Buy the Kärcher K5 Power Control Flex if you have a tap, a 13A socket and a long or green UK drive. This page answers whether you should take this K5 home, which carton to pick, and when to walk away. The class step below is K4 vs K5. The class step above is K5 vs K7. The rest of the yellow range sits on the Kärcher hub.
It is not a lab test. Specs come from Kärcher. Street prices come from ITS, GO Outdoors, Amazon, PriceSpy and Kärcher UK in August 2026.
If you click through and buy, we may earn a commission.
The Flex (1.324-702.0) is the long-drive machine in the 145 bar class. Typical UK money is £300 to £340. The Flex Home box (1.324-704.0) is the same pump plus a T 5 if the patio is part of the Saturday. It is not the default house buy. That is still the K4. Cars do not need a K5. A K7 is too much unless the plot is huge.
Paint-safe settings sit on the cars page. The job this machine is built for is on the driveway guide. Brand-agnostic mains picks sit on the electric pressure washer page. First-use setup and frost drain-down are on how to use a pressure washer.
Quick picks
The one to buy
K5 Power Control Flex
£340 at ITS
145 bar, 500 L/h, 10 m Flex hose. The Kärcher for a long or green UK drive.
If the patio is the job
K5 Power Control Flex Home
From about £330
Same K5, plus a T 5 and stone cleaner in the box. Do not then buy a second head.
Specs
| K5 Power Control Flex | K5 Power Control Flex Home | |
|---|---|---|
| Part number | 1.324-702.0 | 1.324-704.0 |
| Max pressure | 20 to 145 bar | Same pump |
| Flow | 500 L/h | Same |
| Area (Kärcher figure) | 40 m²/h | Same |
| Hose | 10 m PremiumFlex | Same |
| Motor | 2.1 kW, water-cooled | Same |
| Weight (bare, Kärcher) | 12.4 to 13 kg | Same machine, T 5 in the carton |
| Gun / lance | G 160 Q Power Control, Vario, dirt blaster | Same |
| Home extras | None | T 5 plus 1 L stone cleaner |
| Typical UK price, Aug 2026 | ITS £340 inc VAT. GO Outdoors retail £340, member £299. Amazon from about £346. Typical £300 to £340 | From about £330 on Amazon snippets. Car & Home kits from about £359 on PriceSpy |
Prices checked August 2026. Home and Car & Home boxes cost more. Confirm the T 5 is in the carton before you add one separately. ITS shows £283.33 excluding VAT and £340 including VAT for the same Flex. Shop the inc-VAT figure.
Who it is for
This is the long-drive washer in the 145 bar class. Buy it if most of the list below is true.
- You have an outdoor tap and a 13A socket.
- The plot is 30 to 40 m², north-facing and green, or a hose run that already has you dragging a shorter trolley halfway down the path.
- You will wash cars and that drive, not cars alone.
- You will use a twist-to-adjust Vario: low for paint and glass, open for block and stone.
- Ten metres of Flex hose will let you park the trolley once on a UK semi with a front drive and a side return.
- You do not already own a working K5. If you do, buy a head or a foam jet, not another pump.
That is a minority of UK houses shopping a yellow washer. Most still want the K4. The driveway page already treats this SKU as the long-plot pick for a reason.
Skip it if
- The only jobs are cars, bikes and a normal patio. That is still a K4. Cars do not need 145 bar. Read the K4 review and K4 vs K5. Spend the difference on a foam jet.
- The bay is short and you will move the trolley once. Eight metres of K4 Flex is enough. Do not buy a K5 to future-proof a parking space.
- There is no outdoor socket, or no tap. A longer hose will not invent a 13A point. That is a cordless job, or petrol only after you have ruled out a lead. Not a bigger K-class.
- You want a hose reel in the body. The Flex coils on a hook. A reel is a different machine on the electric hub, not a K5 option.
- You already own this pump. Add a T 5 or a foam jet. Another Flex is a duplicate.
- You came here for 180 bar because the drive looks long. That is how people over-buy a K7. The K7 is too much unless the plot is huge. Read K5 vs K7 before you stretch.
Kärcher K5 Power Control Flex
The Kärcher to take home if the drive is part of the job
- Buy: ITS £340 including VAT · GO Outdoors member £299, retail £340 · Amazon from about £346 · Kärcher UK
- Part number: 1.324-702.0
- Pressure / flow: 20 to 145 bar, 500 L/h
- Hose: 10 m PremiumFlex
- Motor: 2.1 kW, water-cooled
- Weight: 12.4 to 13 kg without accessories
- In the box: G 160 Q Power Control gun, Vario Power lance, dirt blaster
- Who it is for: cars plus a 30 to 40 m² drive, or anyone tired of walking a K4 halfway down the path
145 bar with a twist-to-adjust Vario is still a domestic class. Drop the setting for paint and glass. Open it for block paving and stubborn stone. The LED on the G 160 Q shows the step, so you are not guessing. Kärcher’s own area figure is 40 m²/h. Treat that as a catalogue number, not a promise that a filthy frontage will be done in an hour.
The upgrade from a K4 is litres and hose, not a different way of washing a car. 500 L/h rinses shampoo and stone cleaner faster than 420 L/h. Ten metres means you park the trolley once. On a UK semi with a front drive and a side return, that daily reach is the reason to buy this machine. The extra 15 bar is for the face of the paving, not for getting closer to the wing.
Buy this Flex SKU, not an older stiff-hose K5. Flex is the PremiumFlex hose. Power Control is the gun that shows the step. Classic in the same 145 bar class is a different carton: often cheaper, often a stiffer hose. Kärcher UK has listed a K5 Classic at £249.99 and a K5 WCM Flex eco!Booster at £299.99. Those are footnotes in this class, not a shop path on this page. Shop the part number on the box, not the word K5 on a tile.
ITS at £340 including VAT is the cleanest named street for the yellow Flex. The £283.33 you see first on that page is excluding VAT. GO Outdoors still prints £299 for members and £340 retail. Amazon’s old street around £240 is gone. Typical UK money is £300 to £340. PriceSpy has sat from about £310. Shop the live total.
Hose and daily use
Ten metres walks a long frontage if you park by the tap. You stand still on a family hatchback. You walk a van without yanking the trolley. That is the honest reason people step to a K5, not the extra bar on a bonnet. Eight metres on a K4 will do a short bay if you park at a corner. It will not let you stand still on a deep drive.
The hose is the comfort you pay for over a K4. The Flex coil lives on a hook, not on an internal reel. If a reel is the feature you came for, this is the wrong machine. If 10 m still leaves you short, the honest jump is petrol, not a K7 with the same typical hose length. Full drive notes sit on the driveway page.
Gun, Vario and dirt blaster
The Vario is the car-safe tool. Wide fan, a metre back, for paint. Closer and more open for wheels and arches. The dirt blaster is for paving and stubborn stone, not lacquer. Leave it on the hook when the car is out. People leave it clicked on by mistake. That is how badges lift and clearcoat marks. 145 bar used as a pencil jet, close in, will cut lacquer. Used under a T 5 hood, or on a wide Vario a metre back, it is the right class for neglected block.
Plug ‘n’ Clean sits in the body if you want shampoo through the lance. Fine for a quick wash. It is not a snow-foam layer. A dedicated FJ 10 C foam jet is about £30 to £33 and is the better car accessory. How to layer foam, mitt and rinse sits on the cars page and the foam cannon guide.
Motor, weight and care
The 2.1 kW motor is water-cooled. That is the same idea as the K4, with more punch for a long session on stone. The trolley is about 13 kg without the extras. You will wheel it, not carry it up a flight of stairs every weekend. If stairs are the constraint, a lighter mains box on the electric hub is the honest alternative, not a smaller Kärcher with a 3 m hose, and not this K5.
Rinse the inlet filter. Drain the pump before frost. Register the machine if you want the extra Kärcher years on top of the standard two. Terms apply. First-use setup, the garden-hose adaptor, and winter drain-down are on how to use a pressure washer.
Kärcher K5 Power Control Flex Home
The K5 to buy if you also want the patio head
- Buy: Amazon Home from about £330 · Kärcher UK Home · ITS Home
- Part number: 1.324-704.0
- In the box: the K5 Flex, T 5, 1 L stone cleaner, Vario, dirt blaster, 10 m Flex hose
- Who it is for: a long or green patio and a dirty drive, if you do not already own the head
Home means a T 5 in the carton, not a different pump. Same 145 bar and 500 L/h as the bare Flex. The T 5 is the everyday 280 mm hood (2.644-084.0), K2 to K7. It is not the small T 1 that ships in a K2 Home box. 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 £340 and the head is £55, buying them separately is about £395. A Home box at about £330 is then a saving. A Car & Home kit at about £359 on PriceSpy is a small premium for foam and shampoo. An ITS Flex Car & Home listed at £480 is a luxury. Shop the live total and the contents list.
An older non-Flex K5 Power Control Home is still listed in places. Do not treat a leftover page as a live Flex buy. Some older Home copy also mentions a T 1. Current Flex Home kits use a T 5. Open the carton list. Full head notes sit on the Kärcher patio cleaner page.
Skip the Home box if you already own a working K5. Buy the T 5 on its own. Skip it if the only hard surface is a 3 × 4 m yard you will rarely wash. The K4 Home is enough for that, and you can add a head later.
Which carton
- Long or filthy drive, no head yet. Bare Flex if you might never use a T 5. Home if you know you will.
- Patio is why you are shopping, and the plot is large or green. Flex Home. Confirm the T 5 is in the list. Do not buy a K2 Home and hope the T 1 will do a green terrace.
- You already own the washer. T 5 on its own, from about £55. Not another K5.
- Car extras look cheap in a bundle. Car & Home adds foam, a brush or shampoo on top of the patio kit. PriceSpy has shown those kits from about £359. Useful if the extras are genuinely cheap in the live total. Easy to overpay when the banner just says Home. Pointer only: B&Q Car & Home.
Shop the part number. 1.324-702.0 is the bare Flex. 1.324-704.0 is Flex Home. Older stiff-hose K5 boxes still appear in search. Flex is the one to take home.
T 5 as an add-on
A T 5 is a clip-on head, not a washer. Without this K5 (or another K-series mains machine), a tap and a socket, it does nothing. Buy it separately only if you already have the pump, or if a Home box is more expensive than Flex plus head.
- T 5 (2.644-084.0): 280 mm hood, K2 to K7. From about £55. Screwfix £58.99 · Trafalgar £55 · Wickes · Kärcher UK
The T 7 Plus is a corner-jet head, K4 to K7 only, from about £75. Worth a look if you already own this machine and hate the edges a T 5 leaves. Not a reason to buy a second washer. Neither head clips onto a Bosch or Nilfisk. A K5 will spin a T 5 properly on a typical terrace. Do not buy a K7 only to clip a patio head onto it.
Cars and foam
A car does not need this K5. It needs a wide fan, distance, and enough hose to walk the body without yanking the trolley. This machine 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 extra bar is for the drive, not for standing closer to the wing.
Foam is worth more than another 15 bar on paint. Do not buy a Car & Home carton just to get a bottle you can clip on afterwards. Do not buy a K5 because a listing mentioned snow foam. If the only hard surface is a short path and a parking bay, the K4 is the rational car washer and this machine is a luxury. The wash order is on the cars page. The accessory path is the foam cannon guide.
FAQ
Is the Kärcher K5 worth it?
Yes, if the drive is long or green and you will use the 10 m hose and 500 L/h. No, if the home is the usual one: a tap, a socket, one or two cars, furniture, a short bay or a normal patio. That is a K4. 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 30 to 40 m² plot you do twice a year.
Should I buy the Flex or the Home kit?
Bare Flex if you might never use a patio head. Home if you do not already own a T 5 and you will use one. If the bare Flex is £340 and a T 5 is £55, a Home box at about £330 is a saving. A Car & Home kit at £360 is a small premium. A kit at £480 is a luxury. Shop the live total.
Can I wash a car with a K5?
Yes. Wide Vario, distance, dirt blaster off the paint. Foam first if you have a jet. Cars do not need a K5. The extra bar is for the drive, not for getting closer to the wing. Paint notes sit on the cars page.
Is the K5 a K7, or is it just a dear K4?
Neither. A K4 is 130 bar, 420 L/h, 8 m of hose. The default house buy. A K7 is 180 bar and about £410 to £520. Too much washer unless the plot is huge. This K5 sits in the middle on purpose: more water and two extra metres of hose for a long or filthy drive. Class arguments stay on K4 vs K5 and K5 vs K7.
Is 10 m of hose enough?
For a UK semi with a front drive and a side return, yes, if you park by the tap. For a farm lane, a plot the 13A lead will not reach, or a hose run that still leaves you short, no. That is petrol, not a K7 with the same typical hose length.
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. Official Classic and WCM boxes sit in a different band. Shop the part number.
Do I need to register it?
The standard warranty is two years. Register the machine if you want the extra Kärcher years. Terms apply. The water-cooled motor lasts longer than an air-cooled K2 if you rinse the filter and drain the pump before frost.
More reading
The yellow range in full is the Kärcher hub. The default house buy is the K4 review. Class steps sit on K4 vs K5 and K5 vs K7. Brand-agnostic mains picks sit on the electric guide. Cars, driveway and first use are linked above.