From what I have read and heard, Milwaukee went from being middle of the pack to top of the line simply because Dewalt and Makita both started making everything in China. 30 year old Makita is not today's Makita. I'd take the 30 year old Makita over anything being made today. I think 99% of the brands today are all sold to jewish conglomerates and they are made in the same Chinese factories from the same Chinese raw inputs and they all get a different color housing but are essentially the same product.