Cheap torque wrenches drift out of calibration immediately. Snap-on stays accurate and won't strip your bolts.
Why Not Just Buy the Cheap One?
Cheap torque wrenches from big-box stores drift out of calibration immediately (sometimes from the box) and don't hold accuracy within ±5%, meaning you either over-torque and strip bolts or under-torque and cause failures. Snap-on stays within ±4% accuracy for years because the mechanism is precision-machined and field-calibrable.
The Buy-Once Math
You'll buy two cheap wrenches ($100 each) before realizing one was never accurate and stripped your engine head ($5,000+ in repairs). Snap-on costs $400 but never causes a catastrophic mistake. The math is brutal: one wrong bolt costs more than a lifetime supply of Snap-on tools.