GOOD wiper blades

[Kincaid]

I change my wipers every year out of fear after one time, when I went longer, I ended up with four swaths of abrasion across the windshield of my Civic. Not scratches, just a haze that was about an inch wide and only on the driver's side.Anyway, here is another update. I am very unlucky on my 2009 Vibe wipers!Got the PIAA silicone blades on, using the original Vibe four-point wiper brackets. They functioned okay at clearing the rain (not the spotless perfect swipe of the original equipment but almost) but the driver's side was lifting a bit on top so the last few inches was poor, which also left a bigger spot of unwiped area at the bottom.After a few weeks I noticed that the short passenger side blade was losing the metal stiffener insert - they were sliding outward. I snugged them back in and thought it was odd. Never had that happened ever before.Then another few weeks later I noticed that the passenger side blade was not wiping as well. I checked it and the metal inserts had completely come out of the rubber blade and were laying next to the blade, held in only by the four-point bracket. I took it out and re-inserted it but it didnt' seem to grip on anything. I have no idea how they are fixed in there (on any blade for that matter).Just last night I turned the wipers on, leaving the mall. They seemed to catch on something and chatter across the windshield. Suspecting it was some issue w/the passenger side wiper again I drove home without them on until I could inspect them in the garage.I looked at them closely and realized that the metal insert in the passenger side had slid down this time, protruding about 1/2 inch, and when I turned on the wipers it caught on the driver side blade and bent the insert. It also popped off the shield on the OEM bracket but I think I got that snapped back on okay.So I put the Silblades back on for now (and they are working better than I remember them doing, but still not perfect like OEM).Lol, because I bought the PIAA inserts off Amazon I don't know that I can return them easily.No I have a dilemma. Do I buy regular inserts and use them with the potentially compromised OEM bracket, or do I just go with another beam blade? Or new aftermarket four-point brackets/blades?I like the look of the OEM bracket but would hate to find out that it coming apart has affected the pressure it puts on the windshield.

[jeff618]

I'm not a big fan of the silicone wipers because I don't like how the wiper sweep area beads up and the area around it doesn't. I now use aquapel glass treatment which is like rainx treatment except it doesn't create haze and also it lasts 6 months per application. My whole windshield beads up now and everything rolls right up above 45mph. I really recommend the trico neoform wiper + aquapel set-up bigtime.

[09vGT]

Bosch Icon's SUCK. I mean, they're great for the first month, then.. they crap out. They steak and get dirt caught underneath them.. so you have to constantly wipe them down. Paying $50.00 for both wipers I expect something GREAT. I'll stick with my $12.00 OEM wipers from the dealer; they last, and do a great job of cleaning. Its not just one set of them either, I've tried them once before, and they did the exact same.

[Kincaid]

Maybe the extra long blade is an issue? I had a great experience on a Civic/Accord with Bosch Icon/Evolution (I don't know which one was on which car). Buying them from Amazon saved some bucks.That said, I can't yet recommend anything but OEM refills for the '09 Vibe. I just ordered a set of Trico teflon inserts in OEM size. So, will have another report soon.

[jake75]

With the first major Mid-Ohio snow and very cold temps the almost 2 year old OEM's were not doing the job. Just ordered the Rain-X Latitude 26 & 17 inch. $27.48, no tax, no shipping (5-8 day shipping). Autozone had the Bosch buy 1 get 2nd 1/2 price but decided to go with the flow and try the Rain-X. I am going to save the old hardware and perhaps try an insert replacement next time.

[jeff618]

Keep us posted on how the rainx latitudes (I'm assuming they're latitudes) work. I've heard very mixed reviews on them...seem to be hit or miss. Keep us posted! Thanks!!

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by jeff618 »Keep us posted on how the rainx latitudes (I'm assuming they're latitudes) work. I've heard very mixed reviews on them...seem to be hit or miss. Keep us posted! Thanks!!The general consensus seems to be that the Rain-X Latitudes are a good choice. The Amazon pricing pushed me over the edge. I was at Target last night and they have the Latitudes priced at $17.95 for any size. Amazon was $11.99 for the 17 inch and $15.49 for the 26 inch. 5-8 day shipping was free. That was soon enough for me. I don't know how Amazon gets away with not charging sales tax. More than half of the stuff I buy on line adds the sales tax which is o.k. with me. I bought the Bosch ones at Autozone last year for my T&C. They put them on for you. They had a sale buy 1 get 2nd half price so that was not so bad and didn't have to mail in any rebate form. I have no complaint about those. Some say you should change wiper blades every 3-6 months. I usually do not see any significant problem until at least 18 months, but perhaps that is because we don't drive much and the wipers get little use.

[Houston]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »I don't know how Amazon gets away with not charging sales tax. More than half of the stuff I buy on line adds the sales tax which is o.k. with me.When they don't charge state sales tax, it's our obligation to report this on our tax forms and pay it at that time. We may get away with not doing it, but there are additional penalties if caught.

[jake75]

I fear that I might come down with "Charlie Rangel" disease and forget that minor detail. Others in Congress also have this affliction - they forget to return unused per deim expense money they get when the go on foreign junkets with their wives etc. I know I risk getting the same most serious of penalties that the NY Congressman had to face - a public reprimand by my peers. My main question - do you think this might have any impact on being able to run for Mayor of Detroit?

[KITT222]

I think there might be something wrong with my wipers. I couldn't tell you the brand (nothing like Bosch or Rain-X), but we got them cheap from Advanced Auto when we drove the car home, since the previous wipers were so horrible. Now, though, after 10-15 minutes of them going, either a white residue forms over the windshield while it rains, or they just stop cleaning the windshield of the water droplets in the snow, AND maybe the residue forms. It's so hard to drive with this residue, since it shows EVERY light, and the droplets just won't move. I tried to clap down the wipers at a stoplight, because I though it maybe was ice on the blade (there was), but it didn't do anything after it was gone! Now I can't put Rain-X on my windshield right now, since it's too cold, but does anyone have any idea of what I can put on my car to stop this from happening? At least in the meantime?

[star_deceiver]

Sounds like you have oil on the windshield. Get a good glass cleaner or degreaser and wipe well. (just don't get degreaser on your wipers as it will turn them to mush) Some car wash soap after the degreaser will get any residue off!

[KITT222]

The problem with the glass cleaner is that it freezes on contact because it's so cold right now.I spray it on, wipe the glass, and when I pull up the rag, it's ice, and I get my ice scraper to clean it off. I guess I'll have to do it when we have the garage heater on. It needs a wash in general too, so that may come, once I can find an open car wash.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by jeff618 »Keep us posted on how the rainx latitudes (I'm assuming they're latitudes) work. I've heard very mixed reviews on them...seem to be hit or miss. Keep us posted! Thanks!!Well - they went on real easy. I was confused because there were different alternative "adapters" in the 26 and 17 inch packages, but the ones already attached to the blade assemblys seemed to be the right one.They seem to do an excellent job of wiping the windshield so far. Good contact, no missed spots. I have saved the OEM's in case I want to go back with new inserts in those.

[Kincaid]

My saga seems to be at and end - but not with the Trico inserts. I put those into the OEM holders and was still getting poor contact on the top of the larger blade and the weren't giving me a perfectly clean swipe - they were still leaving little droplets.After a few weeks I had the same problem with the right wiper - the metal insert in the refill was coming out. I looked at the OEM holder and I can see that it is superwide compared to the refill. I could easily slide two refills in side by side. Not sure if the OEM refills are wider and prevent the metal stiffeners from coming out.After a few more weeks the right wiper began to make a loud "squeegee" noise as it nestled back down from a swipe. It was also putting down a lot of force on the window and in two spots at the top was either leaving invisible teflon residue or perhaps removing left over residue of silicon from the Silblade wipers. So, I once again made a change and bought some Goodyear brand beam-style wipers at Costco and they work excellent! They swipe clean leaving no droplets and they do not lift but give apparently even pressure across the entire blade.Due to availability at Costco and my concerns about the 26" Silblade lifting in the middle (perhaps just asking too much of a beam-style blade) I got 24" long blade and then, because they didn't sell the 17", I ended up getting a 16" blade for the smaller one. I don't even notice the missing 3" of swiped area (which, because of lifting, I was missing anyway!).They are working excellent and I plan to go back and buy some for the other two cars and maybe even another sent for my car.I am also thinking that because the beam-style blade has a more even pressure across the windshield, I might be able to avoid changing them out every fall like I have always done. I shouldn't have to worry about the rubbing that occured on my Civic.

[BLargal]

I used Rain-x as well but that was on my old ford that my mom now has, had them for a year and a half no almost two years now without any issue. They need replacing in a few more months as they are streaking a tiny bit. As for my new car i have no clue what I have but they are new, soon as those wear out (you know how dealerships are) i'm going straight back to rain-x well worth the price just remember one thing with that brand though. Always run a towel or something through them at least hmmm i'd say on the safe side once a month and you should be golden for a long time unless you over use your wiper blades.

[jeff618]

Quote, originally posted by Kincaid »Due to availability at Costco and my concerns about the 26" Silblade lifting in the middle (perhaps just asking too much of a beam-style blade) I got 24" long blade and then, because they didn't sell the 17", I ended up getting a 16" blade for the smaller one. I don't even notice the missing 3" of swiped area... I could have definitely warned you about the refill saga...just too many headaches for the money saved. I do wonder why you still have to "macgyver" with full wiper blades though? The correct sizes should be available by most national brands, for example, here's several options in the right sizes. 3" is 3"...

[Kincaid]

I got the one's at Costco because they cost about $8. The last Bosch beam blades I got from Amazon were closer to $15 each. And, I didn't want to spend $15 on a 26" blade and have it lift in the middle like the SilBlades did. Sure, I'd like to have the three inches, but I'm just so happy to be done with this expensive experiment!

[jeff618]

I understand... I was just saying that the correct sizes are available and work great with the neoforms...don't have to go shorter to get them to work.

[coppens1]

I recently bought a 02005 Viber, with strange blades. All three blades are worn out. You can't replace just the rubber on these blades, so I went to Autozone, and they wanted $33.67 for replacements. Pep Boys wanted $32.07.

I am used to paying less. Anyone have a good source for replacement of all 3 blades at a reasonable price? JC

[ColonelPanic]

rockauto.com may be an option - you'll have to pay a bit for shipping but perhaps you can find something to make it work out slightly cheaper.

At a local store, I don't know if you can get much cheaper than $30-ish for all three. You might try Advance if one is nearby, looks like they have a line of lower cost blades but that's still only going to save a few bucks over what you have found thus far.

The rear factory blade is refillable and Toyota has an insert for it. Here's a how-to thread, though the pics are no longer available. In today's money the Toyota refill is about $10 (Amazon) which isn't far off from the price of an aftermarket replacement blade assembly with no need to fight with installing the refill. The refill may be cheaper at a Toyota dealer.

[Mark]

$33 for all three sounds like the cheapest available. How long's it been since you bought good wipers?

Rainx Latitudes run $15-20 ea depending on sale price and retailer. Michelin Stealth run a bit less, and I've had good and bad results from both w/r/t longevity. The rear I generally go with a Trico Exact fit for $11-14. I know I can replace just the insert for a lot less, but it's a few bucks every few years and just not worth it to me.

A number of years ago I got PO'd at the Rainx blades that I'd paid $18/ea for wearing out after just a year, so I started using the Michelin and they seemed to last about twice as long. A few years ago those started failing sooner and sooner, and I switched back to the Rainx for now.

[ColonelPanic]

For Midwestern GenVibers: Trico blades are buy one/get one of equal or lesser value for 50% at Meijer - regularly $7.49 to $21.99. Sale ends today. They carry a couple rear blade options but I've never found the 11A we need in any of my local stores, so you'll have to look elsewhere for that most likely.

I usually just get the lowest cost option there (Exact Fit) but was able to upgrade to the Flex for a pretty good price last time they ran this sale.

[BenWA]

I got these abd are they are pretty nice...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171210204919?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

[coppens1]

I bought all three on eBay. All were US vendors, and all shipped promptly and were decent quality and refillable. I had to go to two vendors, because the vendor for the front wipers didn't have the rear wiper, and vice versa.

All three totaled less than $17 including shipping. JC

[BenWA]

I got a new rear wiper blade from O'Reilly. They were $1.50 off on sale, plus I had a $5 rewards voucher. You can't get them for that even online.