I use a pressure washer on cars but keep a decent distance away, using the lance for lower pressure. It forms a lovely "mist" from a distance for rinseing too.
This is a very good point. My Stihl pressure washer has a couple of lances, one gives a concentrated blast that I wouldn't get anywhere near a car, the other is adjustable down to a fairly gentle spray, and by standing back the pressure is hardly anything.
Like everything pressure washers can be very useful, but need to be used sensibly - and in my book using them at high pressure to blast grease and grit from the front suspension isn't one of them. YMMV, of course.
