My Makita story has come full circle. (If you've already heard it, sorry for the repetition).
When cordless drills first came out in the early 90's I "borrowed" all the different brands from co-workers on site to try them out. The stick battery blue Makitas won hands down. They were great for what I needed. Then the manufacturers started the eternal "voltage climb", every few years coming out with more powerful tools that used different batteries - that almost always wouldn't back-fit.
By then the 9.6v Makitas were beginning to show their age, and the new metal hydride (gray) battery sticks came out. Supposedly much better - I thought the stunk. My Makita got relegated to the shelf, and I went back to corded drills with a 12 foot cord. (I now have three 3/8" and one 1/4" corded - as well as a cordless I modified to corded - so, I'm set for drills).
About 5 years ago a forum member (I think it was GJ) had all his tools stolen, and I donated my unused Makita drill/charger/batteries/case to him. About a year or so later I found not one but two of the bare drills for $5 each. Figured what the heck.
Last year while doing some temp work in A/C I discovered EVERYONE had gone to 20v lithium-ion drills to speed through the service calls. My EASYDRIVER and nutdrivers were just too slow. I wasn't going to invest a ton of money in a new platform, plus I had the two 9.6ers, so, I started looking for the other pieces. Found 4 batteries, a charger, a flashlight, and now finally a carry case for what could afford. Of course now I'm basically out of A/C entirely, but, so long as I keep a battery topped off I have a cordless to use around the house.