This Dewalt 20V Max cordless drill kit is a bad deal right now. I’m sorry – there’s no gentle way to say it.
Let’s look at the price history.
Last June (2024), the Dewalt DCK240C2 combo kit was priced at $139 (see What I’d Buy Instead of this Dewalt Cordless Combo Kit).
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It dropped to $129 for Black Friday (see Dewalt Tool Deals for Black Friday 2024), and that was a good price. While there are better tools, you’d be hard pressed to find a much better value for $129.
Right now, it’s $179.
According to Amazon, you save 31% compared to the list price of $259. Home Depot says it has a $239 value. Lowe’s also says you save $60 thru October 31st. Acme Tools says it’s 18% off from a “was” price of $219.
Retailers will unemotionally claim discounts compared to whatever seemingly arbitrary list prices are in their system. This is often the case across the entire consumer retail industry.
Does this Dewalt cordless power tool combo kit have a list price of $219, $239, or $259, all at the same time?
Regardless, it was $139, I believe $129 at its lowest, and then $149. It’s now $179.
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One retailer calls it a “Hot Deal.”
Another says it’s a “special buy” and Labor Day savings.
Retails will do what they do, as they’ve always done.
However, I’ve been seeing influencers and media channels promoting this as a deal, suggesting to me that they either didn’t do their research, don’t know their prices, or worse – don’t care and are seeking to benefit from their audience’s naivety.
Pricing tends to be relative. Maybe it is a good deal right now, although I would argue against this.
You can buy comparable tools for much less, and sometimes much better tools for less.
Acme Tools has a Metabo HPT 18V brushless combo kit for $169. Walmart has the same combo kit – sold and shipped directly – for the same price. That combo kit gives you better tools for $10 less.
Would I recommend the same Dewalt 20V Max 2-tool combo kit to family members or friends at $179? Would I buy it at that price for myself or to give as a gift? That should be a litmus test. As the answer is no, it’s not a good deal.
What makes things messy is that I cannot find any better Dewalt 20V Max cordless drill and impact driver combo kit deals right now. To me, that means you should either buy something else or wait until winter holiday season deals kick off around 8 weeks from now.
Hopefully the price will soften a bit once the tariffs situation runs its course. I’m hoping that we’re seeing higher prices now so as to offset actual discounts in November and December.
PW
It’s amazing this kit is still being sold at all. SBD is truly squeezing every last cent out of that tooling…
Stuart
Thousands of people keep buying it every single month. Dewalt is simply answering the demand.
Eric
They buy it because Dewalt and retailers like Amazon push it on them. And people that don’t know much about tools probably see it’s bigger size and think that means it’s more powerful. I doubt their overall sales numbers would move at all if they replaced it with a more modern drill at the same price point.
Jeff
This is something my wife would buy me for a holiday gift. Just uniformed buyer
fred
So, is it just that SBD has Dewalt marked up more than its competitors? Perhaps they think that the Dewalt name should command a premium over what they consider to be lesser brands. Is it just that this was a decent kit when it was first introduced but time has passed it by, and SBD just wants to milk the cow (as PW hints)? If a buyer wanted to stay with Dewalt is there a kit to be recommended as a better value – or is SBD becoming less price competitive across the entire lineup? The fact that retailers and internet influencers are trying to peddle yesterday’s goods at better than today’s prices is of no surprise. But, your calling them out is refreshingly honest and consistent with the ToolGuyd approach.
Stuart
Most of the time, this is an entry-level cordless combo at an entry price point.
This combo kit gives you the first 20V Max impact driver from 2011, and the first holiday special drill that launched in 2013. The combo kit launched in 2014.
Amazon sold 10K+ in the past month. My guess is that the Dewalt name, social validation, and near-constant promotion by mass media has resulted in perpetual popularity.
Around 25 years – I was still a kid – and a store had a souvenir for $40. Another shop 2 doors down had the same thing for $20.
Stores are out to make a profit, and that’s fine. These days it’s as if consumers have no one on their side, and you certainly can’t trust so-called “experts.”
I can understand why someone might promote this kit, even at $179. But to do so without sharing context is a disservice to consumers. Nobody has shame anymore, and this type of exploitation has become one of my biggest pet peeves.
TomD
I wonder if part of its perpetual popularity is the decade+ of linking to it across stores.
Bob
I bought a returned DeWalt drill/driver combo set about 15 years ago when I purchased my first house. That was my introduction to the DeWalt battery ecosystem—and once you’re in, you’re pretty much committed. That’s the main reason I’ve stuck with DeWalt ever since.
The set originally came in a hard case, not a soft-sided bag, which I really appreciated. Even after the original driver died, I picked up a newer model and it fit perfectly in the same case. I can’t stand soft-sided tool bags—they’re a pain to keep organized. The hard case keeps everything neat and easy to access.
SamR
Can you clarify what “without sharing context is a disservice to consumers.” really means?
Stuart
Sure.
Price every day from Saturday thru Thursday: $139
Price on Friday: $179
Friday: “Hey you guys, this awesome Dewalt tool kit is discounted to $179 right now, saving you a whopping $50 compared to its regular price of $229. It’s a steal – hurry up and buy one at this low price before it sell out.”
Would you buy it at the “sale price” of $179? Wouldn’t you want more info and context? But that would impact clicks and affiliate commissions, and so content farms skip that part out of greed or because they don’t actually know much about tools or tool deals.
SamR
I didn’t connect the dots as you have. Thank you for taking the time to explain and provide more insights for ToolGuyd readers.
Oarman
I just don’t see how this is ever a deal. The brushless MHPT kit you linked gets down to $129 on occasion. Bosch’s equivalent brushless combo gets to $129. Milwaukee’s 12V brushless set gets to $149 if not lower, especially with hacks.
I don’t track some of the other big box brands as close but the cheaper brands Ryobi, Kobalt and Craftsman certainly get lower. I’m not convinced a brushed Dewalt justifies a premium over a brushless ‘lower’ name brand.
Even if the argument is getting onto the Dewalt battery platform, these are bottom-end batteries and a bad standalone value.
This set (and its sales stats) always baffles me because even the slightest research suggests something else as a better bargain.
QR
Is there a hierarchy post for all the drills? I have an aging Makita XPH012. Assuming it blows up tomorrow, what is the modern equivalent? I find the plethora of kits hard to keep straight.
I also have the XGT40 tracksaw, but haven’t bought any other tools in that line, not sure the drill is worth it for my sporadic homeowner use.
I also have a bunch of m12 tools, one is also a drill, but i rarely use it,
Also are any of these drill kits worth another battery line?
Stuart
Off the top of my head and not including hammer drills:
DCD771 – old brushed entry level model
DCD777 – old brushless entry level model
DCD793 – brushless Atomic
DCD794 – non-Atomic, non-XR brushless
DCD801 – XR
DCD1007 – 3-speed XR (hammer drill)
Older models are still in play, such as the DCD800, and sometimes the very old regular line brushed DCD780.
Matt_T
Generally speaking it isn’t worth adding a battery line for something basic like a drill motor. But with weak M12 and expensive XGT as your only options it might be better to add an 18V platform. And I mean choose a platform based on what tools you might add.
Luis
if you have an aging Makita drill then you also have 18V LXT batteries. That means you already have 3 platforms to work with.
Personally if your drill blows up I would probably get the current M12 Fuel drill which is probably more powerful than what you have while being more compact and lighter. You already have M12 tools so that’s a good.
If you want to stick with the 18V LXT batteries you can get a compact XPH13 or the top of the line XPH14 hammerdrill.
XGT would provide the best performance and efficiency, though. Not sure what your trade is but if you can swallow the price tag for XGT tools I would go with the GPH01 or GPH02 hammer drills. They are just heavier duty than the other 2 lineups you have
SamR
Funny! I bought this kit from Lowe’s back in 2017 for $99.
The only reason I bought it was to test and see which platform to go with, the Yellow Team or the Red Team.
And thankfully, I went with Red!
Grog
Is there a way to know that Amazon’s “xxx sold this month” is an actual number to be trusted? They cheat the system when they raise prices before Amazon day to pretend at having better sales. I’ve always assumed they’ve found a way to cheat the “sold amount” number to give people a little more nudge into a purchase. But I dislike Amazon greatly and so am biased in my assumption.
Gil
Wow, it is overwhelming for a person looking for a good entry-level great value and doesn’t have a certain brand in mind there are so many choices. It is very hard to know where to start. Just trying to get a basic set for use around a apartment.
Any help is appreciated.
Stuart
The Metabo HPT (KC18DEXQBM) at $169 (linked to in the middle of the post) seems to be a good choice. There could be others at lower pricing, but right now the tariffs have disrupted inventory and pricing, and we’re also in between major promo/deal seasons.