Craftsman  201 pc. All Metric Mechanics Tool Set

This Set is an AWESOME set for anyone who intends to do automotive repairs/work and wants a fairly through set of sockets. It has nearly every metric socket that Craftsman offers. I consider this the perfect starter set. What it does not have can easily be added on to with other sets and be fairly economical overall (i.e. slim-line polished ratchets, ratcheting wrenches, etc.). When I was younger, I bought a simple set of tools. Over time, I have spent lots of money trying to buy the missing tools that I needed. This set provides an awesome starting point for a very reasonable price. I wish that this was available when I first started buying tools. The best part about this set is that it is ONLY metric. Other Craftsman sets offer way too many SAE tools. If you only work on modern cars it is a huge waste of money to have more SAE tools than metric tools. A 500+ tool set that is more SAE than metric will cost a lot more money for the value. This set eliminates that waste.

I really like this set. As always it is made with good craftsman quality. I still have not had any problems with this. While this may be missing some of the socket sizes you need, and having all of the 6 and 12 pts may be a little redundant, for the value you can not beat it. You could not buy all of the components to this set individually for even twice this price!

This is not the Craftsman from 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago. Fit and finish is horrible, from grinding marks, to yellowish plating on the inside of many sockets, to sloppy feeling ratchets, to sharp edges on wrenches. I could go on about every part. If I were to start over, I'd probably skip Craftsman and go for the much more expensive and much higher quality German(Hazet, Stahlwille, Wiha, etc...) tools and American tool truck(Matco, Snap-on) tools if I wanted quality, or if I wanted the most for my money I'd just get cheap Chinese *******************) that would be much better equipped with the pieces I actually needed.

Having both the 6-point and 12-point sockets for everything is necessary for only a few people, while only having a magnetic bit holder will make just about anybody realize how necessary actual screwdrivers are. I've removed all the 1/4" and 3/8" drive 12-point sockets and have yet to make use of them, and the magnetic bit holder has now been replaced with actual screwdrivers, which has made work faster and easier. The bag-o-hex-keys is horrible to use in every way from the black oil on them to having to guess and check the size every time, and so have also been replace with an actual hex holder and set.

Something this set seriously needs though are internal and external Torx bits. Most German cars in the last 30 years have made use of these fasteners, so it's odd to me a metric mechanic's set doesn't have one, when even the cheaper Chinese tool sets include them. Allen sockets are also something included in cheap Chinese sets that this set lacks and would be nice to have.

The only redeeming quality of this tool set is that the metal used is good, and the plating is robust. The tools in this set still look like new after months of hard use, and I believe they will continue to do so, but the low level of quality in other aspects has turned me off from Craftsman and I am slowly replacing many tools from this set just because how much they slow me down or annoy me.