I've noticed some of these new-fangled wiper blades coming on the market that claim to "apply pressure at over a thousand points for better wiping". They also claim to be more aerodynamic. Does anyone here have any experiences of them? Are they just merely more aesthetic?
I'm particularly interested in how they clean obviously, but also how they perform in terms of lift at speed. I had some fitted to an Opel Astra hire car in Germany last weekend, and frankly wasn't impressed - they juddered and didn't clean any better although this didn't seem to be speed dependent.
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They are standard fitment on my Focus and very good they are too . I've just 'retro-fitted' some onto our Zafira . I went for Trupart blades .. well priced and easily converted to allow them to fit correctly ... wipers both pivot on the outside of the vehicle so unless you can change the mounting clip in the middle (you can on the trupart) you end up with one blade 'upside down' and any aerodynamic gains are lost.
Very pleased so far.
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They are standard on my Passat and were also on my previous Mk IV Golf.
Being more expensive and difficult to obtain are the only distinguishing features.
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Standard on the current and previous five and on SWMBO's Golf. They are good.
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Standard on my Skoda Superb - not very good. The rubber develops a "set" when the blades are left parked, then they don't always flip over properly at the end of each stroke. The fix is to flip the blade the other way after the blades have parked - if you can remember to do this. They are also too stiff at low temperatures and don't follow the contours of the windscreen under these conditions.
As they are expensive and have a non standard blade/arm interface, this is another con - this time by Bosch.
I'll wait for the Chinese replacements with a multi-fit bag of "Lego" - no doubt they're working on it.
659.
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The Chinese ones are called Classic Fusion and Halfords sell them as their own brand. They also have a metal spine inside which rusts! :o(
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Have a quiet word with the guys at the local dealership's workshop, and ask them what they think.
I know a locally available wiper blade, which claims in TV ads to be the dog's testicles when it comes to window cleaning, has been responsible for many many wiper motors burning out, as they have to work too hard against that super-duper wiping action (ie resistance!)!
In fact, the replacement motors come with a warning sticker on the casing: "NOT suitable for use with Product X".
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Have them on the Vel Satis they wanted £54 at Renault to replace them, £50 on ebay and £22 at my local parts shop I asked the Renault parts man if they had a lot of dust on the box.
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"They also claim to be more aerodynamic"
I think they only look it. I surmise that they present more resistance, and when wiping down the screen, the blade (which is deeper than the old style) would be more likely to lift. No doubt this is compensated by stronger springs, but I fail to see any advantage other than cosmetic.
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The Scenic has them as standard, and they work well, although at £44 EACH + VAT from a Renault dealer, they pink fluffy dice well should do!
I need to source a set actually. I declined the offer of replacement at the last service and haven't got around to finding them elsewhere. Interestingly Halfords and my local factor can't help, which is a first for any car I've owned or driven.
I simply will not pay £100 for a set of wiper blades on principle.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 30/10/2007 at 10:34
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When your expensive wipers need replacing you can refill them with ordinary wiper blade refills. You need to feel each end of the rubber and slide it back and forth, it will be crimped at one end which stops that end sliding. Prise off the end cap at the crimped end, and use a flatbladed screwdriver to prise up the crimp and then slide out the wiper rubber, cut the new one to length and replace in reverse order!
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"£44 EACH + VAT from a Renault dealer"
After a previous thread on these things and their cost I had a look in a couple of French supermarkets for these blades last week.
They had packs of 2 Valeo blades for Focus, various VWs, loads of Pugs, Cits, Renault (including Scenic) and all were about 36 euros. In one supermarket Bosch were about same price.
Wonder how many I could get in the back of the Berlingo and how many I could sell to you lot at £50 a set (or even £36)??
By the way, as usual, I bought a set of supermarket own brand for Berlingo for £4 - they look exactly the same as Valeos and they perform just as well.
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Phil
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The blades don't develop a "set" on my Octavia. Every fifth time the ignition is turned off the blades move either up or down about an inch to make them lie differently. Neat.
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