Toyota, have all been known to cut corners this way.

But the Japanese drive on the left, so surely it would be the lHD cars that are bodged? (part from dedicated North American models).

Some manufacturers used a cam and linkage system that is essentially ambidextrous because the unswept area is so small.

Edited by unthrottled on 30/04/2012 at 20:55

Not sure if this is the ideal solution but I'd say try an application of something like Rain-X in the UNswept part of the screen to keep it permanently clear of raindrops.

It is strange that only the 206 had this problem - the 205, 207 and IIRC 208 have "normal" wiper set-ups - which I imagine is to do with the design of the bulkhead and difficulty in swapping everything over for RHD. As with BMW 5s there is an additional linkage to the dirver´s side wiper to "flick" the wiper up into the corner, so the problem is not as bad as it could be.

Go back a generation and all manner of cars imported from the continent had "unconverted" wiper patterns - nearly all Peugeots, Renault 12s and 16s; most VWs and Audis from the 80s (strangely, South African models had a locally-adapted proper RHD set-up, so that was obviously penny-pinching.)

The biggest offenders of "mis-wiping" were undoubtedly British Leyland (Marina/Ital and Triumphs BAD; 1100/1300/1800/Maxi/Mini GOOD; Rover P5, XJ6, MGs WEIRD) who even swapped the wipers over for export markets, so that they were the wrong way round there, too! A press release I remember coming across in a motoring mag of the 70s mentioned something about avoiding wiper lift-off at high speed. Early Marinas had RHD wipers but were later changed over. Belting down a rainy M1 in a Marina - what an exciting prospect! "Young drivers today don't know they're born..." etc.