From an ongoing series of articles about the enshittification of pretty much everything, here’s one about why power tools have gotten less dependable over time.
SBD bought them in 2004. The cheapening of internal components started immediately.
According to a former tool industry representative who spent 30 years in the business, the plan was clear from day one. Cheapen the internals to build more profit margin into each unit. Discontinue large portions of the product line, including iconic legacy tools the brand was built on. The service centers closed within roughly six months of the acquisition.
TL;DR: 90% of all major tool brands are owned by a handful of large conglomerates, and it increases shareholder revenue when they make the tools suck so that we have to replace them every five years.