Warning: RANT - Anyone else's windsheild wipers SUCK?

So my car ha under 10,000 miles on it. I keep it garaged and bought it in April of 2009. I was driving home tonight from VT and its not really snowing that hard, but the spray from the road forced me to use my wipers. THEY ARE TERRIBLE!!! I haven't used them all that much but still 8 to 9 months of use makes wipers useless? Really?

 

Am I the only one with this issue or are there other people out there that share my pain?

Get the PIAA's. On my car for two years and still work great.

I felt the pain and upgraded to a super-duper wiper blade. That helped some. Also, try the RainX windshield cleaner (spray / wipe like windex). It really seems to help the crappy wipers by making the glass more water repellant.

just read about the PIAA's. Will the heated strips at the bottom of the windshield affect the coating that the windshield wipers create?

 

I need to get rain-x washer fluid. Stuff is amazing.

If you don't keep both the wipers and the windshield clean, 6 months or so is about their useful life. Start with using some glass cleaner on both the glass and rubber wiping edge of the blade. You'll be surprised at how much dirt comes off.

the heated windshield does not affect the PIAA's negatively. I'm on my second set, the forst lasted two years.

 

2nd on cleaning the wiper blades... new, used, expensive, cheap, doesn't matter, it makes a difference on all of them.

decided to go to pep boys to buy me some bosch Icons and stumbled apon some no name brand looking Icons. Tried them out so far so good. Will have to see if they hold up for a year like my first set of icons did.

The service writer told me the whippers are under warranty. So till they say no I'm getting new blade every oil change.

I don't share the pain. Wipers are average, but the PIAA-type wipers improve wipers a bit. And unless you clean your wipers and windshield, as previously noted, old wipers will be less effective than new ones.

 

Who knew? Imagine my shock!

I turned half of a blue microfiber towel black the last time I cleaned my wipers and windshield. Needless to say, my Icons perform like new again.

Wipers are a warranty item, correct. But, they suck so badly it's worth it to buy an actual decent set.

 

I know you picky bastards don't like the Bosch Icons, but they have held up just fine for me. On my second winter with them.

I keep my windshield pretty clean. but never clean the blades, I will have to give that a shot and see what happens. Thanks for the tips, also going to look into some PIAAs.

i've gone through 3 sets of oem wipers in 19 months. i got rainX latitudes last month and love them. they are also buy 1 get free w/ mail in rebate from pep boys

i have piaas, just bought the rubber strip replacements off amazon, they fit the OEM wipers perfectly.

I have cheap AutoZone wipers and they work fine, I just wash my windshield and wipers everytime I wash my car(every 1-2 months now due to weather and water restrictions).

I use Valeo wipers from TireRack, they're usually 2-for-$20 and they work great.

I have piaa's, $50 a set, I know its alot of money, but they are supposed to last a really long time, and they work great.

Rain-X wipers (about $16 a set) doing quite well on mine for ~20k now. Starting to show a bit of degradation in wiping, but only a little. This happened after I accidentally hit the wiper switch when the windshield was iced over.

 

Joe

My wipers will wipe OK if the windsheild is wet, but if it isn't soaked they are really, REALLY, loud...does anyone else have that problem? its almost like they weren't meant to be aligned to my windshield they are so loud...

This may sound like a stupid question but humor me. I just replaced the wipers on my 2.5i and I noticed that for the rain x wipers that i got, they do not have that plastic extra bit on the drivers side......Does that extra plastic bit serve a purpose?

 

EDIT: I'm talking about the spoiler looking bit that is found on this wiper I found online.

http://www.tirerack.com/wipers/detail.jsp?ID=1046&autoMake=Subaru&autoModel=Legacy+Sedan+2.5I&autoYear=2006&autoModClar=Base+Model

This may sound like a stupid question but humor me. I just replaced the wipers on my 2.5i and I noticed that for the rain x wipers that i got, they do not have that plastic extra bit on the drivers side......Does that extra plastic bit serve a purpose?

 

EDIT: I'm talking about the spoiler looking bit that is found on this wiper I found online.

http://www.tirerack.com/wipers/detail.jsp?ID=1046&autoMake=Subaru&autoModel=Legacy+Sedan+2.5I&autoYear=2006&autoModClar=Base+Model

it keeps the wiper from lifting off the windshield at highway speeds

So i do need one with it.....looks like a return to autozone.

 

So do the most of you just replace that rubber part or the entire assembly?

So i do need one with it.....looks like a return to autozone.

 

So do the most of you just replace that rubber part or the entire assembly?

You don't "need" it per say, it's just a feature. With that said, when I replaced my wipers with PIAA's, I chose the version that included the spoiler because I've driven cars in the past that have had issues with wipers bouncing around on the glass on the highway.

yes I had an old chevy (POS MACHINEEE) and it needed a spoiler on the high way, but it didnt have one... So my advice is if you have it, just keep it and slap it on. Worst thing would be if you returned it then ended up needing it.

I returned the rain x's and got the refills from subaru......Atleast the dealership does not rip me off when just getting parts.