Your favorite wiper blades

[Pink Jazz]

I would like to know, what are your favorite wiper blades?

While many give the advice here in Arizona to buy the cheapest wiper blades, I found that to be a load of BS those cheap Walmart blades only lasted a month on my Mom's Fiat 500, and there wasn't a lot of rain.

Our wiper blades of choice are the Trico NeoForm.  You can get good deals on those blades from Amazon, and we found them to last up to two years.

[Max Rockatansky]

Whatever the cheapest one is.   They all dry rot the same out in 100F-plus summer weather.  I say that as a resident of Phoenix for 13 years and Fresno/Hanford for 5. 

[mgk920]

I've had good success with silicone ones.  Perhaps that can take the desert heat, too.

Mike

[Pink Jazz]

Whatever the cheapest one is.   They all dry rot the same out in 100F-plus summer weather.  I say that as a resident of Phoenix for 13 years and Fresno/Hanford for 5.

Not true at all. We tried the SuperTech blades from Walmart on my mom's Fiat 500 and they only lasted a month. The Trico NeoForm apparently uses a much better rubber compound.

[JayhawkCO]

Bosch Icon.  No doubt. 

Chris

[formulanone]

I've never seen too much of a difference between the beam blades or the factory-style wipers. They all last one year before streaking in the cold-wet-hot-wet-dry-cool cycle; I've had cheap and expensive ones make noise/chatter after a few months, and they all seem to streak after 10-11 months.

I have a car with a 26" sweep on the driver's side and a ridiculous 13" one for the passenger side, so I'm usually limited by availability if I want a matching set, hence the variety of styles. There's times I've used a 14" wiper, which works mostly fine, but suffers from aerodynamic lift at speeds over 50-55 mph!

I replace the rear wiper a lot less frequently on my wife's van, probably every 3 years. The tiny rear wiper on my car is good for 5-6 years; I have to get the insert from Toyota (that's only a few dollars). 

It's no surprise I like a clean windshield...

[JayhawkCO]

I've never seen too much of a difference between the beam blades or the factory-style wipers. They all last one year before streaking in the cold-wet-hot-wet-dry-cool cycle; I've had cheap and expensive ones make noise/chatter after a few months, and they all seem to streak after 10-11 months.

Obviously not quite as important to you with your location, but beam works far better in preventing snow and ice buildup.

Chris

[Scott5114]

There's something about my car (a Pontiac G6) that makes it impossible to get a satisfactory wiper blade. No matter what kind of blade I put on, they all do that annoying thing where they skip across the glass making a loud noise. There has to be a lot of rain coming down (far past the point where I actually need the wipers to see) before the blade actually acts how it's supposed to.

[formulanone]

I've never seen too much of a difference between the beam blades or the factory-style wipers. They all last one year before streaking in the cold-wet-hot-wet-dry-cool cycle; I've had cheap and expensive ones make noise/chatter after a few months, and they all seem to streak after 10-11 months.

Obviously not quite as important to you with your location, but beam works far better in preventing snow and ice buildup.

Chris

Yeah, I'm glad I can park in a garage for home/work, especially during this last round of snowfall. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Whatever the cheapest one is.   They all dry rot the same out in 100F-plus summer weather.  I say that as a resident of Phoenix for 13 years and Fresno/Hanford for 5.

Not true at all. We tried the SuperTech blades from Walmart on my mom's Fiat 500 and they only lasted a month. The Trico NeoForm apparently uses a much better rubber compound.

Considering almost all my daily drivers have sat outside rather than a garage is better rubber compounds tended to have not lasted.  I even tried waxing them along with the trim pieces but only so much can be done.

[Pink Jazz]

Obviously not quite as important to you with your location, but beam works far better in preventing snow and ice buildup.

Chris

I recommend beam blades anywhere, ice/snow or not.  They tend to use higher-quality materials than low-cost conventional blades based on my experience.  As they always say, you get what you pay for.

Note that there are some blades made specifically for winter use.  Prior to the introduction of beam blades, there were those conventional blades with a rubber boot.  Since the introduction of beam blades, there are some with softer rubber compounds to prevent freezing and a stronger beam that are specifically optimized for winter use.

[Brandon]

I've never seen too much of a difference between the beam blades or the factory-style wipers.

Some vehicles only come from the factory with beam blades.

[Pink Jazz]

I've never seen too much of a difference between the beam blades or the factory-style wipers.

Some vehicles only come from the factory with beam blades.

Some of these vehicles use these newer style connectors that only fit specific types of beam blades.  Many automakers are coming up with all these newer style connectors, but cannot agree on a single standard.  Some beam blades come with interchangeable adapters to fit some of these different connectors. It's a mess right now.

[jakeroot]

I've used beam blades for as long as I've been driving. I've found they work better than traditional blades, at least compared to some other cars that I've driven. I rarely see traditional blades anymore.

Current blades I'm using are the Rain-X Silicone "AdvantEdge" blades; together, with tax, just over $70.

Previous blades were rubber but I've heard good things about the silicone type. Living in the Seattle area, I obviously use my wipers frequently, so I'll see how well they last. So far, they work incredibly well.

My rear wiper on my Golf is absolute shit; I'm on my third and all of them squeak. So I tend to use apply Rain-X to my rear window in lieu of going completely nutty. I also use Rain-X on my front windscreen too, and I apply it to my side windows as well. Water cannot defeat me

[GCrites]

I seem to recall wiper blades lasting a lot longer in the '80s. It may have been that there were a lot fewer sizes in stores since most people drove regular cars instead of trucks and SUVs. So each size rotated stock a lot more quickly which made it that they weren't sitting in stores for ages under florescent lighting before getting installed.

Like every car took a 12-14" blade so there weren't 9s and 25s all over the place.

[hbelkins]

Whatever's cheap.

[Pink Jazz]

I seem to recall wiper blades lasting a lot longer in the '80s. It may have been that there were a lot fewer sizes in stores since most people drove regular cars instead of trucks and SUVs. So each size rotated stock a lot more quickly which made it that they weren't sitting in stores for ages under florescent lighting before getting installed.

Like every car took a 12-14" blade so there weren't 9s and 25s all over the place.

I know many older vehicles used side-pin attachments instead of J-hook.  Side-pin connectors have mostly been obsolete since the 2000s.  Now there are a whole bunch of new connectors being introduced specifically designed for beam blades, but automakers cannot agree on one single standard.

[Scott5114]

More likely they are intentionally not agreeing so that you'll buy the manufacturer's preferred brand of wiper blades. Connector conspiracy!

[02 Park Ave]

I use silicons blades in the summer and teflon blades in the winter.

[Pink Jazz]

More likely they are intentionally not agreeing so that you'll buy the manufacturer's preferred brand of wiper blades. Connector conspiracy!

I know for the Tesla Model 3, in addition to the connectors, what complicates things even further are that the washer jets are on the arms.  Besides OEM, the only ones from major brands that will fit without modification are Bosch ClearAdvantage, Trico Flex, and Trico Ice (winter).

[kkt]

More likely they are intentionally not agreeing so that you'll buy the manufacturer's preferred brand of wiper blades. Connector conspiracy!