I'm a lead carpenter for a residential remodeler. I've owned 11 cordless drills over the years (currently I have 4) and this Makita is not only the best of the bunch, by far, it may be the best power tool I own. I've had it for about a month now and I've used it everyday. I have a complete compliment of "quick disconnect" bits so I also use this driver as a drill. I've drilled holes in concrete and block using masonry bits and it will easily countersink Tap-cons. I thought the little work light was a gimmicky thing but I have to admit, its a big help in tight dark places, I've even used it as a flashlight. For the size, weight, price, quality, power, etc, etc, you can't beat this drill/driver. The batteries charge in about 15 minutes but they last for days so with 2 batteries, you'll never be without a charged battery. The tool came with a soft square carrying case, kind of looks like a cooler. Since I hate wearing a tool belt rig, this case is great, if you remove the charger, this case will hold a bunch of standard handtools as well as the drill.
br /This is a great product, I highly recommend it.
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br /*Update Its been just over a year and I have to say this drill is as good as the day I got it. In the last few months I purchased the combo kit, the drill and impact driver. I was curious to see if the first one I bought was still as strong as the brand new one. I see no difference. I am still more impressed with these drills/drivers than any tool I own....and its about time Makita sends me some free stuff for the gushing reviews. Seriously tho, you won't be disappointed.

This thing is an absolute monster! I have been remodeling an older home for the past year. Before I went to Home Depot the other day and noticed this little wonder bundled with the 18v Makita drill, I was using a cheapo cordless and a corded skil to do all my drilling. The corded drill is about 15-20 years old, but was doing a good job still, but I got sick of dragging a cord around, so I pulled the trigger on this Makita set, and I must say I'm glad I did. I would have never considered getting just an Impact Driver, and to be honest, I have never really looked at one before the other day. This thing will drive screws into anything you can find, and if you need to bury screw heads so the surface is flush, you can do it with ease, WITHOUT striping the threads! This driver will also pull those buried screws right out of the wood without breaking a sweat. The design fits in the hand perfect, and the tool is well balanced. The lithium-Ion battery cuts down on the weight of the tool, so you can work all day and your wrist won't even mind.
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br /As I said before, I picked up this tool and the 18v lithium Ion drill at Home Depot for $270 dollars, which I thought was a heck of a deal considering each of those tools run at about 200 a piece.
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br /My only minor minor complaint was that they didn't give me any bits for the drill or the driver like I thought they would have, but that can be overlooked considering how well this tool works.
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br /A+, Thanks Makita
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I work for long periods screwing self-tapping wood screws above my head installing blinds. What this model provides that others don't is the lightweight. Li-ion batteries at only 1.5 ah fit that bill well. You sacrifice a bit of run time between charges, but I have found that a charge lasts all day and if I need a charge, the 1.5 ah charges in only 15 minutes plus I have an extra battery always charged, so this isn't much of a problem for me.
br /The impact action works great for self-tapping screws, almost like it was designed for them. It requires much less pressure from me, which is better for my back. I find that the clutch, which is NOT adjustable, is set at a good, all-around level. I find that I can control the penetration very easily between the clutch torque level and trigger speed control.
br /Next, speed is critical and the faster the better for me and this thing is quick. I tried other lightweight cordless tools and found the speed sorely lacking. I bought this from Amazon refurbished and it looked new to me. I have nothing negative to say about this tool!

I do a number of projects through our house and some woodworking. By far the most frequently used tool is a cordless drill/driver. I own an 18V with a traditional battery; a good performer but heavy and slightly unbalanced in the hand. A 14.4 volt with traditional battery which became much less used after the purchase of the 18 volt but still saw some use on short duration projects simply because it is lighter than the 18V, and DeWalt 7.2V "stick-style" used for smaller and/or more delicate projects. Over the past year, on DIY programs and in tool reviews, I had been noticing more attention given to impact drivers for everyday use in a broad variety of applications and projects. Especially in driving screws. Since this is a lot of what I use my drill/drivers for, my interest was piqued by the general consensus that the impact drivers were more efficient and less prone to the bit skipping out of the screw heads. This prompted my quest for yet another new tool for the arsenal. I hit the shelves of the local stores and checked out the current crop.
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br /From the very first time I picked up this one I was in love. You see, I have been cursed with wide palms and short fingers and not a single power tool I have ever held or used truly felt comfortable in my hand. Mind you, I could still get a firm grip and it was never a safety problem, but especially with a heavier tool like my 18V, on longer projects I inevitably ended up with fatigue and a lingering ache in my wrist. When I wrapped my hand around this baby I had to have it. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have never had a tool feel so natural and balanced in my hand! The store I first encountered this at was my local Home Depot and they also had the previous generation which was identical in spec, shape and size with the exception of color and the fact it came with 3.0Ah batteries instead of the 1.5 in this kit (and if I'm not mistaken the charger on this one is slightly more advanced). I liked the weight and balance on this one better and with the 15 minute charge time I was willing to sacrifice the run time for the lighter weight and better balance.
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br /After a month of use I am extremely happy with the performance and my purchase. It does an impressive job of driving screws of all types and sizes. Significantly better than anything else I have used and the benefit of the Lithium-Ion holding its charge while sitting on the shelf is very handy. I will still lug along my 18V or 14.4V when pilot holes are necessary but in tandem with this only for the convenience of not having to change bits, and I also still use the DeWalt for tight spots and more delicate tasks.
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br /If you need the longer run time, I would recommend getting the previous generation model. My only regret is that just today here on the Amazon site I saw the kit with the accompanying drill for just about the same price as this kit. At the time I purchased this, that combo kit was $70 more and i opted to save the bucks. Otherwise I have absolutely have no regrets about my purchase.

I've been working on cars professionally for 25 years,this is a great tool. I use it everyday.The battery is amazing and the LED comes in handy all time time. I now have two!

This thing is comically powerful. It's got enough oompf to drive a 3" drywall screw right through a couple of 2x4's, drive a 1" spade bit through most any lumber, install concrete anchors, etc. I can't say how well it'll hold up as I've only had it a few months, but it's proven to be total overkill for drywalling, great for auto repair, able to easily put 3/8" holes in concrete, etc.
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br /The only complaints I have are minor. The battery life isn't quite as good as some reviews claim. During a day of medium hard use, you'll swap batteries a couple of times. That's fine at home, because they charge in no time, but if I were regularly working away from my charger, I'd want to step up one level and get the LXT Makita lithium-ion driver with the 3Ah batteries. For home use, this one is the best choice though, because the smaller batteries are considerably lighter. So it's not really a complaint, just a caveat.
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br /The other 'complaint' is that this thing is too powerful for some work. My Bosch PS20 driver is still what I use for lighter duty tasks when I want a little more control over how deep/hard a screw gets set. Inherent in an impact driver is an inability to feel how firmly a screw has been installed, because the tool doesn't transmit much twist to your paw. That's great when you're installing a bunch of 3" screws, because it doesn't tire your wrist out. To tell how hard the tool has driven something, though, you almost have to go by sound. The louder the tool, the harder it's hitting the fastener.
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br /All in all, though, this is a very well made tool that does more than you can reasonably expect. If I had to have just one power tool, this would definitely be it.

Wow! This little monster can do everything. This is the best tool I've ever had. Amen. Throw away all your corded/cordless and keep this one. Every project is so easy with tool. It's light, attractive, powerful and fast charging. It has glow in the dark ring, too. Makita did it again.

This is an excellent tool. It's everything I expected and more! It drove 2 1/2 screws into solid wood and countersank them with no problems. And taking out screws was superb also. As a woodworker, I can't rave about this tool enough!

I was hesitant to spend over $200 for an impact driver when I have more than a couple of drills laying around. That was until I drove a couple of screws with this bad boy. This thing is effortless to use, light weight, and has power to spare. The LED is nice, the 15 minute recharge time is crazy, and because of its low profile, it'll fit in tight spots.
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br /If you've ever stripped the heads off screws, maxed out the torque setting on your 18 volt drill, and the screw still wouldn't move, this driver is for you.
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Nice tool, best features, Lightweight, lite stays on and the head is short for getting into tight spaces

I had been toying with the idea of buying an impact driver for some time, and I finally bought the Makita about 2 months ago. Since then, I forgot what it was like to not have this tool. Buy one!

I opted for this over Bosch's smaller, lighter and cheaper impact driver because of the additional torque and because it was actually easier to get into tight spaces despite its overall girth. If I have anything negative to say about its performance it would have to be that it can be a bit TOO powerful at times, and there's no clutch adjustment to be found so be super careful around drywall. All-in-all I'm pretty happy with it.
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br /What I don't like is all the cheeseball plastic ornamentation. I'm sure some synergized marketing team decided that the "compact" tools needed their own brand identity and whatever all else, but really, this is just ridiculous. You can make a modern ergonomic tool without making it look like some M.A.S.K. or GI Joe toy designer from the late 80s got carried away and decided to slap one of every kind of plastic the factory had to offer just because he could. All those extra seams are just going to trap more dirt, and I can't think of too many times when I've ever needed a glow-in-the-dark collet. If you're trapped throwing up screws in an attic or crawlspace somewhere, odds are good you've either got a light or there simply isn't enough around to "charge" it up in the first place.
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br /The fact that they don't include the cheap little belt clip thingy is also kinda insulting. Now I have to pay $6 to ship a $2 accessory that nobody carries locally. Yay.

Grabbed one of these after being impressed with the 18v cordless drill from the same product line (BDF452HW). This impact driver has seen a lot of work recently on my home renovation and has performed very well with regard to battery life and its ability to drive screws through hardwood and framing without the need for pre-drilling. The drill is comfortable to use, light-weight and compact enough to drive screws into tight areas with few problems. It is hard to fault it really.
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This is the handiest tool I have ever used. It is light weight, yet has plenty of power. If I only had one cordless driver, this would be the one.The fact I got a free battery with it, makes it an even better deal.

powerful yet light, very handy driver. will still keep my standard drill/driver because of its clutch, better 'feel' on some stuff.

Rugged, fast charging, very light and ergonomic. I used to be a contractor but now just build stuff for me. If you need a longer lasting charge, get the one with the bigger battery, but for most non-builders, this drill is fantastic.

This driver works great and hold a charge for a long time. Also charges QUICK.

The product came quickly and was what I expected. Lithium-Ion batteries make this item light weight and easy to handle the built in flashlight gives you light whenever you use it and being an impact driver it doesn't have that kickback you get when using a drill/driver. I recommend it to anyone and with free shipping this product was well worth it.

The makita is very light and easy to handle. Its ratcheting drive deeps the philips or square drive from jumping out or stripping the screw. I think this driver is way a head of all the others on the market.

I have looked long and hard for this very tool, at the right price and only found it at Amazon. Amazon you have come through again, Thank you.

I like that it has Li-Ion and a light. It is specified that it has considerably more torque than the Panasonic 6506 (1280 vs 867in-lbs), but it just can't drive screws as fast?
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br /My hunch is they exaggerated the what it does. It has a much lower price than the new Panasonic with similar ratings - there must be a reason that isn't shown in the specifications. Could be that the peak torque has less total energy - thus is drives much slower.

Very nice driver but belt clip not included . Makes it unhandy about 60 % of the time . Thought that was kind of cheap on Makitas thinking.

I bought this at Home Depot to remove wheel lugs from my race car but it wasn't up to the task. It's rated at 100ft/lbs (1200 in lbs) and the lugs are tightened to 94 ft/lbs but it couldn't loosen them so I gotta find something with more torque.