well, after some waiting I managed to buy a drill. picked up this one in the ferretteria over the road from brugal in PP.

paid 11,000 pesos which is $283. selling in us for 250-260 so $20 more which is not so bad for a decent drill.

M18 Cordless Red Lithium 1/2 in. Hammer Drill-2602-22 at The Home Depot

Amazon.com: Milwaukee 2602-22 M18 18-Volt Cordless 1/2-Inch Hammer Drill/Driver Kit: Home Improvement

Santiago Ochoa Price for Hammer Drill
 

I am looking to buy a hammer drill. If anyone in Santiago happens b Ochoa or Bellon, could you check the price for me? Trying to decide whether I can get the same price here in Puerto Plata. Or do you think it would be worth importing one? I also saw a couple of used ones at a pawn shop but didn't have enough Spanish to inquire intelligently! Has anyone bought used equipment sucessfully? Thanks!

Hammer drills aren't that expensive and for any saving you would make it's hardly worth importing one (unless you have a friend coming who can put it in their suitcase) or even travelling from POP to Santiago to buy one. Second hand can be fine if you check that it works. My Spanish isn't brilliant but if you say something along the lines of "Quiero probarlo" (sorry Spanish speakers) you should be able to give it a try. You might need to take a drill bit and suitable piece of hard material with you.

I bought a Bosch one here, and they tested it in the store. I went home, drilled 2 small holes, and it gave up. They then told me there was no warranty.

This also happened to a blender, a toaster, a coffee machine, etc...

Next one I will buy, will be imported.

BelgianK

There may be a Bosch rep around. It's worth inquiring. Mind you this is the DR, but usually they're well represented. I've had a bunch of Bosch hammer drills of varying sizes for years, never had a problem. Just a thought.

I have a SKIL one I bought years ago, works great. (It's variable speed)

The price I do not remember, but it's not worth importing, driving to Santiago, buying used, etc.....
I would guess around $50 U.S. or so.

I use mine a lot for drilling 1/2 inch holes through CBS walls.
And the small 3/16 inch holes for plastic anchors drill in a matter of seconds.


If you really want the Santiago price I could check tomorrow, but it's cheap it's not worth it to travel here.

I bought this five months ago [after my two hammer drills (Makita and Bosch) gave in in the same week]:
Amazon.com: Porter Cable Pc650hd: Tools & Home Improvement
So far it has worked very well.
A keyless chuck is a good addition.

donP

Went to Pricesmart today. They are selling a hammer drill for RDS2,899. Can't remember the brand, but it was bright green. Looked kind of medium duty.

Oh and you better be quick....Pricesmart are now selling...........................






Wait for it........................



















Christmas decorations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That reminds me, we have to do our shopping for Semana Santa next week.... http://www.dr1.com/forums/images/smilies/grin.gif

I too was also looking for a hammer drill, preferably rechargeable, and i couldn't find one decent one, less than 20,000 pesos.

so tonight i been looking online for the states, really I just want something like I had in the uk, black and decker 18v two battery drill.

I dont have pricesmart card or anything like that but i may go see if i can take a look

Now that I remember it was a Hitachi drill I saw. Not sure if it's the exact same model as this one as it's not listed on the Pricesmart website, but it's similar to this one.

http://www.powertoolsdirect.com/medi...huck-range.jpg

Thanks everyone! I found a Bosch on Amazon for U$87.50, rated pretty high by Popular Mechanics Magazine, and got free shipping to Miami. It will be forwarded from there by Business Mail. I didn't want the cordless version because it's so heavy. I have power 18 hours a day in Cosambar so I can work around the outtages. I'll let you know what shipping from Miami and duty end up costing me...probably less than the cost of gas to shop around at the fedeterrias here in Puerto Plata. And my birthday is next week so I deserve it http://www.dr1.com/forums/images/smilies/happy.gif

Update on my hammer drill -- received it on my birthday! The cost for shipping from BM Cargo was appx. US$32.00 -- no duty or taxes that I could see on the receipt. And I've already put it to good use installing the window fan I had bought earlier and hanging a number of wall items. I can't believe the difference between it and a regular drill -- used the same drill bit and it took less than 30 seconds to drill a nice hole for an anchor rather than the 15 minutes it took with theregular drill. It doesn't clean up after itself, however. Glad I have a US-style vacuum cleaner! Now on to woodworking! Judy

eww, shiney new shiney tools. That's almost better then a pic of a cute chica.

Is that chrome I see up by the keyless chuck??

Sounds like you ended up with a higher quality product for less then it would have cost you to drive to Santiago by having it shipped in. This is almost always the case for any item you want to buy that is not actually produced here.

And I learned something about hammer drills.

Reminds me of an old joke ... guy looking online for a girlfriend sees a post that says something like, "Hot young widow looking for stud to help around house ...have lots of power tools." Guy replies, "Send picture .... of tools!" Ha Ha!