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Every year when winter comes I put new wiper blades on my car, normally they last through until the next winter, and life's good. I figure a full year of weather is long enough for wiper blades.

About a month ago I got new ones from Repco (It's the only car shop in the town) - they looked up the ones I needed in their system and sent me home with the wrong ones. I went back, and got swapped over to ones the correct size, and they upgraded me to the "ones we usually sell our trade customers" - they were $5 more, but they gave them to me for no extra charge. Can't complain there!

My last few sets have been "the cheap ones at autobarn" - I've no idea what brand they are, I've never actually cared to before now - wiper blades are wiper blades!

...or so I thought...

Last week driving in the rain the new wipers were doing a worse job than the old ones I'd replaced, streaks everywhere and night-time visibility was atrocious, any light coming in through the window was reflecting off the streaks making it almost impossible to see. Oncoming traffic was a matter of "stay to the left of the light and hope for the best" - driving in lots of water on AD08Rs is scary enough without adding blindness to the list!



So - what do you use, where do you get them, and how long do they usually last?

Tridon, available at Supercheap and last at least a few years.

see recent long thread on this subject started by Rocky.

Buy from Bursons who are in Bendigo they do know more about spare parts and the largest supplier to the Trade. Repco and Autobarn are more about accessories etc not servicing business . Trico is well known but you dont need to nominate brand- Bursons will look up yr vehicles and give you the correct width blade which you cut to length. I recently replaced blades on my cars and they all perform first class. Its odd you are having a problem - check at Bursons for them to see you have not installed incorrectly? PS set of blades lasts one season only.

I've always found that streaking/smearing is normally due to one of two things.

Wipers being really old.
Windscreen or wipers having some oils on them. (usually either a buildup of diesel fumes from trucks/traffic, or just resins etc from parking under/near trees like pines or eucalypts)

I usually find that giving the windscreen a really good clean helps. Also clean the rubber on the wipers to remove any stuff there (either soapy water, or just wipe them with a cloth dabbed with metho)



My blades are just whatever brand, I never take note. My personal preference is the ones with the metal backing, since i've had the plastic backed ones crack and not work great fairly often.

They can last anywhere from 6 months to a few years on my car, depending on how much I use them.

Cus wrote:what do you use, where do you get them, and how long do they usually last?

Aunger silicone - BigW or Kmart - a few years.

The rubbers are probably kinked within the arms. Give them a little wiggle. They normally come good.

Am I the only one who uses these?
http://au.bosch-automotive.com/en/parts_and_accessories/service_parts_1/wipers_1/aerotwin_flat_wiper_blades/aerotwin_original_range_1/aerotwin_original_range
After 27ish years of buying wipers I have given up on the multi segment wiper arms and blades and now use these. My life is better for it. Available at all auto parts stores.

I use Bosch also, a bit dearer than some but worth the money,they wipe clean and quiet
Autobarn stock them

I need to update my profile, I'm a lot more "bush" than Bendigo nowdays.

I went into the local repco and got another set of wipers for $5.30.... exactly the same ones that were $25ish the last month. Put them on, did a test-wipe, and discovered those ones too, were streaky.

The ones I took off looked like they'd been sandpapered (technically, they might have been, the windscreen was frosted over the other night) but the new ones were also streaky, but not as bad. (It's raining here today, so new wipers were "way up there" on the list) I'd already tried cleaning those on the side of the road in the rain. I got really wet, didn't improve the wipers - and as for cleaning the windscreen, I'm pretty anal about having clean windows -but if I've been travelling in the rain with the wipers on for over an hour, I declare the outside of the window "clean by default"

I suspect hks' suggestion of "old" maybe on the money, as far as the age of the stock in the local shop - so off I went to ballarat. I decided on my way I'd just buy one of everything and then do science and report back.

First stop: K-Mark and the Aunger silicone ones. $10 for the pair. They also had cheaper $8 rubber pairs. Got the silicone ones, left the rubber ones. I figure silicone is good enough for breast implants, it's good enough to wipe my windscreen with.

Walked over the road to supercheap. Their tridon ones were $25 for the pair, and they were rubber. There were SCA branded silicone for $13, and SCA branded rubber ones for $10. All thoughts of "buying all the wipers" suddenly went out the window. Science is expensive! (SCA do have green, blue, pink & purple wiper blades though, if that's your thing)

Besides, they all looked like basically the same design, so the compound probably has more effect on the cleaning action than the shape of the blade.

Because I'm hyper-intelligent, I didn't take any side-cutters or scissors with me to buy new wiper blades, so I got to drive the 40-ish minutes home again with the streaky crap wipers.

I installed my wipers, hit the wipe button, and SCCRRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!! across the windscreen and back, with accompanying flinch and eye-twitch. I had completely forgotten there was a sound that wiper blades make when they weren't wet enough, because neither of the previous pairs made that sound.

I'l go for a drive shortly to collect some more rain, but initial testing indicates there are no streaks. Hopefully they're a lot less squeaky once there's more than a few drops of water on the windscreen... or the science will continue

crazy stuff- rubber is better than silicon for wiper blades and I have never had any trouble with rubber blades on any car. The last set cost $6 and I replace yearly at least on my cars. The secret of rubber from a brand like Trico ( in the business for decades ) would be in the formulation for the rubber i.e. a defined spec which is extruded. If the rubber is not the right spec it will not perform e.g. fast deterioration from UV. Your poor blades take a real hammering with heat, grit, pressure , wear from use, compression set from not being used etc. Bear in mind a co like Bursons who supply to mechanics soon ditch products that don't perform.

From my experience, metal backed rubbers are the only ones to use.

I also use the Bosch wipers. Yes it is silly money to pay for wipers, but they are much nicer to look at when you're stuck in traffic.

Just last month (5 years after I originally bought them) I put new rubber "refills" on the arms. Good as new.

Flex blades are heaps better than the traditional ones. Less likely to damage the windscreen as there's no metal guide rail for the blades to slip out of.

They're usually $25 each from auto shops but you can get a pair for $20 from ebay. Always my first 'mod' on any car.

Rainex on the screen and you will only have to use the wipers in heavy showers or rain......

Problem of streaky wipers solved

You need to replace the whole blade assembly, not just the inserts, every five or ten years. Over time all the little hinge joints along conventional blades get sloppy, especially side to side if you know what I mean. Even good quality new inserts are likely to shudder and streak then.