I just pulled one out that we installed for a week and didn't like it. Want to take a look at it? It's beautiful just not right with our sink.

Depending on the finish you select, you can get a Kohler Simplice for about that price. I obsessed over faucets when we did our kitchen last year, and drooled over the $1500 ones. In the end, as all unexpected extras began to mount, I went with the Simplice and it's been great. Mine is stainless so it was closer to $250/300, but still a bargain compared to the others. Kohler and Moen seem to be the most reliable brands at the low/mid end, although the Delta Trinsic was also very popular when I was making my decision.

You really get what you pay for, and you're going to be using it everyday. We bought an American made Waterstone, which adds to the price, rather than going with a Chinese made brand. eBay is a good suggestion though. I've gotten some good deals there. Try the gardenweb kitchen forum which is now on houzz.

150 and lower is hard as that will be more plastic parts etc. I would try eBay for that as people sell things they bought by accident or too many etc.
delta is a decent brand and they stand by their products with a good warranty.
there are also sales sometimes.

HD and Lowe's usually put faucets on sale for Black Friday. I had some general criteria (swan neck with pull-down sprayer, ability to turn on/off with my arm), and then just went to Lowe's and chose something I liked. I paid about $250.

Another vote for Moen. We had a beautiful Grohe faucet that looked awesome and worked great -- until it didn't. Talk about an expensive faucet to fix or replace. Our plumber suggested Moen since we were selling that house -- we liked it so much we got the same faucet for our new house. It's plain but it works well and doesn't get us all wet when we're doing dishes or washing produce.

http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0087AQ0MC

I highly recommend Moen. They guarantee their products for life (for the original owner) anytime I've had questions/problems, they've sent me replacement parts- from the small filters and rubber rings to a whole replacement faucet spray head for my kitchen.

We got ours at www.bluebath.com.

We went with a solid stainless steel one that meets the VT and CO zero-lead standards. We were in the $250-$300 range.

Most of your mainstream brands are made of brass with a surface coating, and the brass has trace amounts of lead. Not a huge deal, the country lives that way, but we decided to go the zero route.

Can anyone recommend a $150 or less pull down kitchen faucet?

Koehler simplice. Simple and works great and doesn't detract from over things in the kitchen. If you want fancy it may not be for you.

OP, last year we rented a place with a kitchen faucet that turns on/off when you tap it--designed so that when you have dirty/germy hands, you touch it with your arm and it turns on.

At first I thought it was a totally ridiculous device. My landlord, though, said that as stupid as he first thought it was, it was the very thing he missed the most about living there.

Now we are back in our old house and two days ago, I bought one. It was the thing I missed the most out, too.

It was called Delta Design.

In our house, there was a Moen with a better look to fit our house, so I bought it off amazon. It's really nice, but requires a wave over or under the faucet to get it to work. It's good enough, but not like that Delta Design where you tap it. I think it's because you don't have to control your tap as much as you have to control your wave.

Here it is on amazon. (sigh) it's like looking up an old lover.
Delta Faucet 9159T-AR-DST Trinsic Single Handle Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet Featuring Touch2O Technology

Watch out for ones with a water flow restrictor. All of the new ones have it, but some are easier to remove. I wash pots and pans in the sink (as well as the dog/baby) and filling the sink took about 20 min with the flow restrictor. Even people washing their hands complained. Mine is a price pfister.

Me too. Our kitchen designer suggested one that was $1300!!!

getting a farmhouse sink (ikea) but want a nice faucet that is not $900. looked on line at kohler and moen and did not realize how expensive the faucets are....