So, I bought a Junkyard set of alloy wheels for the RAV4. They are in pretty good shape, but pretty grimey on the inside. It occurred to me that I have been scrubbing grime with rags and various cleaning products for a long time and that there might be an easier way to do this. The Pressure Washer seems to fit this need.
Are the $100 HF ones useable? Can you also use them for general car washing? I know you need to drain them for the winter. I really don't want another gasoline powered tool around, as that is just one more thing to maintain.
Color me interested as well. I need a portable 110v powered one for the house and a gas powered one for the office.
I have an electric one from Costco. Works great for cleaning stuff. Gas powered ones are handy for locations that don't have electricity or if you need to do much more serious cleaning, like say the third floor of an apartment building.
I have had an electric one and a gas one. The electric one sucked more than it blew. The electric generally put out half the psi of the gas powered ones. You might be OK with washing cars with it, but the first time you want to do anything serious you will curse it for being inadequate.
I don't have the latest version of what HF shows, but that whole series seems to have come from one supplier who made them in different colors for everyone.
I've had mine for years, and it's worked just fine. In fact, they're kinda safer than many to use, because they won't rip things apart so easily. It's moderately strong, not dangerously or stupidly strong. Unlike say my friends gasoline powered one that will etch cement patio's and rip siding right off a house.
Love my gas-powered Honda-engined Home Depot pressure washer. It's one of those tools that I never knew I needed so much until I had one. 
I have a Briggs gas PW for washing my MX bikes, and it works great, but bought a small electric this past summer because it's a lot quieter.
I paid $57 for it at Walmart and it's all I use now.
I always just take wheels to the pay and spray car wash. As long as it's not too busy you can set up, and it only costs a few bucks each time.
Unfortunately I have to make this decision because it's illegal to wash cars outside of a dedicated car wash in my city (soap in untreated storm sewers = no bueno).
ZOMG!!!!111!! WASHING A CAR OUTSIDE OF A CAR WASH!!111!1
And that right there is why our country if falling apart. "Oh, lets pass a law, because, you know, we can, and it will make the ENVIRONMENT like, better and stuff."
Might I suggest moving to Free America? Anyway, sucks to be you. Sorry.
Looks like I'm going to be shopping for a HF style electric pressure washer. Where's my coupons?
I would skip the electrics. The HF ones put out about 80% of their advertised pressure and last about five uses.
$279 buys you a nice honda-powered, 3000 psi washer which is the minimum I would use for grimy auto stuff. You will use it for a million things. I had an electric and tried to do my deck once. I had to hold it so close that it was streaky and inconsistent and it took forever. 3000 psi gas I could use a 40 degree nozzle, hit large areas, it was nice and even, and took 45 minutes instead of 2 days.
You can't go too big really. You can always disperse the spray with a wide pattern nozzle and get the same cleaning you would from a narrow nozzle on a low pressure washer. You can use a big washer on small things, but its also nice to blast an engine block down to bare iron or rip old chewing gum off the concrete of your garage.
Mine will actually take the "milk" off of smooth concrete and leave it looking sandblasted if I'm not careful.
My personal opinion is that a $279 washer might be 2.8 times more expensive, but way more than 2.8 times more useful.
Yeah, Curtis, but if you get the honduh powered unit, then you need the turbocharger, NOS, boost controller, megasquirt, charge cooler, K&N, fart can, "lowering kit," body kit, ....
I think I Sam's carries a Subaru powered unit. Then you need a new transmission, bumper sticker that says "I'm not the mayor of Houston," WRX motor swap....
