How often do you check and change the wipers?

[Konrad C]

I changed my wipers at the beginning of the year and fitted Bosch universal fitting. Works fine. I kept the old wiper for reference. Next set will be Bosch A539S Aerotwiin.

When I decided clean the wipers thoroughly, I removed them and for safety replaced the old wipers (in case some idiot flicks the metal arms onto the windscreen). That is when I noticed the date of the old wipers

These wipers were on the car when it left the factory! So for 7 years the car had the same wipers. I used to change the wipers either when they did not wipe properly after cleaning, or if the rubber showed signs of splitting. I have seen car with split rubbers and scratch marks on the windscreen. MOT failures and expensive windscreen repair!

The wipers were smearing and cleaning not successful, which was the reason for the change in the first place.

So the question is, how often do you replace the wipers or even inspecting them?

     

[Duggerz]

Hi Konrad, I much like you look for signs of poor performance and inspect accordingly as they will smear long before the rubber splits. Since I had my Avensis I've replaced 3 sets of wipers work a mix of cheap and not so cheap brands, not seeing a great deal of difference in longevity. However in that time I've covered well over 100k miles. I've replaced the rear once in 6 years with a cheapie and it's still going strong.

[Anthony Poli]

Wow, I change my wipers 12 to 18 months. No matter how much i pay for pay for them, had Toyota, Bosch and eBay.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Inspect every six months or so, and usually clean them every time I wash the cars - sometimes using a vinegar/water solution to clean the blade. I replace when the cleaning performance seems to have deteriorated. On my last Auris I replaced the rubber inserts all round with Toyota ones (courtesy of Parts-King).

I also occasionally use a traffic film remover on the front and rear screens.

Both cars are garaged, so they seldom have to cope with iced up windows which doesn't help the longevity of Wiper Blades.

[yossarian247]

Our 2012 Avensis had it's original Wiper Blades on until mid-summer this year. The car had covered about 55k by that point and they had begun to smear quite badly.

[gazza1286]

Have tried all makes over the years. The best by far are from the dealer. They are generally long lasting and these days get swapped as soon as they begin to smear. Otherwise I never check them (except just before the MOT). 

[mickburkesnr]

I tend to wait until they start smearing and squeaking then I'll change them. Over the years I've tried them all. Halfords own brand, Bosch, Chinese no name ones, Valeo. The Valeo seemed to last the longest followed by the Bosch.

But I always go for the aerodynamic wipers. I think they make a difference, but I'm happy to be proved wrong - especially if it saves me money!

[Heidfirst]

As a matter of routine usually just pre-MOT but if I notice poor performance (streaking, juddering etc.) then I will have a look.

Car always goes for MOT with a spare set of wipers in it "just in case" & often the dealer will change 1 or the other when tbh I don't think that it needs it. They don't supply the blades & they don't charge for the labour so they have nothing to gain.

[Gerg]

Hi Konrad,

I've just returned a brand new Bosch Aerotwin wiper off our Auris to ECP (not easy to do, they don't like it!) as it had a smearing area at eye level and was very distracting.

I thought the glass was in need of a clean, but cleaning made no difference.

When the wiper blade rubber was placed on a dead flat surface, the centre portion underneath the attachment point did not make contact unless the blade was pressed hard.

A new, identical-length Bosch Aerotwin (with non-Toyota fitting) that I had in the garage, performed perfectly by comparison.

The old Denso blade was perfectly flat  and required less pressure to make the rubber in continuous contact than either of the Bosch blades.

I noticed that there is a small, but very annoyed group of reviewers for these Bosch wipers on Amazon USA complaining of the same fault, and they mostly seem to be Japanese-car owners, which is odd. Is the arm springing pressure on Japanese cars lighter???

I have used Bosch wipers before (not this car), with no problems at all. An earlier set of Valeos (6 yrs ago) were great, but a second set (1 yr ago) quickly became very poor indeed (in 4 weeks) with many narrow streaks. So I have bought a pair of Densos from ECP, as they are actually cheaper than dealer supplied Denso rubbers.

I am no longer so impressed by these 'mono-filament' Wiper Blades, especially as they can't cope with the screen curvature that some cars have, and are probably cheaper to make than a quality jointed one.

I notice that Goodyear and Michelin Wiper Blades are made by companies using those brand names under licence, the Michelins are made in China IIRC. The Bosch were from Serbia, the Valeo from Poland, the Densos don't have a country of origin FWIW.

HTH

[Cyker]

I check them whenever I wash the car (Which admittedly isn't getting done as frequently as it should....!).

Used to change them every year or two (Usually OE, Bosch or what ever the heck Halfords ones are!), but the PIAA silicone ones I have now have been really durable; Not quite your 7 years but I think they're coming up to 4 or 5 now? Still as quiet as the day I bought them where usually I'd be expecting that horrible cat-screech on a damp, but not wet, windscreen by now, and they still clear water really well. If they haven't been used for a while they can smear badly for the first wipe because it picks up all the dust and I guess the blade is too soft to clear so much in one go, but by the return stroke it'll be clear.

They really come into their own this time of year as the silicone layer they leave on the screen makes scraping the ice off soooo much easier. (To be fair I've had like, one day of that so far. Daan Saaaf we haven't even had temps even close to where winter tyres would out perform summer tyres yet!!)

 

[Konrad C]

I just bought new Bosch Aero Twin A539S to replace the Bosch universal wipers and they are perfect. The drivers universal wiper, didn't quite properly clear a small section, in the centre of the blade, at the mounting point, dead centre of the drives eye line. The rest of the swept area was fine. I happened on the down stroke. The silicon rubber is fine but the universal blade differs slightly to the A539S even though they are both Bosch products.

I think I might experiment and see if the universal silicon rubber blades, can be swapped into my old Aero Twin (2008), then give them a test.   

For now I am set for the winter.