Makita 6270D: Discontinued — What to Buy Instead
A 12V NiCd drill from before lithium. The tool is retired and its battery platform is unsupported.
Disclosure:As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This costs you nothing and never changes which tools we recommend. Read more.
The 6270D was a 12V nickel-cadmium drill/driver, and for a long time it was the tool a lot of tradespeople kept in the van as a light-duty second drill. It was robust, simple, and the batteries were the only weak part.
It is discontinued and so is the 12V NiCd platform behind it. Makita’s current compact line is 12V max CXT, which uses a completely different lithium pack and mount.
Should you rebuild the battery?
Occasionally, yes — and only if you are attached to the tool. Cell rebuilding services will fit new sub-C cells into an old case, and the result works.
For most people the maths does not hold up. A rebuild costs a meaningful fraction of a current compact drill kit, and you end up with NiCd chemistry: self-discharging on the shelf, fading gradually under load, and heavier than lithium for the same capacity.
What to buy instead
If you want a compact drill in the same spirit, Makita’s 12V max CXT range is the direct descendant and the tools are excellent — genuinely small, which is the point.
If you want one battery for everything, the Makita XFD131 on the 18V LXT platform, linked below, is the more versatile purchase. LXT is the range with the tool count, and the mount has been stable since 2005, so anything you buy into it now has a long support tail.
The old 6270D is still usable as a corded-free screwdriver while the pack lasts. Just do not spend money on it.