If you are choosing between a K5 and a K7, buy the K5 Power Control Flex. Same gun family, same Vario, same Plug ‘n’ Clean bottle. The K7 adds 180 bar and a bit more water. That is a large-plot upgrade, not a better way of washing a car or a normal UK drive.
This page compares the K5 Power Control Flex machines you can buy in the UK right now with the K7 class. Specs come from Kärcher. Street prices for the K5 come from ITS, GO Outdoors, Amazon and Kärcher UK in August 2026. The K7 is sold in the UK from about £410 to £520. Kärcher UK lists more than one box in that class. Shop the live carton if you already know you want 180 bar.
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The rest of the yellow range sits on the Kärcher hub. The step below this one is K4 vs K5. Brand-agnostic mains picks sit on the electric pressure washer guide. Long plots have their own driveway page. First-use setup is 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 most UK drives should stop at.
Best if the patio is part of it
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.
Best if you do not need either
K4 Power Control Flex
£199.99 at Screwfix
130 bar, 420 L/h, 8 m Flex hose. Enough for cars and a normal patio. Read K4 vs K5 before you stretch to a K5.
Comparison table
| K5 Power Control Flex | K7 class | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical UK SKUs | Bare Flex 1.324-702.0. Home kits on Amazon and Kärcher UK | Several Home & Garden boxes. Official Comfort Premium and WCM Flex eco!Booster. Argos has listed a K7 Power |
| Max pressure | 20 to 145 bar | 180 bar |
| Flow | 500 L/h | 550 to 600 L/h |
| Area (Kärcher figure) | 40 m²/h | Not a single published figure across the boxes |
| Hose | 10 m PremiumFlex | Typically 10 m |
| Motor | 2.1 kW, water-cooled | Water-cooled |
| Weight (bare, Kärcher) | 12.4 to 13 kg | Varies by box |
| Gun / lance | G 160 Q Power Control, Vario, dirt blaster | Varies. Power Control, Comfort Premium and WCM labels exist in the class |
| Home kit head | T 5 plus 1 L stone cleaner | Home kits exist and include a T 5 |
| Typical UK price, Aug 2026 | ITS £340 inc VAT. GO Outdoors retail £340, member £299. Amazon from about £346. Typical £300 to £340 | Official from £409.99 to £519.99. Argos has listed a K7 Power at £470 |
Prices checked August 2026. Home and Car & Home boxes cost more. Confirm the T 5 is in the carton before you add one separately. The K7 column is the class, not one locked SKU.
Who should buy which
Buy the K5 if you have a tap, a 13A socket, and a 30 to 40 m² drive, or if you are already tired of dragging a shorter hose halfway down the path. 500 L/h rinses shampoo and stone cleaner faster than a K4. Ten metres means you park the machine once. That is the useful UK driveway class.
Buy a K5 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.
Buy a K7 only if the plot is large and you already know you want 180 bar and that extra water. Fine on a long frontage or a neglected terrace you do twice a year. Not a car upgrade. Not a reason to skip a K5 because the drive looks long.
Skip both if the only hard surface is a short bay and a path. That is a K4 job. See K4 vs K5. Skip both if there is no outdoor socket or no tap. A longer hose will not invent a 13A point. Start with the cordless guide, or petrol only after you have ruled out a lead.
Kärcher K5 Power Control Flex
The Kärcher to buy 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 (bare Flex): 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
Same gun, same Vario, same rule: do not put the dirt blaster on the paint. The upgrade from a K4 is litres and hose, not a different way of washing a car. 500 L/h rinses shampoo off a roof 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 is the daily comfort.
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 drive notes sit on the driveway page. Paint distance and foam order sit on the cars page.
Shop the live total and the part number. ITS at £340 including VAT is the cleanest named in-stock 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.
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. Skip it if you came here to future-proof a short path with 180 bar. That is how people over-buy a K7.
If you have already picked the K5, the deep notes are the K5 review.
Kärcher K5 Power Control Flex Home
The K5 kit if the patio is big as well
- Buy: Amazon Home from about £330 · 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
Home means a T 5 in the carton, not a different pump. Same 145 bar and 500 L/h as the bare Flex. Do not then add a second T 5. Retailers will happily sell you one.
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. 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.
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.
The K7 class
180 bar. A big-plot machine. Not the default next step.
- Pressure / flow: 180 bar, 550 to 600 L/h
- Motor: water-cooled
- Hose: typically 10 m
- Typical UK price: official from £409.99 to £519.99. Argos has listed a K7 Power at £470
- Who it is for: a large plot where you already know you want 180 bar and that extra water, not a nicer car wash
Kärcher sells the same class under Comfort Premium, WCM Flex, eco!Booster and Power labels. The number is the pump class. Official range tiles have shown a Comfort Premium at £519.99 and a WCM Flex eco!Booster at £409.99. Argos has listed a K7 Power at £470. Those are class prices, not a reason to skip the K5.
The step from a £340 K5 is about £70 to £180. You get 35 bar and 50 to 100 L/h. You do not get a longer hose than the Flex. You do not get a safer car setting. You get more punch on stone, and a heavier Saturday if you leave the Vario open. Used on a wide fan, a metre back, a K7 will wash a car. Used as a pencil jet, close in, it will cut lacquer faster than a K5. Turn it down. Keep the dirt blaster off the paint.
Home kits exist in this class and include a T 5. They are a lot of washer for a domestic patio. Buy one if you already know you want the K7. Do not buy one because the box says Home. The T 5 and the T 7 Plus both clip onto a current K7 Home & Garden gun. Neither needs 180 bar to spin.
If the 13A lead will not reach, or the plot is a lane, the honest jump is petrol, not a bigger yellow trolley. The driveway guide is written around the K5 for a reason.
Skip it if you came from a K4 vs K5 tab and thought the next number must be better. Skip it if the only job is cars. Skip it if a K5 Flex plus a T 5 already covers the slabs. That is most UK households shopping this comparison.
Cars versus driveway
A car does not need 145 bar, and it does not need 180. It needs a wide fan, distance, and enough hose to walk around the body without yanking the trolley. A K5 and a K7 will both 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 than a K4 moves stone cleaner and algae off block paving. The 10 m hose is the daily comfort. The K7 earns its keep on a large, neglected plot. It does not earn a £100-plus premium on a family hatchback. If the only hard surface is a short path and a parking bay, the K4 is the rational car washer and both of these machines are a luxury.
Foam is worth more than another 35 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.
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 K5 will spin a T 5 properly on a typical terrace. A K7 does the same job with more water. Do not add a second T 5 if a Home box already has one. Do not buy a K7 only to clip a patio head onto it. Full head prices sit on the Kärcher patio cleaner page.
How to choose
- Cars and a normal patio, one machine. You are on the wrong page. Buy a K4 Power Control Flex. See K4 vs K5.
- 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 K5 or K7. Buy the T 5, not another washer.
- Large plot, 180 bar already on your list. A K7. Shop the live carton. Do not hunt a badge.
- No socket or no tap. Cordless, or petrol if the lead will not reach. Not a bigger K-class.
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. Comfort Premium, WCM and eco!Booster are newer lances and storage on the same K-class pressure. Shop the part number on the carton, not the word K7 on a tile.
Register the machine if you want the extra Kärcher years on top of the standard two. Terms apply. First-use setup, nozzles and frost drain-down are on how to use a pressure washer. Other mains brands sit on the electric guide.
FAQ
Is the K7 worth the extra money over the K5?
Only if you will use 180 bar and the extra flow on a large plot. At official prices of about £410 to £520, the step from a £340 K5 is £70 to £180. That is a lot for 35 bar on a car. It is reasonable for a long, neglected drive you do twice a year and already know is beyond 500 L/h.
Can I wash a car with a K7?
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 not buy a K7 for cars alone.
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. A K7 Home kit is still a K7. The head is not the reason to buy one.
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 is there no single K7 pick?
Because the K7 is a class, not one Flex SKU we can send you to. Official boxes sit from about £410 to £520. Argos has listed a K7 Power at £470. If you already know you want 180 bar, shop the live carton and the hose. If you are unsure, the K5 Flex is the buy.