Garage floor recommendations

I'm a new homeowner, and my garage floor is unsealed rough concrete.

Since I work on cars and race karts, I think I need to put something down that's less vulnerable to staining from fluids, and not almost the same color as steel so that loose hardware can be found. 

I don't intend to haul all of my equipment out of the garage frequently to refinish or deep-clean the floor, so low maintenance is a high priority.

The area's about 550 sq.ft. If it looks really nice and will last a couple of decades I could budget $2500, if it's something that'll need frequent local repairs and may need to go if I sell out, I'd like to spend less than a grand.

What should I install? Did GRM publish an article on this? 

I have the Racedeck like plastic tiles.  They're perforated so you don't slip on them in the winter when they're wet.  However, they let *everything* get underneath them and they're impossible to clean up.  Since my floor doesn't have a drain in it I can't really pressure wash them to get them clean.  So they're always kinda dingy looking, which I hate.

If I had to do it again, I would've had the garage floor professionally epoxy coated before we moved in.  I have way too much shiz in the garage now to try and have it done.

I'd do the plastic tiles again but only if they were solid, that way I could pressure wash them and then use a sqeegee broom to clean all the water off them and out into my driveway.

I looked at a lot of options, and when my slab was poured, I had them put on a skookum sealer, which dissolved immediately with gasoline.

I then had the entire surface ground, sealed, and polished.  Pricey, but still cheaper than carpet. Very low maintenance. Downside: it's easy to lose gray objects.  

http://www.gwellwood.com/tools/the-workshop-3/#polished-floor

In reply to SkinnyG :

Is it slippery at all, or extra-slippery when not clean?

It's not polished super bling, I think they went 400 grit.  I find it only slightly slippery when pushing a car by myself depending on what shoes I'm wearing. It's way less shiny now that I've been working on it.

I imagine saw dust and such would make it pretty slippery, but I only work with wood under duress.

I would sooner go with something like the 'Rocksolid" line of garage floor coatings. They sell epoxy but their Polycuramine line is so much better and faster! It costs more but anything good is going to.  My sister is building a house and I have convinced her to let me coat the new garage floor before she moves in. I plan on using one of the options they offer. 

My ex- had good results with Rustoleum epoxy kits from the local home center.  The big PITA part is the prep and etching.  I think the whole process took over a week, doing the garage in halfs, shifting stuff that she didn't want outside from one side to the other.   And she needed twice as many kits than the package said to get good coverage. 

I used a 2 part epoxy primer topped with a single part polyurea color coat and a single part polyurea clear. No flakes, but they could be added to the top coat if that's your thing. Prep is critical, but the polyurea being single part lets you take your time vs being rushed having to apply a bunch of product before it sets up. I'd have to check receipts and bank statements, but I'm pretty sure the toatl for everything (polyurea, supplies, and floor grinder rental) was less than $2/sqft.

Relevant to my interests!