Clarke 235-piece mechanic’s toolkit

Part number: 040212862 Price: £95.98

From: Machine Mart 0115 956 5555 machinemart.co.uk 

A fully-loaded two-drawer lockable tool chest that’s on a par with the Phaze 275. It may have 40 less items than the Phaze, but that shouldn’t be the deciding factor, even if the numbers are made up with a small plastic box containing map pins, nails and picture hooks, but no hammer!

There’s an extensive range of metric and Af-sized ¼- and 3/8-inch drive sockets, along with spanners, Allen keys and a 21mm spark plug socket, but no 16mm. It’s good to see that both AF and metric have been catered for, which is useful for anyone working on older vehicles, but it does feel like overkill in such a compact tool chest. Extending the range of Allen key bits beyond 6mm may have been more beneficial, And putting labels on the plastic storage trays would help with selecting individual tools.

The range of screwdrivers feels cheap and cheerful, so we tested the screwdriver bits with the screwdriver attachment to undo a stubborn screw holding the corner of a front bumper. The end of the bit couldn’t withstand the pressure and broke off.

At under £100, you could argue that you can’t expect everything in a starter toolkit. In reality, you do get just about everything, but the quality isn’t the best and our testers felt it performed poorly. Less is maybe more but, for an entry-level kit, this one looks good and will cover most jobs.