Do you renew wiper blades on the basis of (a) age, (b) mileage, (c) condition, or what?
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L\'escargot.
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(a) No
(b) No
(c) Yes
Clk Sec
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The instant their performance starts to decline.
This seems to happen (on all my cars, for several years) very suddenly during the first rain of autumn every year - I'm convinced that the blades baking over the summer wrecks the rubber and I notice it come the rain. In light of that, I'd not change them in July or August, so I guess there's an age aspect as well.
V
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My strategy has generally been to renew the drivers side (about annually, at the onset of winter) when performance starts to decline, and move the year old blade to the passengers side.
However the best improvement is always achieved by changing the screen! Failing that a deep clean annually is worthwhile.
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pmh (was peter)
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every year, usually just after I rip them to shreds when they have stuck to the windscreen on the first severe frost of the winter.
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< Ulla>
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chnging the screen is a bit OTT but it is a fact..it does make the wipers perform much better.
when ive gone from old car/old screen to old car/new screen all my wiper woes disappeared :)
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When they don't work very well anymore!
Vin - You are right about the summer heat, one of the lads at work is from India and he says that they need new wiper blades regularly, and always always always at the beginning of each wet season as the heat during the summer bakes them solid. It might not be quite such a problem in Northern England but I'm convinced it still happens a little!
Blue
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Funnily enough I need to renew my back wiper today - the blade's separated from the arm. That'll be the first time in 3 years I have renewed a blade - if they work fine, no need to renew them. I renew on condition only.
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Usually when I can't see out of the windscreen any more, but this year I replaced them after they froze to the windscreen and I ripped them apart.
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Last month I was so pleased at buying a pair of bosch wiper/blade combos for less than a fiver that i almost started a thread about it. It wasn't till I got it home that I realised they sold them in singles not pairs. So I waited until I was back in that part of town (two days ago) and bought another so that I could fit them together.
Both different sizes aren't they. One's 55 cm, the other's 60.
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I change them when they start to smear, age and mileage are not a consideration; often change them one at a time if the adjacent one is still doing a good job. I dont record when I buy them but it seems like I go through at least 2 front sets per year.
And just bought some new headlight wiper blades (£7 each and they are only 6" long!) even though I've removed one of the motors to try and mend it.
One of my pet hates is poor visibility through any of the windows. It actually bugs me when I see other cars with steamed up windows or they have a rain-covered hatchback and have not used their rear wiper. Is that sad?
;o)
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It can be a surprisingly fiddly job. Therefore I usually end up selling the car before the wipers need to be replaced.
Hope this helps.
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Does nobody use those 3-vane clip on thingys that are supposed to help deteriorating blades last longer anymore? - I used to think they worked rather well, till you forget to take them off at the car wash!
Billy
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I'm 48 and I still remember them, indeed I had them !
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Some time after the metal parts of the wiper have worn an arc into the windscreen.
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it seems like I go through at least 2 front sets per year.
Genuine spares or pattern parts?
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L\'escargot.
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Both different sizes aren't they. One's 55 cm the other's 60.
Some cars, Xantia for one, have different sizes off side and nearside. But then the Halfords and Bosch catalogues show slightly diffrent reccomendations
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Surely the answer is 'when they fail the MOT' ;-)
on the windcreen theme, I did seriously think about getting a new one for the 740 as dazzling from oncoming lights was getting horrendous and I thought this was due to wiper wear on the glass. However after following a tip from somewhere (here?) I cleaned it, inside and out, with newspaper & vinegar, this has transformed my nightime driving experience.
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One mans junk is another mans treasure
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Agree with the vinegar treatment, I find it clears the drag and noise straight away. When I rub the blade with a vinegar soaked cloth plenty of gunge comes of the blade and the same off the screen. My wife's car is never as bad and I put this down to my daily motorway commute (gunge off the road and loads of exhaust muck). My theory anyway.
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I change my wiper blades when they make that sqwarking noise.
Last year I used Bosch Aerotwins, they are fantastic. I would recommend them to anyone.
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They begin to wear in three stages, always in rapid succession
1. Tendency to smear
2. Yak-yak-yak changes to yadda yadda yadda
3. Yadda yadda yadda becomes screech screech screech
4. Definitely time to change
Conversations with back seat passengers (of the MiL variety) follow a similar succession and are considerably more wearing.
Ha ha ha.
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