DO get a Honda engine.
Mine is from Home Depot. It was a return. About 3200 psi, I think. Anyway point is this: If you are looking for a deal you might want to try Home Depot. Look out front (usually) for the returns. You will see returned mowers (not many this time of year), pressure washers, edgers, etc. Often there will be lots of the cheap pressure washers. Don't get them, they're not very good. Keep on the lookout for the big pressure washers with Honda engines. They can be hard to find because they are rarely returned. Guys who work with pressure washer buy the good units. Home owners buy the cheap units. What you are looking for is the unit that was bought by a homeowner....ah la Tim Allen...and it was too much for them OR they bought it to do a job and then returned the unit. Can't tell you how often this happens. When I worked at Home Depot I wondered why these folks didn't just go to a rental place. The answer: They wanted to rent a unit for free. So they buy a great unit in the 3000 psi range, take it home and use it, then return it.
People do this with mowers, lawn equipment, tools, etc. It would tick me off when they returned it. They would tell me it wouldn't start right. I'd take it outside and it usually started just fine. My aim was to let them know that I thought they were a liar. Still, I had to take it back.
If you see a returned unit that is in rough shape don't buy it. It's been rode hard (usually by a contractor) and put away wet. Look for the clean units that show very little use. 99% of the time it's one of the "rental" returns. Just double check and make sure it runs well. Then offer 50% of the new price. Home Depot is not trying to make money off these units. They just want the units gone! They look bad in front of the store, someone has to clean and reprice them regularly, someone has to leave the floor and go out front every time a customer has a question about one, and someone has to push them in every night, and out every morning. They want the units gone. Work your way up to the store manager until you get the answer you want.
Hope this helps.
Bill Cook