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Wiper Blades

T

thecritic

Senior member
It's that time of year again-- winter. For many of us, there's a lot of snow and/or rain in the forecast, which makes having functional wiper blades to be critical.

Consumer Reports concluded in their latest test that most wiper blades perform very well when they are new, but nearly all of them display a significant decline in performance after six months.

I use the Anco Contour blades one of my cars and they perform satisfactorily. One car that I service regularly has a set of Valeo Ultimate Blades, which also work well. Both of those blades were purchased because they were on sale for far less than their regular price. Otherwise, I would not have purchased them as I have yet to find any performance advantage with the premium frameless blades.

With that said, what brand/model wiper blades do you folks use? Also, it'd be helpful if you stated which operating conditions the blades are used under, as it seems like some blades perform better than others in certain conditions.

Thanks!
 
Cheapo wallmart ones with the rubber wrapping for snow.

I've had those contour ones on my clk, but honestly it doesn't seem to make much difference.
 
Originally posted by: thecritic
It's that time of year again-- winter. For many of us, there's a lot of snow and/or rain in the forecast, which makes having functional wiper blades to be critical.

Consumer Reports concluded in their latest test that most wiper blades perform very well when they are new, but nearly all of them display a significant decline in performance after six months.

I use the Anco Contour blades one of my cars and they perform satisfactorily. One car that I service regularly has a set of Valeo Ultimate Blades, which also work well. Both of those blades were purchased because they were on sale for far less than their regular price. Otherwise, I would not have purchased them as I have yet to find any performance advantage with the premium frameless blades.

With that said, what brand/model wiper blades do you folks use? Also, it'd be helpful if you stated which operating conditions the blades are used under, as it seems like some blades perform better than others in certain conditions.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You're in CA, you get snow there? 😛

Yes most blades wear after 6 months. So I get the cheapest I can, they work for 6 months after that I replace them. I bought more expensive ones once and didn't get any better performance or life.
 
My last set of wiper blades, Trico Exact Fits, lasted over three years. Of course, the wipers are used sparingly when it's raining and the car is always garaged. On the other hand, prior to installing the Valeo Ultimate blades on the car that I mentioned in the original post, the original Toyota wiper blades lasted for over three years and there were still OK. And that car was a rental the entire time, so the car was never garaged.

So perhaps the mild weather in CA helps the blades last a lot longer?
 
I'm a big fan of the PIAA Super Silicone's...I also like Silblades which are made by a pretty small company and, I believe, only available online. They are the only blades I've found that don't squeak on my Jeep.
 
bosch icon
no spring for stuff to get stuck in, they curve enough for my windshield, last a long time, work great in the snow.
 
Michelin Radius - the new ones that are frameless and look like the Valeos and Latitudes.

I tried the Latitudes but they would not fit........




 
I was going to use Rain-X, but walmart was out of 20-inchers.
So I got the slightly more expensive Michelin havey-duty type. They work great on bugs and mud and they also do quite well with water.
7 bucks each and they do a heck of a better job than the 20 dollar models.

Also, thanks for the Consumer Report page. Its nice to know I didnt get ripped off.
 
cheap ones from wal-mart.

i used to buy the expensive ones, but i realized that i was getting maybe 10% better performance for 600% more cost.

so now i buy the cheap ones and replace them every few months.
 
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