MyDreamCar

Halfords are selling pressure washers for £45 - does anybody have any particularly good or bad pressure washer experiences - i have a 95WRX and am worried about the grit on the roads and corrosion - was thinking of getting one to wash it off underneath and to clean alloys etc - thanks in advance for replies!
Phil

j.r-xrs

My Mum used to have a 405 and about 2 or 3 years back during a service, some idiot, managed to take the whole of the top coat of paint of the bonnet, the patch was about 6 inches by 1 inch, that was with a pressure washer, not only that but it was his 1st day and he wasn’t being supervised!

Be careful!

bug-eyed wonder

I always wash mine with a pressure washer before sponging down. Never had any problems. I always turn the pressure down but then i have a powerful one which also heats the water. No experience of the little ones but can't see them producing enough pressure to cause any damage.

barge

I have a Kew washed, heats the water as well, never turned the preasure down.

Also use it for cleaning the patio, front wall where grafiti muppetts do their thing as well.

Never any problems, but I dont hold it in a constant place on the car for very long

AHall_at_home

I've got the bottom end Karcher one. No heating or variable control, but it hasn't pulled any paint off yet - or opened up stone chips etc.

It's by far the easiest way of getting brake dust off multi spokes ... and cleaning the discs to stop brake squeek (for an hour or so )

Katana

Got the same one myself and it hasn't peeled any paint or dented my car for that matter. Just don't spray it straight into your scoop.

MyDreamCar

The bottom end Karcher - is that the 112 model? - the cheap one is Halfords is a 100(psi??)- so theyre probably similar then i guess - think its gonna be a trip to Halfords!

Huxley

I can get you a Karcher K300 for £75.00 new trade price retails at over £100.00 in argos a couple of people on here have had them from me.
Is it a well know brand name for that price and check it has got a hose which is longer than a couple of meters! because most of the ones that are not well known arn't that long.

Huxley

Berkshire

email subaru555@btinternet.com

And i dont work for Karcher or any other company *** with cleaning just sell them for a freind who does as i have to earn bits for my two that ive got

Dave T-S

My dream car
I think you'll find it's 100bar (1480psi) - 100 psi is about the same as your toilet flush

Hoppy

Or even 1450psi, Dave - or have you got a very powerful bladder?

I had the bottom end Karcher (can't remember the model, but it was more than £45). It never worked properly - wouldn't always suck the shampoo and rinse etc. Then the end of the hose broke and, despite my heroic efforts with cable-ties, it was bolloxd.

Took it back to Halfords, no receipt or anything, and they were superb - offered a refund or exchange no questions. All I wanted was a new lance.

In the end, I cashed it in against a bigger model - a 520M - with wheels on (and a more robust looking lance) which was on a good money-off offer. Very pleased.

But even my old small jobbie was damn good, while it worked. Very powerful - I reckon you could cut yourself on that jet Great for wheels and brakes.

Don't be tempted to use it too close or too long on your paint work - it will make a hole in anything eventually and under the wheel arches it ripped off the wax-oil in seconds! (That's another £120 job on top of the next service.)

But at £45, you can't go wrong, can you?

Richard.

[Edited by Hoppy - 1/27/2002 8:31:08 PM]

Dave T-S

Hoppy
We are both wrong - it's 1470psi at sea level

But what's 20psi between friends

http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/ugrads/cla...13/Note05.html

NBW

I got B&Q's own brand one - Performance Power I think - it's cheaper (£49) than Karcher but feels much more substantial.

Does have a warning not to use less than 30cm from paint work, but no problems so far - used every weekend for a couple of months....

Cheers
Tim

Philip C

Don't squirt a pressure washer, or even a forecourt jetwash, in the scoop as they a capable of flattening the fins on the intercooler.

It happened to me.

Philip

ShaggyMan

I've got the budget Karcher p/washer (100psi approx)

It took the black underseal off my rear wheel arch on MY00.

I wouldn't advise using one near your brake calipers as you could blow your piston seals out of place.

Chris

[Edited by ShaggyMan - 1/28/2002 4:11:04 PM]

[Edited by ShaggyMan - 1/28/2002 4:11:42 PM]

Hoppy

LOL Dave Next thing you'll be telling us that everything you read on the internet is true! And that weather-girls never lie. Scary thought

Richard.

PS 1 bar = 14.5psi

RRH

faster when filthy anyway...

paul w

Phil,

Hi mate,will have to meet up again soon.

Anyway back on topic i've got one of the 80 quid 220 karcher things and have had a couple of probs,started leaking oil so it was swapped no probs then just before the warrenty ran out(23 months) it was squirting water under the cover,Luckily halfords give you an extra year of warrenty free so it was fixed but the fixing centre told me there a load of crap and are only meant to last about 100 hours and said there forever fixing them and something about the pumps cracking.Also have a mate who stripped his old mans down and reckoned it had plaggy gears in it.

Paul