Windshield wipers

[Plai]

Talk to me about windshield wipers. What's your strategy? What's your brand and model.

Why am I asking? This year has been record snow/rain here in Northern CA. My usual strategy, for decade or so, has been to switch out wipers with Goodyears from Costco in Oct and use them for a calendar year. As you can probably guess, the wipers are gone already. I'm not oppose to just replacing with the same, but thought it might be good to ask around if anyone has a better strategy, or make/model to be considered.

What do I want out of a pair of wipers? Good performance at speed. Availability at a local shop so I don't have to order it. Nothing outrageously expensive, but as always, cheaper is usually better. Easy to install is always good.

The best wipers I've used were VW branded ones for my previous 2003 Passat. IIRC they were rebranded Bosch, performed really well, lasted a couple of years, but were 4x the cost of what I'm currently using.

I've got a 2008 Toyota 4Runner to fit, if that makes any difference.

 

[cantunamunch]

<- Big fan of silicone wipers. Sorry, not generally something one can walk in and buy. Not cheap up front BUT they have 4x outlasted Bosch Icons. In a super-high ground-level ozone area.

https://forum.pugski.com/threads/silblade-premium-wipers-a-first-on-car-look.568/#post-23960

 

[Carl Kuck]

Rain-X. (Not the wiper blades, the windshield treatment spray...)

 

[cantunamunch]

Rain-X. (Not the wiper blades, the windshield treatment spray...)

Especially on side windows and mirrors.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I use Bosch Evolution all weather wiper blades on my jeep. Plus rainx/de-icer washer fluid in the writer. Change blades about once a.year.

 

[scott43]

I use OEM blades and just replace the rubber annually. Works for me. It's also dependent on the windshield. Sometimes you need to clean the grime off with Windex. I used to use Rain-X and the cops use it here but I find it makes for weird light patterns at night under streetlights. Good for head-on lights though. The other problem is the Rain-X washer fluid kinda sucks in winter. I prefer the old-fashioned alcohol spray. So I've left Rain-X and just use OEM stuff. Works for me..we dont' generally get horrendous rain though. YMMV...

 

[Tom K.]

Rain X monthly in the winter.

Wipers last a long time in the PNW if you don't have to use them much!

 

[crgildart]

Sand and road salt can grind up your wipers pretty quick. Other than following a lot of exposure to that I try to swap out wiper blades every 2 years. Not brand or style loyal at all, but do avoid the absolute cheapest option available.
I use Rain-X winter mix in the washer fluid, anti fog cloth for side mirrors.

 

[Fuller]

Towards the end of my 2 month Montana trip I noticed my almost new, expensive Bosch wipers were really dragging and stuttering. It didn't affect my vision so much as just drive me crazy. Would RainX fix that?

FWIW the 2015 Outback came with a windshield that appears to repel water all by itself.. I don't know if that's by design or what, I've never put any aftermarket goo on it.

 

[Bad Bob]

Clan them, it makes a huge difference in how they work. I wet a couple of paper towels and some rubbing alcohol and wipe them until the residue stops coming off, let them dry for a few minutes and good to go. When that stops helping, off to Costco for some new blades.

 

[cantunamunch]

Towards the end of my 2 month Montana trip I noticed my almost new, expensive Bosch wipers were really dragging and stuttering. It didn't affect my vision so much as just drive me crazy. Would RainX fix that?

Clean them with Windex. If you have Vaseline or Chapstick with you, put some on your fingers and lube the blades. 2 months is incredibly bad even for our super-high-ozone area.

 

[oldschoolskier]

OEM wipers. The tend to fit the arms better lasting longer. Tend to replace my blades once a year and use RainX or similar product.

Wipers for city speed with RainX, highway speeds no wipers RainX does the job.

Winter salt spray, fluid and wipers all speeds.

 

[crgildart]

OEM wipers. The tend to fit the arms better lasting longer. Tend to replace my blades once a year and use RainX or similar product.

When my Forester was at the dealer for new belts I asked about a wiper blade. They put a Bosh on it and told me they use Bosh for all replacements claiming it was superior in just about every way.

FWIW, I had been using Bosh because that was a middle priced after market option, not much more than the standard one but easier to install.

One thing I noticed is when getting a new blade for my wife's car this week.. All of them have gone up in price about 25%-30% in the past year. What was 20 and change is now about 30 bucks..

 

[pete]

Love the Rain-x, i typically only need wipers to use for cleaning off dirt and less so with rain. My wife doesn't care to drive without wipers in the rain but I find it far less distracting, I guess my depth of field focus allows me not to be distracted by pellets of rain. Winter though is a bit more rough with use due to sleet and icing, salts, road spray.

wiper wise, tried lots of em, typically replace least once a year regardless but I buy on sale, hence the variety.

I've liked the Rain-X brand wipers, Trico and to a degree the Bosch, though they're a bit pricer. Tried some Michelin's ~ 2yrs ago, they seemed to dry up and die. Only recall these as they were a first in long time were the rubber contact edge started pealing off from the rest of the wiper. Maybe a bad set but surprised me given the name.

I may pick up a set of Silblades ... not horribly priced, I like clean window when driving.

 

[crgildart]

Towards the end of my 2 month Montana trip I noticed my almost new, expensive Bosch wipers were really dragging and stuttering. It didn't affect my vision so much as just drive me crazy. Would RainX fix that?

FWIW the 2015 Outback came with a windshield that appears to repel water all by itself.. I don't know if that's by design or what, I've never put any aftermarket goo on it.

Heavy sand and road salt will destroy wipers in under an hour if you're getting slammed by it from the cars and truck in front of you. I can only remember a couple times when I was sanding my wipers just to see after using ALL of the washer fluid. But, it can happen if you run out of washer fluid or aren't using it generously.

 

[oldschoolskier]

I have found that some stealerships use aftermarket blades that don't fit as well in the mounts while only charging marginally less. Additionally, the slight cost savings to buy elsewhere for so called better blades that have a universal fit isn't worth the headache.

Now if you like to buy swamp land in Florida these wiperblades might be for you.....

http://crystalclearblades.com/

 

[TahoeCharlie]

Living at Tahoe this has been an exceptionally "wet" year. Usually I just buy wipers for all our cars every year in Oct at Costco. Good price and they last all year as it doesn't rain much after May. However, I just had to replace one set as "ice" has torn them up. Tip to Californians: buy windshield washer fluid IN NEVADA! Cali forced a re-formulation several years ago which took out most of the "alcohol" resulting in an inferior product that doesn't clean worth a shit.

 

[Lorenzzo]

Wait...they can be replaced? Do you have to pull out the windshield? I usually just sell the car after a few years.

 

[pete]

Wait...they can be replaced? Do you have to pull out the windshield? I usually just sell the car after a few years.

funny! I will note that with lots of sand/grit, road miles one of the best things I did was replace the windshield in my truck when it hit 11 yrs old. Thing was pitted, made for glare regardless of how clean it was, sucked. I had hoped for 2+ years a rock would do it in .. pondered the ball peen hammer but just decided to replace one day.

Foolish me, expected $500, only $180 bucks complete, driving it home into the sun simply had me smiling and knowing it was one of my best spends. (wipers work better too!)

 

[Uncle-A]

NJ does not have as harsh conditions as many of our members have to deal with so once a year seems to work. I have used many different brands and all seem to last a year so what ever is on sale in the fall when I replace the blades. When I was young and poor I would buy only one blade for the drivers side and move the one year old to the passenger side to get a second season from a blade. That way the drivers would always be new and the passenger side would be in fair shape. That worked on cars that had the same size blade for both the driver and passenger sides but that is not the case for all vehicles.