My cheap (£90), but pretty impressive spec Ferrex 2.2 KW power washer clocked out earlier this month. At just 2 year 10 months old, since it was under the 3 warranty they choose just to refund me in full.
That puts me in the market for a new pressure washer and I was very tempted to pull the trigger on the 5 year warranty, Karcher K5, induction + water cooled motor model for £279 at Homebase earlier this week.
However.... I then discovered Ava and when I saw the terrible hose that the Karcher uses (looks like the same crap I had on my Ferrex), I thought maybe this Ava brand is worth considering and getting instead. But after some time researching I'm not so sure... I'm considering either AVA Smart P60 or Ava Evo P60 (£280 - £350).
Can someone convince me one way or the other?
The Good:
The Bad:
Also, pricing has gone up, despite all these issues, so not sure if the value proposition is worth the risk anymore. Were people getting P60 Evo's for £250 before? Now they are like £380? I saw on QVC they were selling bundles under £200 that are now worth over £600... Makes me wonder with all that mind, if they are even worth it after all?
To me, if they kept their prices low, whilst they resolved all the issues, I'd be more tempted to deal with all the issues (like waiting for stock before I buy and expecting failures / issues).
That puts me in the market for a new pressure washer and I was very tempted to pull the trigger on the 5 year warranty, Karcher K5, induction + water cooled motor model for £279 at Homebase earlier this week.
However.... I then discovered Ava and when I saw the terrible hose that the Karcher uses (looks like the same crap I had on my Ferrex), I thought maybe this Ava brand is worth considering and getting instead. But after some time researching I'm not so sure... I'm considering either AVA Smart P60 or Ava Evo P60 (£280 - £350).
Can someone convince me one way or the other?
The Good:
- So I am massively impressed by the hose they use, it seems to be perfect quality and won't suffer from the tangling that the cheaper ones have on most consumer units.
- Also, the paper specs seem really good with 500 F/L and the V3 / V4 motors sound like they are better than what Karcher has.
- When you combine this with 10 year or 20 year warranty for similar price of a K5, it all seems like a great deal.
- Servicing and right to repair is absolutely awesome, it honestly sounds like they want their pressure washers to last and have quality in mind and I'm excited at the prospect of actually being able to do fixes myself by following their guides.
The Bad:
- I don't think their warranty is going to be as good as a well known brand like Karcher, for example they seem to put a lot of exclusions on their warranty (like o-rings and wearing parts) and seem to mention long complicated procedures for winter storage, such as running the pump for 63 seconds without water (note doing this for excessive time would damage the pump) and using WD-40 and what not.
- As a consumer, I don't mind following servicing procedures but are they honestly expecting me to follow this procedure for winter storage every time I wash my car? It's probably gonna take me a good 30 mins the first time and at least 15 mins the subsequent attempts, that time will add up for sure. I don't want to be faffing around, I just want to wash my car and throw my pressure washer in the shed, just like I do with any other consumer brand.
- In terms of not covering wearing parts and o-rings, sometimes devices have excessive premature wear, for example with my Ferrex the hose got worn and exposed cords after just 2 (careful) uses, after complaining they replaced it without question. This is just exceptional good customer service and it doesn't sound like AVA would be the sort of company who would, but I may be wrong.
- The stock situation is terrible with AVA, right now they hardly have any stock and there are many reports of them not even being able to stock basic servicing parts, repair parts, let alone resupplying their distributors. This all seems a bit amateurish and makes me wonder if they will even last the 20 years of warranty.
- The quality does not appear to be what it seems, with common reports of internal leaks, blown fuses, units arriving with handprint marks all over them, power switches not working, etc, etc.
Also, pricing has gone up, despite all these issues, so not sure if the value proposition is worth the risk anymore. Were people getting P60 Evo's for £250 before? Now they are like £380? I saw on QVC they were selling bundles under £200 that are now worth over £600... Makes me wonder with all that mind, if they are even worth it after all?
To me, if they kept their prices low, whilst they resolved all the issues, I'd be more tempted to deal with all the issues (like waiting for stock before I buy and expecting failures / issues).
