GregBBRD

I preclean to remove grease and oil. It will take that stuff off, but requires more frequent cleaning and fluid exchange. These machines are not for "gross" cleaning, but more for "fine" cleaning.

SeanR

The crest unit I wanted was $1300, I'm sure it's worth every penny and I will get one. With the lower volume of cars it just made more sense to have a few cheap ones around that are, more or less, disposable.

Same as Greg says, clean the heavy dirt off with the parts washer/degreaser/towel and use the sonic cleaner to get the "fine" cleaning done.