Rear windscreen wiper

[Petlew]

When I first got my 05 Avensis, one of the very few complaints I had about it was the pathetic Aero (I think its called) rear wiper with that very short blade that barely wiped any useful area of the rear screen. I quickly noticed the later 06 to 08 had a "proper" wiper at the rear.

A quick visit to my favourite car recycler found a wiper arm from the later Avensis version, less the blade, for the princely sum of £5. I had a sneaky measure of a later car blade which was 16 inch.

Recently, as the blade needed replacing I noted that there was plenty of room for a longer blade, so I went up to an 18 inch blade. The change in the viewed by the driver wiped area has to be seen to be believed.

I've now had another measure and am fairly sure there is enough room for a 20 inch blade without fouling anything at either end of the blade. True the outer point of the blade is well into the black surround area of the rear screen, but the wiped view compensates for this.

If you want a better view behind I'd thoroughly recommend this.

I'll take a blind guess that Toyota had a lot of complaints about the Aero wiper, hence the change of type. Toyota probably don't like a longer blade as it is over the screen black surround. 

[Konrad C]

Even though it does not apply to me, I would like to see photos of the rear wiper - before and after. 

Hopefully the longer wiper will not put any extra strain on the motor.

I have the latest Tourer, and that has 12" wiper. The view through the rear window is the same as the view from my old Mk1 Avensis hatchback, due to the angle of the window. 

[Petlew]

Hi Conrad,

Yes, I can understand your concern, but I don't think you need worry too much. The blade I am currently using is 18 inch, and I believe there is room without any problems for a 20 inch blade.

On my Mk 1 Avensis the rear blade is 24 inch, the drive motor never shows any sign of being under strain on that.

From my own point of view I only ever use the rear wiper for single wipes, and never on a dry screen or for continuous wiping (just a brief twist of the spring-loaded switch and never to one of the continuous or delay click stops.

In 30+ years of owning cars with rear wipers I've probably used the rear washer maybe twice or at a stretch three times, on my previous Mk2 Avensis the washer was disabled as it filled the rear inside with water from the piping above the rear headlining which was going to cost a fortune to fix something I almost never use..