I have read a few guides here on eBay that talk about how cheap knock-off tools are usually good for the do-it-yourselfer or "shade tree mechanic". DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU THIS. Name brand tools like Snap-On, Mac, Matco, etc. are more expensive for a good reason. Even some Craftsman tools are fairly high quality compared to "junk brands" like Sunex impact sockets and the other similar Taiwan or China garbage that Harbor Freight and National tools sell. At the car dealership I used to work for, I came within an inch of being killed by a fragmenting SUNEX impact socket. One of the other guys was trying to break a CV axle bolt loose with one of these on his impact wrench. The socket literally blew apart into several large chunks of shrapnel, one of which zipped past my head and broke a 4" chunk of concrete out of the wall beside my head. This is only one close call I've had with cheap garbage tools. I've had cheap wrenches like "Great Neck" and other garbage that literally broke in my hand while I was using them. Besides the bloody knuckles you get when this happens, you could get more serious injuries or even lose fingers, etc. Also, high quality name brand tools tend to not strip nuts and bolts as easily as the 99c ones from Discount "auto parts" because they are made from higher quality materials and are more precisely made for more accurate size matches.

Another example - needle nose pliers. I had a pair of bent needle nose pliers that I bought for $2.49 at Ace hardware. To achieve the "bent" feature, they simply heated a pair of regular needle nose pliers and bent them to the side with another set of pliers or something. They broke the first time I tried to use them. I bought a nice set from Mac tools to replace them. Mac's bent needle nose pliers are machined out of a solid piece of metal so they are very strong, as opposed to the pot metal junkers that look like someone "rigged" them up in their shop at home.

Screwdrivers - do not buy one at Home Depot, Lowes, or anywhere else that sells KOBALT, HUSKY, STANLEY (PROUDLY MADE IN CHINA) or any other similar brands. Not only do you have a 99.9% chance of stripping the screw out completely with one of these pieces of trash, the screwdriver itself will even strip (or bend/break off in the case of a flat head driver). DON'T BUY ANY SCREWDRIVER THAT IS CHROME PLATED ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE TIP. The chrome will eventually start flaking off of these cheap junkers and can get embedded in your fingers. BELIEVE ME, NOTHING HURTS WORSE THAN A TINY SPECK OF CHROME PLATING STUCK IN YOUR FINGER. IT BURNS LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER FELT IN YOUR LIFE. I love my Snap-On screwdrivers. The first thing you will notice is the nice grips on them that fit in your hand instead of wimpy little hard plastic handles that you can't get a grip on when they are greasy. Also, the metal shaft of the screwdriver goes all the way though the grip to the base, as opposed to the cheapy ones where you can see that the metal only goes about 1/4" into the cheap plastic handle. You will also notice that on the nice name brand screwdrivers, the chrome stops before it gets to the tip of the driver. This is because they don't want you to get little specks of chrome stuck in your fingers :-) These screwdrivers also will not strip screws as easily as china brand ones from your friendly neighborhood China-Mart.

Impact Wrenches - the $25 impact wrench at Wal-Mart is not equal to the $500+ Snap-On, Blue Point, etc. impact wrench. I have a 1/2" drive Campbell Hausfeld impact wrench that will loosen a lug nut on an average wheel in about 1 minute. Not only are your hands numb from the vibration, it will take you at least 4 minutes to take one tire off, which is not acceptable to most people. A Snap-On impact wrench will take the most stubborn lug nut off a big semi truck wheel in a few seconds at the most. You can have a car tire off in seconds and still be able to move your hands afterwards because they will not be exposed to the violent vibration of the impact wrench for 16 minutes on each vehicle you want to take the tires off of.  The cheap impact wrenches will not take off CV axle nuts, suspension part nuts, crankshaft bolts, etc. at all. YOU WILL NEVER REMOVE MOST OF THESE WITH THE CHEAP IMPACT WRENCH.

So, to prevent injuring or killing yourself, I would recommend spending the extra money on REAL tools. Believe me, going to the emergency room to get stitches in your hand because you were working on your car at home with cheap tools on Saturday afternoon when all the regular hospitals and doctor's offices are closed will cost about the same thing (or more) as the expensive tools that could have prevented your hospital visit in the first place.

DON'T BUY THE CHINESE JUNK TOOLS. THEY ARE DANGEROUS AND WILL ONLY CAUSE YOU MORE TROUBLE THAN THEY ARE WORTH. I speak from personal experience when I say this. Trying to removed a stripped nut/bolt that you just destroyed with a cheap tool and then finding another one to replace it is not my idea of fun. Not to mention time consuming, which means losing money for you and your boss if you are using these tools for a living.

I may add more to this later, maybe even some pictures, so check back :-)