Looking to replace my wiper blades with a better brand of wiper blades. Which brand would you reccomend, Bosch, Piaa ?
FWIW, I've found the OEM Toyota blades last longer than most replacements. No worries about fit, either. If you do use non-OEM, be sure you keep any pieces of the OEM assembly that are not reused, so you aren't stuck with a single brand later on.
two oem's and one Bosch. I think the biggest killer of wiper blades is the enviroment. How much diesel soot in the air seems to me to kill them fast. I acutally wash the blades with soapy water ones or twice a month. More often in the winter time (rainy season). Seems to help with streaking as well. For what it's worth. Edit: also Bosch seems to have figured out the spring tension on the blade as well. Always wipes without lifting in the middle.
From a mechanics point of view factory all the way. Be it Porsche, Audi, which are made by Bosch, the factory Bosch is better. Chevy, buy them from Chevy. Toyota...well you get the point.
yup, we're going OEM when we replace ours. DH insists so. you can buy the wiper insert and not the whole assembly, it's a little cheaper. then change out the assembly every other year or so.
OEMs seem fine. I'm at about two years, and the originals are working well. I did buy replacement refills (inserts) at the Dealer Parts window when I was in for my 30K service, and I'll probably put them on just on principle. If you get the raw inserts, be aware that you have to save the metal bits from the blades you take out to re-use in installing the new ones.
listen just because we had 29 days of rain in January along with 283mm of rain don't think we "live in a very rainy climate" that'd be the south end of Puget Sound. They have had more than us this year.... so far
The rear wiper is crap now, but I ordered the new arm so a new 20" wiper is coming. ANCO Aerovantages on the windshield have been noisy since I bought them last year, but buy-1-get-1-free-after-rebate was too good to pass up and too expensive to bail on early. Bosch may be next...
I went with Trico Tech Beam Blades on the front and replaced the rear with a Trico Exact Fit Rear Integral blade. The Trico Tech's are really beefy and have a very unique off-set mounting that lets the wiper arms sit ever so slightly lower - they look and work great. The Exact Fit Rear Blade was the only aftermarket rear blade I could find - it fits the special Prius rear arm and looks like the original. All of the above came with removal and replacement instructions. Easy installs all the way around. Got them online. :cheer2:
Costco is selling the Goodyear Assurance aerodynamic low-profile style blades in-store for $7.99, and they're really easy to install. So far I really like them. Costco - Goodyear® Assurance? All-season Wiper Blade
I got some run of the mill Anco blades from Wal-Mart, they were $5 for the passenger side, $6 for the driver side and work great.
So far, I really like the GoodYear 'response edge' -- about $8 each at Costco -- particularly for winter use, as they are the 'one piece' curved plastic rib type which have no places for ice to accumulate. I tried someone else 'one-piece' blades last winter, but they started to streak within a week. The GoodYears have been fine for two months so far. I haven't thrown out my OEM wipers, and will likely go back to them for the summer -- but for winter, I really don't like the way the OEM's accumulate ice.
In the past I've just installed wiper refills available from the Toyota dealer parts dept. I recently visited the Walmart auto parts aisles and was surprised at the variety of aftermarket wiper blades available, especially those designated as "winter" wiper blades. A few Qs: 1. What was the name of the blades that started to streak so quickly? 2. Why would you reinstall the OEM wiper blades for the summer? Is that because they still have some remaining life, or you like their cosmetic appearance, or ?? 3. In general, are there any reasons why you would not want to use "winter" wiper blades year-round?
