I used to get blades online from, it was either 'five30 wipers blades' or 5thirty wiper blades', can't remember which though think it was the former, they seem to have disappeared or more than likely been bought out unless one of our intrepid fellow posters knows better.

They supplied about 4 different brands, budget, Bosch, another big name which has slipped me mind, and Trico, i hadn't seen Trico for years, also would supply refills for one of the brands which was a nice old fashioned touch.

I have bought blades from ECP/CP4L but getting the correct blade is hit and miss there.

My blades tend to last years, one of the best tips...yes i know its a bit OCD...is when you think to lift the blades and lean them the other way to their natural parking lean, that way they don't get a permanent lean and stay supple, i do this with my lorries too and have had the same blades on for hundreds of thousands of miles.

The main dealers do take the mickey with some parts prices, though some can be surprisngly cheap for consumables, MB is one such.

My Bosch flat wiper blades are superb. Over four years old and hardly a sign of streaking, completely silent, although I understand the wiper arm design on certain cars can dictate the amount of juddering. I used to have to replace the conventional Bosch blades every year. I wonder if the plastic cowling on the flat ones protects the rubber from sun degradation to a certain extent.

Not so keen on wiper. co.uk's own brand - a bit noisy, despite resting the blade on the windscreen the opposite way. I think the rubber is too stiff to change direction smoothly.

£54 for a pair of wiper blades? - All the thieves aren't in jail then?

For both sides front + the rear on our Accord Tourer - Genuine parts = £29 + postage.

Yes, and this from the dealer who wanted to charge me £140 extra to remove wheels and properly check all brakes while it was in for a full service. I let them do the service as it was a 3 year service pack with the car.

Needlessly to say I got it done for £34.50 elsewhere.

had my wipers replaced for my honda civic 2.2 59 reg bosch aerotwin £18 fitting free of charge

On a slightly more serious note.

The Motorcraft wiper blades on my Fiesta have a dot which changes colour to indicate when they need replaced. Think it's UV light activated.

Probably just a scam, to get you to buy new wiper blades more often.

Another advantage of my Ford Focus, bland and boring though it might have been.

Windscreen wipers front and rear, cheap as chips from Weebay and ridiculously easy to fit. So easy, in fact that at first I thought I must be doing it wrong.

I suppose ridiculously easy fitting also makes them easier to nick, but has anyone here ever had their windscreen wipers stolen?