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Having run a karcher for nearly 15 years and it finally wearing out I bought another, and lo and behold it has died just out of warranty. My old one was built like a tank this one (k3) is one of the worst constructed pieces of equipment I have ever seen - really really cheap plastic on the inside. No wonder it died
are there any cheapish reliable makes out there? Bosch is not what it was with anything these days, nilfisk seems to have issues. Or do you have to pay for quality (or do you just get same quality more power)
Nilfisk had a factory outlet with big discounts which is where mine came from. Dunno if they still do. I don't know what "issues" you're referring to but mine lives outside in all weathers and is fine.
Titan from screwfix works for me, but never on my bike.
I’ve just bought a Nilfisk and it appears to be very well made. Much quieter than the Karcher and the hose is a good quality one that doesn’t coil up like a spring when off the drum, 10m of it as well.
Nilfisk had a factory outlet with big discounts which is where mine came from. Dunno if they still do. I don't know what "issues" you're referring to but mine lives outside in all weathers and is fine.
This is me too but when I last looked the outlet side of things seems to have dried up or been offloaded to another firm.
I thought the move from Karcher to Nilfisk was a big improvement.
Biggest improvement was buying a little gun (I'm sure there's a cool name if you are a detailer) with different coloured end inserts for different pressures. So much better than the big long lances they all come with.
We've had a K4 Power Control for years - we replaced the outlet elbow with the 'metal' one after the hose kept popping off, and recently I've replaced the hose and the washers/yellow caps on the lances as fitting was getting stiff. My son has moved out, so as it was really his washer he's taken it.
I've bought a K5 WCM (water cooled motor) with the patio blaster. Now that has saved a load of work. £350 with discounts, so not 'cheap'. Would have got a Nilfisk but I have an additional Karcher fitting for an 'under car' sprayer/washer and the various coloured nozzles as linked above.
Our Karcher is on its last legs, we’ve bought an AVA P55 to replace it.
Too early to give it a honest review but it seems well put together…proper hose and flex length
May be useful:
I tried Nilfisk via the outlet whem my Karcher died. The Nilfisk was no better than the Karcher, if I'm being honest, actually failed even quicker.
Ended up going up to a Karcher K4, and it's been great.
Nilfisk core150 here for a few months now, happy with it so far. More bang for your buck compared to Karcher.
As a big fan of Nilfisk for years (decades!) I changed to an AVA Norway washer last year and I'm really happy with it so far.
This is all interesting. Review online seem to be mixed for all of them. Nilfisk /AVA will take a proper look. The nilfisk negative reviews seem to match karcher, but more seem to be user error than product fault…
Karcher for me. Previously had a K4 Compact that cost £35 in the outlet store which was great until it died after 5 years. Replaced a couple of years ago with a K3 'horizontal' which has a 5 year warranty for £60. I always looked at alternative brands but the basic Karchers are so cheap I'll be happy with 5 years use for that price.
I'm tied in to Karcher with my fancy aftermarket hose/spray gun etc.