Wiper blades & inserts confusion - uchannel vs. sightline

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by prmp945, Aug 1, 2018.

  1. prmp945

    prmp945 Member

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2014
    79
    59
    1
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Prologue: Most people seem to agree that the OEM blades and OEM rubber inserts perform better than aftermarket options, so let's not discuss that in this thread. There are lots of other threads that do that already.
    ---

    When I purchased my Prius the last owner had put on cheap aftermarket wiper blades. So, a couple years back I went to my parts department and asked them for original blades so that I could use replacement inserts. The dealer sold me:

    85212-YZZ1E-TM
    85212-YZZ1K-TM

    These are sold as "Sightline" wipers and branded for Toyota. I now need new rubber inserts. I purchased what I assumed where the correct part numbers from Amazon:

    85214-30390
    85214-68020

    These inserts look like the correct profile, but are too thick to install in my Sightline wipers. The photo below shows what I mean; the bottom shows the thinner insert that fits into the Sightline wipers, and the top shows the above part numbers with thicker rubber.

    [​IMG]

    I called the dealer today to try and get replacement inserts for the Sightline wiper, but the dealer claims that there are NO inserts available for these blades.

    The dealer further claims that there are "U-Channel" wipers available that DO have inserts available. I'm guessing that is what the above-mentioned part numbers are.

    Can anyone confirm that the Sightline wipers sold by Toyota do not have replacement inserts available?
     
    #1 prmp945, Aug 1, 2018
  2. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2012
    3,316
    1,020
    0
    Location:
    Arcadia, CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    #2 jzchen, Aug 1, 2018
  3. yeldogt

    yeldogt Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2012
    810
    313
    0
    Location:
    NE
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    My guess is you got the aftermarket blades made for Toyota. Do they say Denso on them ... Denso makes a line of aftermarket blades that are very nice ... but the rubber is a different size and can't be replaced. Well - I'm sure it can but the inserts are not available.
     
    #3 yeldogt, Aug 2, 2018
  4. prmp945

    prmp945 Member

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2014
    79
    59
    1
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I was able to answer my own question. This PDF from Toyota shows the current part numbers for these "Sightline" blades. Note that these are "Genuine Toyota Wiper Blades."

    https://www.toyotapartsandservice.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/WiperBlds2017.pdf

    At the very bottom of this document, it reads:

    There are no current replacement inserts available for these blades. The entire blade needs to be changed.

    Not happy! I specifically asked the dealer for blades that I could replace the inserts on, and they gave me these for $40.

    Question: so what is the part number for the OEM blades that have replaceable inserts???
     
    #4 prmp945, Aug 2, 2018
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  5. yeldogt

    yeldogt Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2012
    810
    313
    0
    Location:
    NE
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    Don't know the OE numbers as supplied on new vehicle. The parts people should know when they see "sightline" but often they don't know or care. Almost all manufacturers now sell duel lines of some parts -- Nissan does the same thing .. selling a "value" line. All to compete with the aftermarket.

    Sightline is a Toyota part .. as much as the original part was. Denso makes the OE part as well. USA manufacturers have used throw alway blades for so long people don't know that foreign makes have always supplied just the inserts -- the frame being high quality.

    I will say that the Denso replacement line is very good -- actually like it better vs the OE Bosch on my Jaguar. I started using them when Jaguar stopped selling the inserts.
     
    #5 yeldogt, Aug 3, 2018
  6. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2005
    3,193
    2,325
    0
    Location:
    CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    You can get the numbers off of toyotapartsdeals.com

    It may not be cost effective to purchase the original blade assemblies- they are very expensive.

    Some folks have reported that the Denso designer hybrid blades (available on rockauto) can sometimes use the factory inserts. However I have not confirmed this.
     
    #6 The Critic, Aug 6, 2018
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  7. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2018
    607
    282
    0
    Location:
    W. Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    As a new member, I am not allowed to quote that link, but that .pdf with the part numbers has two lines for the 2010-2015 Prius, one for SightLine and one for U Hook. Does that mean that some Priuses within that date range had different wiper arms with non-interchangeable blades? Our late-2015 Prius Four (bought used, probably an off-lease vehicle) has non-SightLine blades, and the arms look like any other U Hook arms that I have seen; does that mean that it is not possible to install SightLine blades without changing the wiper arms?
     
    #7 NewHybridOwner, Nov 21, 2018
  8. prmp945

    prmp945 Member

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2014
    79
    59
    1
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    #8 prmp945, Nov 21, 2018
  9. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2018
    607
    282
    0
    Location:
    W. Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Thank you. I bought Denso ones on Amazon, and they seem fine.
     
    #9 NewHybridOwner, Dec 11, 2018
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)