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What tool do you have in your toolbag that you think is worth its weight in gold? Maybe it's a certain brand of torque wrench that has served flawlessly for 20 years, making it a trusted workshop companion and also a good value, even if it was a bit pricey when you bought it.
I'll start with the new breed of lithium ion jump boxes/battery backups. There a bunch of models that have just come onto the market in the past couple of years. Recently, I purchased a Weego Professional. Actually, I bought 4 of them - one for my car, my wife's and both of my driving age sons' cars. It has a ton of connectors to allow it to serve as a battery backup for your cell phones and laptops as well. They hold a charge for 6 to 12 months and you can just keep them in your glovebox (or door pockets for you Mk I guys) for that time when you battery gives up the ghost. They were on sale at walmart.com last week, discount from $160 to $58. Unfortunately, I just checked, and the price is back up to $136. Again, there many models out there and the newer ones are no larger than a cellphone. Great tool to have.

Just don't hook them up backward. They go pop. Ask me how I know.

The single most useful thing I have purchased since starting to wrench on cars is an OBD-II code scanner. I now own a crap ton of them, including the "enthusiast" version of the Durametric cable - but any crappy OBD-II scanner will work.

Also, the fuses that light up when they're blown. Best invention since...I don't know.

Fuck, looks like Schnells picture uploader thing broke.

Small LED pen light with a magnet. I have 4 of them, put in various locations around the house and garage: on my toolbox, on my lift, refrigerator.

My Airlift tool is the coolest thing since sliced bread making coolant flushes a breeze.

The Airlift is a great tool. A really good stud extractor is also a necessity when you're a ham-fisted hack like me.

I like this cammed extractor when the bolt has at least half an inch left exposed, and the drill chuck style extractors work well when you have very little meat left on the busted screw.
Once you're down to your last bit of exposed screw - shear off any more and you'll be Easy-Outing - slow down and hit the stud with PB Blaster and heat.

Milwaukee M12 Ratchet. I'll never go back to manual tools again - the entire M12 line is very impressive.

^ That's interesting. I have a battery powered impact wrench, but it just doesn't seem to generate sufficient torque (for example, to remove a wheel, so I don't trust it to tighten the lug bolts either). I end up breaking the nut or bolt loose manually, then using the impact wrench to save me the effort of turning the wrench a bunch of times. Seems like a regular drill would work just as well. So, what kind of torque does this thing have? Is it the same thing where you break the bolt/nut loose then grab this tool to finish up?

kcattorney wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:15 am ^ That's interesting. I have a battery powered impact wrench, but it just doesn't seem to generate sufficient torque (for example, to remove a wheel, so I don't trust it to tighten the lug bolts either). I end up breaking the nut or bolt loose manually, then using the impact wrench to save me the effort of turning the wrench a bunch of times. Seems like a regular drill would work just as well. So, what kind of torque does this thing have? Is it the same thing where you break the bolt/nut loose then grab this tool to finish up?

This isn't for breaking loose lug bolts or anything where you need a ton of torque. It's for when you'd use any normal 3/8" ratchet - which for me is a lot. I use this for just about everything (interior, suspension, underbody panels, exhaust, motor mounts, etc...) prior to busting out a torque wrench for the final step. I use breaker bars for when I need a ton of torque. You'd be amazed how much less you ache after spending a weekend wrenching when you haven't twisted your arm/wrist a thousand times because the M12 is push button.