Roland SP-300
At $18k the Roland SP-300 ended up being a work horse for my company.
I have owned a Mimaki, Roland 48", Roland 24", Ioline (Shudder), HP 5500, and an Encad (Shudder Twice). My next dream purchase would be a Roland 54" with bulk ink. Reliable / Cost effective / Excellent product.
1. Make sure you keep your warranty up to date and take the extended warranty. Solvent ink - keyword Solvent. Eats the internals up and the pumps have to be replaced every 12 months. The cables fray up after about 2 years and are hard to self replace.
2. Do not get sucked into buying special matched vinyls. I use FDC regular Intermediate & Premium vinyl. Intermediate will always print better than premium as it has a deeper pore and more regular ridges. This is because its the same vinyl just stretched more and ironically costs more. Eco Solvent ink does not penetrate as deeply as a full solvent ink would - about 15% less.
3. Excellent color wear. Scratch resistance is good - but you will need to sheet laminate anything going on cars or that will be cleaned repeatedly. Do not fall for the liquid laminates claims.
Worry about success, failure takes care of itself.