Prius Iii Wiper Blades

[thecaretaker]

I still have the original Wiper Blades on my Prius (about 2 years old now) and frankly they are leaving a film of water that does clear after a few seconds, but is getting annoying each time the blade travels. I've tried cleaning the screen and blades to no affect. So I think it is time I purchased some new wipers.

The blades on a Prius are really slick, shaped and look really good so not sure if I should go for OEM replacements or buy a new set.

I've been reading the Auto-Express tests and they praise both the Bosch Aerotwin retrofit and Champion Aerovantage. But would they work any better than the original Toyota blades?

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/36031/wiper-blade-test

What have you fitted to your Prius?

If they don't work any better than the standard Toyota blades but look ugly, then I'd better stay with Toyota. But if you say they work far better than Toyota blades but don't look so nice, it might make me try them out. Oh if only everything in life was simplez

Help me out guys and gals!

[Cyker]

If you want a consistently clear screen, the PIAA silicone wipers are the way to go IMHO.

Had them for a while and they are fantastic. Most wipers get worse as they get older but so far these ones have just gotten the more I use them :D

The only real downside is that they are eeeexpensive :(

[johalareewi]

I've currently got valeo flat Wiper Blades which have lasted better than the normal blades.

Last time I looked on the Toyota UK website, a set of front Wiper Blades for a gen3 were around £20. Just had a quick look but can't find them now.

[Ancient Nerd]

I've been using flat beam blades on both the Gen II and the Gen III from first replacement. IMHO they are way better than the standard type of blade. I don't think the make matters too much. I've mostly been using Trico from Opie Oils, but I'm sure Bosch etc are just as good.

For an experiment, I did once buy a seriously cheap flat blade from Amazon for the rear screen. It worked well, but the metal corroded fairly quickly. I replaced it because it looked pretty grotty in the end.

Also, I think you need to replace the blades at least annually. They lose performance and become uncleanable. Also, parts of the rubber can break off, leaving you wiping the screen with bits of metal. Leaves lovely scratches on the screen!

[Parts-King]

You can buy a pair of genuine Optifit blades for about £15 from your dealer, not worth faffing around with non gen for that price to be honest

Kingo

[cootuk]

I've used Bosch Aeros for the GenII and the old Volvo 850 - I prefer the styling and they do seem to hug the glass well.

I'm only surprised that toerags don't knick them.

[kithmo]

I retained the original blades and replaced the rubbers from some cheap eBay wipers I had, that were the same size but for another fitment, they work fine.

The key is to have some decent wiper fluid, I use the normal cheap stuff as antifreeze and add those small 25ml bottles of highly concentrated 100:1 stuff for cleaning power. The current one I'm using is Sonax which is available in a 250ml bottle with a measuring cavity at the top for accurate dosage, 25ml per 2.5 litres of water. This stuff removes traffic film from the screen and the wipers and even removes the wax left on the screen by the wash-wax hand car wash.