I have a love/hate relationship with Festool drills really. Yes, they feel very nice ergonomically and have great trigger control, but durability is terrible. They will last long time screwing hinges and pocket screws, but anything other than that and you better have warranty.
I have the C18, T18, TPC18, TID18, CXS and had a PDC for a while. Motor of the C18 burned on the second year, and the right angle chuck literally fell apart while drilling a hole one day (metal locking collar is attached with screws into plastic housing, german engineering as they say); After it returned from service, it makes a low pitch grinding noise now. Never bothered to send it back again.
T18, CXS are super outdated, and while they may not need extra torque necessarily, they could be much more compact. Festool can easily make a Centrotec head for standard 1/4" hex bits. As the comments above suggested, the Centrotec system is underdeveloped, and there are barely any 3rd party accessories available.
The PDC and it's right angle chuck actually feel like heavy duty, it's just a really old and outdated design.
And now to Festool's newest additions - TID and TPC. I have had the TID for a few months, bought from recon (came brand new) and I have barely used it. They other day, when switching bits I noticed, that the chuck is toast. It doesn't lock anymore, feels like the spring is broken. Don't get me wrong, Milwaukee chucks fail too, but it takes a serious amount of abuse for it to happen. The TID have barely been used... Switching back to my M12 Surge, I guess.
I bought the TPC a month before it got released in US. It got much more usage than my TID. On that same day, when the TID broke, I was putting the TPC away, when noticed the reverse button stuck in forward position... Call me unlucky, but for the price paid I should not be sending these drills back for repair after a few months of usage.
Otherwise The TPC feels great in the hand and has a good amount of power. It's quite heavy and feels like a well-made drill. I don't have issues with switching or staying in gear either. My biggest problem with it is the anti-kickback feature. Yes, I see why it's a nice feature to have, but I don't know why there is no option to turn it off. Some people know better how to handle a drill like that, and would actually appreciate the full power it can provide. There is an option to disable the light though (german engineering, right?) The new right angle chuck is a joke, just like the last one (mostly plastic).
Long story short, if you expect 'heavy duty' from a Festool drill, you most likely would be disappointed. If you are into their battery system already, and your application is not as demanding, you would appreciate the nice grip and perfect trigger control. Probably would last a long time too. They only reason I got into Festool drills was the right angle adapter and 13mm chuck combination. Not many other options in US as far as I know.
On a side note, OSC18 is a killer tool. This thing is 'HEAVY DUTY', I cut everything from drywall to water-filled pipes with it, very little vibration, and never had issue with it. Not made by Festool, as we all know, so maybe that's why.
It's so funny that two people could have such starkly different experiences. I have owned roughly 6 or 7 festool drills, some for only a year or two some for 6+ years daily/weekly use. I have never had to send one back. I'm no power user, I don't have any auger bits the size of my arm in the workshop
But I regularly do things like . .
- Use 35mm forester bits in hardwoods
- 3inch hole saws through all sorts
- 10mm diameter concrete fixings
- 150mm long timber screws through pressure treaded framing timber
- I routinely use my right angle attachments to handle more torque (ergomonicgly), not as an item I need to be concerned over breaking
- I mix plaster with the T18 occasionally (it's my oldest most used drill at this point, still fine)
Once when I still had the PDC I used the below "hole saw" to cut 100+ rings of 18mm MDF with an OD 200mm and an ID 180mm. That requires offsetting the two cutters so each one is making it's own cut.
That's mental, and the PDC did it without fuss. If I remember correctly the issue I had was batteries being so hot, I'd go through two before the first was cool enough to charge (pre Airsteam) so they were piling up and becoming the limiting factor.
So good luck, bad luck, the subtleties of definitions of our use cases that we describe. . It's hard to fathom why people have such different experiences in these situations. Good luck anyone reading and trying to decide who's luck to bet on
