Big brand or low dollar?

I worked , and retired as a automotive mechanic. My personal tool choices I based on, how often they would be used, degree of difficulty, and a clean job.( No rounding off bolt heads, screw heads, etc.). For the mentioned previously, I would fork out the big dollars for the Snap-on's, MAC's, Proto's, and so on. I even had what I considered the middle of the road tools, the Craftsman brand, even had some J.C.Penny brand, Master Mechanic for example. For jobs few and far between, I had no problem saving money by purchasing the Harbor Freight brands, or some of the lower end tools. I must say that the quality of these lower end tools have improved quite a lot over the years. I'm curious to hear how others choose their tools, and why.