..

 

Aye maybe it's selective purchasing that's required. Rather than buying a whole Torx set just buy a T40 or what ever you break the most of. Must say though their pliers are amazing.

 

cool, always like the snap on tools and would love a perfect set but i'll have a look at the other makes as well. cheers for the link I'll have a look into that too.

 

some good replys to this thread (makes a change)

I've been in motor trade 15 years, I've got a full snap on 40" wide box but would say less than 40% of the tools are snap on, but they are all quality items that do the job well

as mentioned selective buying is wise, for instance I purchased a set off snap on cranked spanners, 5 in set and cost near Ł120 but can honestly say I don't know how I lived without them for the 13 years in the trade without them

 

Yeah ... Take into account that Midget spanner are not likley to break .. Unless you extend them ..

If you insist on Twat-On then get a Catalogue off the dealer ... try and buy the Phosphate (Black) Industrial finish .. Allot cheaper and IMO better as they dont atract tea-leafers and go a nice Gun-metal colour over time ..

The dealer will try and back-heal the black stuff but be specific ... Crap-On use to cover 90% of the range in black but are now limited ..

 

Try a local engineering supplier such as Cromwell Tools, Buck & Hickman etc as they often have their own brand of reasonable quality tools that are perfectly adequate for home use. As Ross says above if you are doing jobs in the middle of nowhere at night you can't really afford to sacrifice on quality but for home use i don't think the extra cash outlay is justified (unless you just have money to burn).

 

i have shitloads of snap on tools (around 18grands worth) but i also have lots of other makes too some are good some are not like clark ratchets i would avoid them if i were you if used everyday they break pretty soon as do halfrauds ones, i have actually snapped a halfrauds spanner and damn near sliced my wrist with it so would avoid them too
teng , sealey and facom are decent however facom can be as dear as snap on in some cases
quality wise you have to remember you will get what you pay for
and as has been mentioned in this thread there pliers are amazing i regularly work with stainless steel so tig weld a lot ive used many pairs of pliers and tin snips to try and cut 2.8mm tig rods all but the snap on pliers have failed to cut even one tig rod , my snap on ones can cut three at a time and have done for 5 years or so daily without ever going blunt and they also grip very tightly anything you put in them

 

My snap on guy used to call every Tuesday, he didn't charge any interest, you just payed off what ever you felt like, I ended up with 2500 quids worth lol

 

/\

As above its a revolving account usually over 10 weeks but as you pay off some usually you buy more so you will find your account remains the same or goes up, yes its 0% for the normal revolving account but for larger items like the tool boxes or scanners etc then snap on finance will be used maby 12% but you can pay this off over 2 or 3 years.

I would say only buy expensive things when on special as usually the specials are good, but box wise i would say buy a mint second hand one of ebay remember Ł50 van hire and Ł50 diesel and you can get one anywhere in the country.

Lastly if your not in the trade (on a weekly visit) chances of getting credit might be slim as there is no weekly collection unless you set up a payment or standing order (down to dealer decision) but a dealer will sell to anyone you just have to pay as you buy (cash / creditcards etc)

J

 

if you consider yourself a tradesman!!!! do yourself a favour dont buy shit happy shopper shit-----------
snap on/mac----people see these tools and judge you on them!!
there is no comprimise for quality-buy once for years to come!!!!!

 

hmm plenty of replys again on this thred, i buy snapon tools and have most things they sell now . i would say they are good but there is plenty of other makes that will do the job. facom are very good and love them for certain tools. shifters i only ever buy bahco for pliers snapon or knipex screwdrivers i find facom great although i have snapon and facom . at the end of the day it is your choice quality tools last a lifetime i have snapon ratchet spanners that are 15 years old and are still going strong. snapon are good and are world wide i moved to OZ and warrenty is no problem over here if i break something it is replaced no bother. if i had halfrauds it would be in the bin

 

I agree above facom make some really good quality tools, sold by the mac tools man

 

for home use halfords are perfect they have a NO QUIBBLE life time garente and look like snapon if your into that

my i own 2 facom ratchets and tbh they are very good as they have alot more positions on the ratchet so work 10x better in small spaces than snapon but this comes at a price they are not as strong

 

Cheers for the replys guys, more then i was hoping, i dont do a lot of mechanical work, however really want to get my teeth into something heavy and start building my tool collection up. have a mate that owns a garage so can go through him, if its interest free them i'm happy to out lay as the quality will be second to none plus i can pick a really gucci box! cheers for the replys much appreciated.

 

When i used to buy Snap-on tools from the van i never got charged intrested just paid him around Ł40-Ł50 a week


Brian

 

Remember as well snap on is the leading company so if ever you wanted to sell up there is always a market for them second hand etc so might be worth thinking of that too as sinking 2k into a mix of facom/halfords/britool etc or 2k into snap on which will have a good second hand value.

e.g

snap on ratchet spanners 8-19mm on special Ł79.95 + vat ( should be Ł150 odd )
halfords ratchet spanners 8-19m ( missing 9/11/16 ) on special Ł49.99 ( should be Ł79 )

so for a little more your getting snap on with good resale and a full set, if you bought the halfords ones then bought a 9 11 16 to make a full set it will end up more than the snap on

J

 

Cheers, i'm a bit of a clean freak when it comes to tools. Everything has to have a place and everything in its place. Used to work in Telecomms (before PM'ing) and had my own work tools, shitting mills kit but could always tell when something was missing as it wasn't in its place. Spend the whole night shift walking round site till we found it to the point my team hated me for it but never lost anything!

 

Went in to Halfords to pick up an alternator belt today and had a quick look at there tools, looked alright so picked up a ratchet set to see what there like. fitted the alternator and it they worked alright. Will wait and see when i find something harder to use them on.

 

Why spend a fortune on tools when a Big Hammer and a Screwdriver will do!!!!! (snap-on of course)

 

imho snap-on stuff is just better. like most who started in the trade at 16 with no money on an apprentice wage i bought the cheapest i could, halfords pro, sealey, laser etc. Nearly everything broke within three years and now i have nearly all snap-on for the stuff i use most.

for the weekend mechanic halfords pro is great - although they don't cover ratchets or ratchet spanners - but for someone in the trade or doing alot of mechanical things snap-on is worth the money.

i dunno about anyone else but after using snap-on spanners and screwdrivers, using different brand tools doesn't feel right, the length, the weight, the angle of the spanner. & the amount of times i used to round things off with open ended spanners, the snap-on flankdrive spanners are just great to use, even when loosening tight brake pipes etc.