I have used a variety of HP printers over the years for printing decals. None were acquired specifically for that purpose–generally they were just the cheap printer that came with the computer I was using. Had excellent results with all but one of them, which produced results like yours–bad color, ink that beaded up and smeared, etc. (I assumed that the “bad one” just used different, incompatible ink formulas, for whatever reason.)
Currently using an HP Deskjet F4280 (with Inkfarm remanufactured cartridges, no less), and the results have been great. (Samples here).
The upshot is, cheap printers can do a great job.