If you are choosing between a K4 and a K5, buy the K4 Power Control Flex unless the drive is long or filthy. Same gun, same Vario lance, same Plug ‘n’ Clean bottle. The K5 adds water volume, two extra metres of hose and 15 bar. That is a driveway upgrade, not a different way of washing a car.
This page compares the Power Control Flex machines and Home kits you can buy in the UK right now. Specs come from Kärcher. Street prices come from Screwfix, ITS, GO Outdoors, PriceSpy, Amazon and Kärcher UK on 16 August 2026. Amazon product pages 503’d or had no featured offer on this check, so those listings are named, not treated as a locked buy-box.
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The rest of the yellow range, including K2, K7 and the OC 6-18, sits on the Kärcher hub. Paint-safe settings and foam order sit on the cars guide.
Quick picks
Best for most homes
K4 Power Control Flex
£199.99 at Screwfix
130 bar, 420 L/h, 8 m Flex hose. The Kärcher most UK households should start with.
Best if the patio is part of it
K4 Power Control Flex Home
From about £210
Same K4, plus a T 5 and stone cleaner in the box. Do not then buy a second head.
Best for a long drive
K5 Power Control Flex
£340 at ITS
145 bar, 500 L/h, 10 m hose. Same car-safe Vario. Buy it for litres and reach, not for extra punch on paint.
Best kit for a big patio
K5 Power Control Flex Home
From about £330
K5 plus T 5. Worth it when the drive is long and green. Easy to overpay if a bare Flex is already cheap.
Comparison table
| K4 Power Control Flex | K5 Power Control Flex | |
|---|---|---|
| Part number (bare Flex) | 1.324-302.0 | 1.324-702.0 |
| Max pressure | 20 to 130 bar | 20 to 145 bar |
| Flow | 420 L/h | 500 L/h |
| Area (Kärcher figure) | 30 m²/h | 40 m²/h |
| Hose | 8 m PremiumFlex | 10 m PremiumFlex |
| Motor | 1.8 kW, water-cooled | 2.1 kW, water-cooled |
| Weight (bare, Kärcher) | 11.5 to 12.2 kg | 12.4 to 13 kg |
| Gun / lance | G 160 Q Power Control, Vario, dirt blaster | Same layout |
| Home kit head | T 5 plus 1 L stone cleaner | T 5 plus 1 L stone cleaner |
| Typical UK price, 16 Aug 2026 | Screwfix £199.99. Official about £220. B&Q listed £209 | ITS £340 inc VAT, in stock. PriceSpy from about £310. GO Outdoors member £299, out of stock |
Home and Car & Home boxes cost more. Confirm the T 5 is in the carton before you add one separately.
Who should buy which
Buy the K4 if you have a tap, a 13A socket, one or two cars and a normal UK patio. 130 bar with a twist-to-adjust Vario is the useful home class. Eight metres of Flex hose walks a family hatchback if you park the trolley at a corner.
Buy the K5 if the drive is 30 to 40 m², north-facing and green, or if you are already tired of dragging a shorter hose halfway down the path. 500 L/h rinses shampoo and stone cleaner faster. Ten metres means you park the machine once.
Buy a Home kit only if you do not already own a T 5 and you will use one. A T 5 on its own is from about £55. Bare Flex plus a separate head is often close to a Home box. Shop the live total.
Skip both if there is no outdoor socket or no tap. That is a cordless job, not a bigger K-class. Start with the cordless guide.
If you are already looking past a K5 at 180 bar, that comparison is K5 vs K7.
Kärcher K4 Power Control Flex
The default Kärcher for a UK home
- Buy: Screwfix £199.99 · Amazon listing (page 503’d this check; PriceSpy has shown about £200) · B&Q listed at £209, diy.com was down this check · Kärcher UK official around £220
- Pressure / flow: 20 to 130 bar, 420 L/h
- Hose: 8 m PremiumFlex
- Motor: 1.8 kW, water-cooled
- In the box (bare Flex): G 160 Q Power Control gun, Vario Power lance, dirt blaster
- Who it is for: cars, bikes, furniture and a normal patio, if you have a tap and a socket
This is the machine most people who type K4 vs K5 should take home. The LED on the gun shows the pressure step. Drop it for paint and glass. Open it for arches and stone. The dirt blaster is for paving, not lacquer. Leave it on the hook when the car is out.
Buy the Flex SKU, not an older stiff-hose K4. Eight metres is enough for a hatchback on a short drive. It is not enough to stand still on a long van. Water-cooled motors last longer than the air-cooled K2 class if you rinse the inlet filter and drain the pump before frost. Register the machine if you want the extra Kärcher years on top of the standard two. Terms apply.
Paint distance and foam order sit on the cars page. First-use setup is on how to use a pressure washer.
Skip it if the driveway is long and green. That is the K5. Skip it if you only rinse one small car and will never touch the slabs. A K2 will do that for half the money. See K2 vs K4.
If you have already picked the K4, the deep notes are the K4 review.
Kärcher K4 Power Control Flex Home
The K4 to buy if you also want the patio head
- Buy: Amazon Home listing (UK buy-box not locked this check; PriceSpy from £209.99) · Viking Direct £219.99 excluding VAT on a 2+ deal, £229.99 excluding VAT for one · Kärcher UK Home
- Part number: 1.324-304.0
- In the box: the K4 Flex, T 5, 1 L stone and façade cleaner, Vario, dirt blaster, 8 m Flex hose
- Who it is for: households that need a washer and a patio head, and do not already own either
Home means a T 5 in the carton, not a different pump. Same 130 bar and 420 L/h as the bare Flex. Do not then add a second T 5. Retailers will happily sell you one.
A separate T 5 is from about £55. Screwfix has it at £58.99. If the bare Flex is £200 and the head is £55, a Home box at about £210 to £245 is a small premium. A Home box at £280 is a luxury. Shop the contents list. Car & Home adds foam, a brush or shampoo on top. Useful if those extras are cheap in the bundle. Easy to overpay when the banner just says Home.
Heads, kits and current T 5 prices sit on the Kärcher patio cleaner page.
Skip it if you already own a working K4. Buy the T 5 on its own. Skip it if the patio is large, north-facing and filthy. That is the K5 kit.
Kärcher K5 Power Control Flex
The Kärcher to buy if the drive is part of the job
- Buy: ITS £340 including VAT (£283.33 excluding VAT), in stock this check · GO Outdoors member £299, retail £340, out of stock this check · PriceSpy from about £310 · Amazon listing no featured offer, third-party from about £346 · Kärcher UK
- Pressure / flow: 20 to 145 bar, 500 L/h
- Hose: 10 m PremiumFlex
- Motor: 2.1 kW, water-cooled
- Who it is for: cars plus a 30 to 40 m² drive, or anyone tired of dragging a K4 halfway down the path
Same gun, same Vario, same “do not put the dirt blaster on the paint” rule. The upgrade is litres and hose. 500 L/h rinses shampoo off a roof faster than 420 L/h. Ten metres means you park the trolley once. On a car that is the difference between a calm wash and a dance around the machine.
145 bar is still a domestic figure. Used on a wide fan, a metre back, it is fine on modern paint. Used as a pencil jet, close in, it will cut lacquer. The extra bar is for block paving, not for getting closer to the wing. Full car notes sit on the cars page.
Shop the live total and the part number. ITS at £340 including VAT is the cleanest named in-stock price on this check. The £283.33 you see first on that page is excluding VAT. GO Outdoors’ £299 member price is real, but the yellow Flex was out of stock on 16 August 2026. Amazon’s old street around £240 is gone.
Kärcher UK also sells a K5 Classic and a K5 WCM Flex eco!Booster in the same 145 bar class. Buy Power Control Flex if you want the gun that shows the step and the 10 m Flex hose. Buy Classic if you only want K5 water volume and the live price is clearly lower.
Skip it if the only job is cars and garden furniture. Keep the K4 and spend the difference on a foam jet.
Kärcher K5 Power Control Flex Home
The K5 kit if the patio is big as well
- Buy: Amazon Home listing from about £330 on current snippets, no featured offer locked this check · Kärcher UK Home · Car & Home kits from about £359 on PriceSpy
- In the box (current Flex Home): K5, Power Control gun, Vario, dirt blaster, 10 m Flex hose, T 5, 1 L stone cleaner
- Who it is for: a long or green patio and a dirty drive, if you do not already own the head
Same T 5 as the K4 Home box. The upgrade is still water volume and hose, not a better patio head. 500 L/h rinses a 30 to 40 m² terrace faster. Ten metres means you do not keep walking the trolley back to the tap.
An older K5 Power Control Home (non-Flex SKU) is still listed at ITS at £359.99 including VAT. That page says no longer available. Do not treat it as a live buy. Some older Home copy also mentions a T 1. Current Flex Home kits use a T 5. Open the carton list.
If the bare Flex is £340 and a T 5 is £55, buying them separately is about £395. A Home kit at £330 is then a saving. A Car & Home kit at £360 is a small premium for foam and shampoo. A kit at £400-plus is a luxury. Check the live total.
Skip it if the only hard surface is a 3 × 4 m yard. The K4 Home is enough. Skip it if you already own the washer. Add the T 5, or the T 7 Plus if you want the edge jet. The T 7 Plus is K4 to K7 only.
Cars versus driveway
A car does not need 145 bar. It needs a wide fan, distance, and enough hose to walk around the body without yanking the trolley. Both machines will wash a car if you stay on the Vario and keep the dirt blaster off the paint. Kärcher’s own advice is a flat jet, at least 15 cm from paint and 30 cm from tyres. Further is safer.
The K5 earns its keep on the drive, not on the bonnet. More flow moves stone cleaner and algae off block paving. The extra two metres of hose is the daily comfort. If the only hard surface is a short path and a parking bay, the K4 is the rational car washer and the K5 is a luxury.
Foam is worth more than another 15 bar on paint. A dedicated FJ 10 C foam jet is about £30 to £33. Plug ‘n’ Clean shampoo through the body is fine for a quick wash. It is not a snow-foam layer. The cars guide has the order: foam, mitt, rinse.
Full drive notes sit on the driveway guide.
Patio heads
A T 5 is a clip-on head, not a washer. Without a K-series machine, a tap and a socket, it does nothing. People searching for a patio cleaner usually need the T 5 for a machine they already own, or a Home kit that already includes one.
- T 5 (2.644-084.0): 280 mm hood, K2 to K7. From about £55. Screwfix £58.99.
- T 7 Plus (2.644-074.0): corner power nozzle, K4 to K7 only. From about £75.
A K4 will spin a T 5 properly on a typical terrace. A K5 does the same job faster on a larger or greener plot. Do not add a second T 5 if a Home box already has one. Full head prices and kit mistakes sit on the patio cleaner page.
How to choose
- Cars and a normal patio, one machine. K4 Power Control Flex. Add Home if you do not own a T 5.
- Cars plus a long or filthy drive. K5 Power Control Flex. Add Home if the patio is part of the same Saturday.
- Patio only, already own a K4 or K5. Buy the T 5, not another washer.
- Tight budget, one small car, no slabs. That is a K2 conversation. See K2 vs K4.
- No socket or no tap. Cordless. Not a K5.
Flex means the PremiumFlex hose. Power Control means the gun shows the step. Home means the T 5. Car & Home means patio kit plus car extras. Classic means compact, often a stiffer hose, often the lowest official price in that class. Shop the part number on the carton, not the word K5 on a tile.
Reviews of other machines sit on the reviews index.
FAQ
Is the K5 worth the extra money over the K4?
Only if you will use the extra flow and the 10 m hose. At ITS’s £340 the step from a £200 K4 is about £140. That is a lot for 15 bar on a car. It is reasonable for a long, green drive you do twice a year.
Can I wash a car with a K5?
Yes, on a wide Vario setting, at a distance. Do not use the dirt blaster on lacquer. The extra bar is not a reason to stand closer.
Do I need a Home kit?
Only if you do not already own a T 5 and you will use one. Bare Flex plus a separate head is often close to a Home box. Car & Home is worth it when the extras are cheap in the bundle.
Will a T 5 fit both machines?
Yes. Kärcher UK lists the T 5 on K2 to K7 Home & Garden guns. The T 7 Plus is K4 to K7 only. Neither clips onto a Bosch or Nilfisk.
Why do two shops show different K5 prices?
Different SKUs, VAT display, or last month’s deal. ITS shows £283.33 excluding VAT and £340 including VAT for the same Flex. Amazon’s old £240 offer is gone. Shop the part number.