# Karcher K4 vs K5



## szladob

I had a small Karcher K2 that packed up, and now looking into buying a more robust version... Would anybody be able to advise between K4 vs K5s? Price looks much better on Karcher outlet for both (although the short warranty is a a bit of a shame), so the question is, is the K5 worth the extra money (primary use is car and concrete washing...) Many thanks!


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## Criptop

Would you ever consider the equivalent Nilfisk pressure washers?


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## Blueberry

I had a K2 then went to a K4. When the K4 died, I went for the Nilfisk P150. It's far better quality than the Karcher's. I wish I'd bought the Nilfisk sooner. If you can, I would suggest you buy a Nilfisk.


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## Guest

I had the misfortune to have to resort to using a K4 recently. My own machines were in service and I needed a pressure washer so I used a brand new, unwrapped on the day, K4. 
They are poor machines with little power and little pressure. Utter rubbish IMO. Karcher shot themselves in the foot many years back when they decided to go from quality machines to the cheapie range. Go for something else. Kranzle maybe.


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## Criptop

If the money is available, I'd recommend the Nilfisk P150. I bought it during the summer and it's fantastic, very powerful and comes with a brass pump unlike the Karcher K range. If you're looking for something cheaper, there are deals to be had the E130/E140/E145.


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## GleemSpray

I got a K4 in the B&Q sale a while back and it seems to be as powerful or better than the Nilfisk Alto it replaced.


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## chummy325

stay away from the k4 it is crap


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## boost monster

+1 for the Nilfisk P150


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## szladob

Many thanks for the replies. I have already a patio cleaner, and the foam gun to match Karcher, which is why I was leaning towards those, but would consider the Nilfisk as well. However, the new eco range from Karcher has a 5 year warranty (both for K4 and K5) vs. the 2 for Nilfisk, so bit of a dilemma. I believe the structure of the K4 and K5 is not different (both aluminum head), so don't know if there is much in the difference in the life expectancy... Is 145 bar a significant difference from 130 when it comes to car cleaning; or the high pressures (Nilfisk's 150) are not dangerous for the car?

Sound wise, does anybody know which of these are louder? 

Many thanks again for the responses.


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## SuperchargedLlama

Criptop said:


> If the money is available, I'd recommend the Nilfisk P150. I bought it during the summer and it's fantastic, very powerful and comes with a brass pump unlike the Karcher K range. If you're looking for something cheaper, there are deals to be had the E130/E140/E145.


I've just got the C130 which I can definitely recommend - it has the same pump at the E130 from what I gleaned before purchase.


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## Bero

K4 to K5 used to be the change over from plastic pump parts to 'professional' metal ones.

I'm not sure if this is still the case.


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## Guitarjon

Another vote for Nilfisk here.


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## shine247

szladob said:


> Many thanks for the replies. I have already a patio cleaner, and the foam gun to match Karcher, which is why I was leaning towards those, but would consider the Nilfisk as well. However, the new eco range from Karcher has a 5 year warranty (both for K4 and K5) vs. the 2 for Nilfisk, so bit of a dilemma. I believe the structure of the K4 and K5 is not different (both aluminum head), so don't know if there is much in the difference in the life expectancy... Is 145 bar a significant difference from 130 when it comes to car cleaning; or the high pressures (Nilfisk's 150) are not dangerous for the car?
> 
> Sound wise, does anybody know which of these are louder?
> 
> Many thanks again for the responses.


I have the K5 eco as well as a couple of other machines. It works well enough and if you have some equipment already I would go for it with the 5 year guarantee. Mine did leak at one point from the top of the motor, I opened it up and the motor is held in place with polystyrene. Bit disappointing inside when you see them and there is a fair bit of space. I thought there could be a quick fix for the leak but in the end it would mean further messing about so I called Karcher, they collected it and returned it under the guarantee. If you can get it at a good price with the 5 years peace of mind you really cannot go wrong. I had a Kew which was never reliable and Nilfisk E140 which smoked within two weeks and was returned. I have a E140 now which I got new and cheap, that is fine. I think it is more solid than the K5 but the warranty would do it for me.

There will be some difference with the power of the 150 and it will not damage the car but the Karcher is more than adequate.

Hope that helps.


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## szladob

Many thanks for the advice! Sounds like the Nilfisk is a strong option, but ended up finding a very good price on a K5 premium ecologic. I was really swayed at the end by the 5 year warranty, plus being a domestic appliance, probably more accessories available for it than the more industrial Nilfisk 150... Hope to add an additional year with the credit card company... so 6 years should cover it hopefully. 

From the reading, it has an aluminum head, not plastic, but arguably not brass as the 150... 

Price was very good, although company was "tricky" and ordered it from Europe i think, and put on a plug adaptor, which I don't mind.. Looking into it, found even better prices on German websites, but not sure if it is easy to have it shipped without additional tax... 

Anyhow, machine looks very cool, and actually worked amazing compared to the little K2... Much more powerful, yet probably slightly less loud, and the pressure helped so much to shift the dirt. Being so much more powerful, you can keep the lance further away, so as the jet fans out, you cover more area, improving efficiency greatly. 

It is considerably more expensive then the small machines, but if time is an issue, I think it's really worth the investment even for home use... Hopefully cleaning the driveway will be so much quicker as well. 

So for those with small machines - such as the K2 - when it packs up (and it will  ), it's worth considering to get a more powerful one, whichever brand you prefer... I wish I had gone that way earlier...


I already had a patio cleaner (T300) which is better than the one came with this machine (T250), so if anybody was interested in a brand new patio cleaner, I would take a bargain price compared to the new price  They are not as effective, as using the lance or specially the dirtblaster direct, but soooooooo much less messy and still cleaning surprisingly well...


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## shine247

Thanks for the update, always nice to know the result. Just to mention, be careful if you pull the unit forward, they tend to fall over. Best set it a 90 degrees to your work area, you will be fine then.


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## kermnitz

I also bought this to replace my old karcher that died, plastic water pump died. The k5 has metal pump & is very well made. I had all the attachments for the karcher so didn't want to change all of them. Used 1 of the boys nilfisk washers think it was a entry level one & wasn't impressed! http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk...gclid=CMfbq4OCo8MCFeLItAodSSEAjw&gclsrc=aw.ds


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## Bero

szladob said:


> .....Hope to add an additional year with the credit card company... so 6 years should cover it hopefully.....


What do the Ts and Cs say? I thought they only gave you an extra year on the legal minimum (1yr)? Not an extra year on whatever the manufacturer provides.


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## Soapy

I'm in the market for a new pressure washer after my nilfisk started smoking. What do you guys think of this, I've only got a small budget?http://www.karcheroutlet.co.uk/products/product.asp?id=5178#


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## savbmw

I have a K4 (not compact) and to be honest it does everything I need, and it does it very well imo. Accessories and spare parts are easily available and the service from the Karcher Outlet is fantastic. The unit itself is quiet in operation and my cars are spotless after citrus pre wash and ultimate snow foam. My cars are never 'caked' in dirt but they are used daily and the K4 has more than enough power to get them clean. I guess it all depends how dirty your car gets and how often you want to clean. I clean 2 cars every 7-10 days in the summer, about every 14-21 days in the winter, I have also used it to clean the patio and the conversatory on a couple of occasions, and the K4 has never let me down and produces a great result. I can't fault the K4.


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## szladob

Bero said:


> What do the Ts and Cs say? I thought they only gave you an extra year on the legal minimum (1yr)? Not an extra year on whatever the manufacturer provides.


You are correct, it was wishful thinking on my side. They told me that the additional warranty only comes on top of max 2 year warranty; but I still want to registered it, as the lady on the phone said this way I would have 3 years of accidental damage cover as well...



Soapy said:


> I'm in the market for a new pressure washer after my nilfisk started smoking. What do you guys think of this, I've only got a small budget?http://www.karcheroutlet.co.uk/products/product.asp?id=5178#


I have to say, I have also started my entire project on the outlet site, but then they ran out the one I wanted (fortunately), so looked around a bit more. When they got it again (K5 premium eco), they wanted around £230 with next to nothing warranty, vs. I have found mine for £300 with the 5 year warranty, brand new... So at that point, I though the extra money was worth it, especially that the outlet one wouldn't have come with dirtblaster, patio cleaner... So in essence the extra money I paid covered those... So in my case, £230 sounded like a bigger risk... Also liked the longer cable, the bit more power, the reel for the cable, and the extra tube it came with for alternative water sources... This did intrigued me, as would be great to do the last wash off with non-hard water... So overall, the 5 year warranty was the thing that squeezed the money out of me, since I figured that if I will use this machine for the next 5 years, it might as well be the better one..

However, the price you quote sounds great - I didn't really know what the difference is between the compact and the normal in terms of internal structures - and with that amount of investment, your risk is modest, so if that is your budget, I would go for it (while they have it..)


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## Soapy

szladob said:


> You are correct, it was wishful thinking on my side. They told me that the additional warranty only comes on top of max 2 year warranty; but I still want to registered it, as the lady on the phone said this way I would have 3 years of accidental damage cover as well...
> 
> I have to say, I have also started my entire project on the outlet site, but then they ran out the one I wanted (fortunately), so looked around a bit more. When they got it again (K5 premium eco), they wanted around £230 with next to nothing warranty, vs. I have found mine for £300 with the 5 year warranty, brand new... So at that point, I though the extra money was worth it, especially that the outlet one wouldn't have come with dirtblaster, patio cleaner... So in essence the extra money I paid covered those... So in my case, £230 sounded like a bigger risk... Also liked the longer cable, the bit more power, the reel for the cable, and the extra tube it came with for alternative water sources... This did intrigued me, as would be great to do the last wash off with non-hard water... So overall, the 5 year warranty was the think that squeezed the money out of me, since I figured that if I will use this machine for the next 5 years, it might as well be the better one..
> 
> However, the price you quote sounds great - I didn't really know what the difference is between the compact and the normal in terms of internal structures - and with that amount of investment, your risk is modest, so if that is your budget, I would go for it (while they have it..)


Thanks Szladob, thats given me something to think about, I'll let you know what i decide to do.


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## markie

I have a K5 and it's given me several years of good service.


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## suspal

I've had all sorts of pw's,kews,nilfisk,bosch,karchers (k3.99/k4) i've used the k5 and k7 too but kranzle is in it's own league.


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