I decided the other day that I could do with new set of wiper blades - a bit under £30 the pair at Halfords. While in a small market town up North I went into a shop doing motor spares and had both rubber blades replaced while I waited, for £6. On the basis that the metal bit doesn't wear out, replacement blades only seems to be the way forward. I didn't even know this was possible and I have so far paid thru the nose for the full set, metal fittings and all. Can most rubber blades be replaced in this way or was I just lucky?
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I found that the condition of the metal bits did affect the wipers performance many years ago. Not worth the reduction in safety to go for the cheap option IMHO.
If it worked for you that is a bonus.
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Most traditional blades can have the rubber replaced, saving a bit of cash and probably doing the environment a bit of good too.
Halfords are in my experience not the cheapest place to buy wipers, local motor factors is where I buy mine.
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Indeed - just did a similar thing a couple of weeks ago.
Main dealer price for complete assembly was £45 the pair - but when I asked about just the rubber bits the main dealer price for those was just £11, and they sent them to me post free.
Worked just fine, and at that price no need for me to go to Halfords or other factor (I had actually already checked Halfords and they don't do them for my car anyway).
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Many years ago I replaced the rubbers on my wipers. The next time it rained they fell off, I always buy the compete wiper now.
I have replaced the blades on my Passat with Bosch Aerotwins, bought on the web, they are fantastic, much better than the old sort. They clean the screen better without that screeching noise.
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I don't know about replacing the rubber bits, but I did buy a pair from Lidl a while ago - I think they were three quid - and they're very good!
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I bought some from Lidl. On a car that sits outside and did maybe 5,000 miles last year they lasted 12 months.
Which is to say that after 12 months I wondered whether a set of new Bosch ones would be less smeary, which they are. Shall wait to see what happens next!
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I read what GWS says re deterioration of metal parts of blade assemblies but the only reason I have ever changed anything is the shredding or break up of the rubber parts so I shall see how long my £6 blades last, bearing in mind that I can have have 5 pairs of blades for the cost of one pair of complete ones, metal and all.
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 18/02/2008 at 19:10
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A
you'll replace the car before you get through that many blades! Unless you live somewhere wet?
JH
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When I had a Passat I used to get the rubber blades from the dealership - in fact they suggested it because cheaper. Fairly easy so why not.
The Mondeo blades from a Ford dealer were very reasonable for complete assembly.
We'll see how the Mazda6 goes.
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I get e-mail updates on both Lidl and Aldi specials and if wiper blades come in I buy them in bulk (5 cars in our household). I find they are as good as any of the more expensive blades. In fact I've had Bosch wipers in the past and found them to be very poor.
Lidl/Aldi blades usually work out at about £2-3 each but you usually get 2 of the same size in a box so for most modern cars you need to buy 4 blades. Oh, and they don't do all the sizes, eg the 15in blade our Jazz needs on the passenger side.
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MONEY SAVING TIP OF THE DAY
The best thing to do is buy best quality wiper baldes (including metal frames), then once/twice a month clean the blades with nail varnish remover using a cotton wool pad. You could do this on the car or for best results, remove them, as I have a simple slide lock mechanism on my Bosch wipers. You then ensure you clean the front windscreen, including the part where the wiper blades would sit when not in use, best results use Auto glass cleaner or even Windowlene.
Replace the blades and you will be amazed, it will clean like new blades! I have not replaced mine for over a year (just don't tell the wife that your are using her make-up remover!)
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Nail polish remover (particularly with a swanky brand name) is FAR more expensive than a set of new wiper blades...
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Nail polish remover = acetone
(if I'm not mistaken)
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Nail polish remover = acetone + various additives (usually)
Hence it´s not recommended to use NPR in your petrol, although neat acetone seems to boost the MPG.
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Uhuh, DD.
Acetone - £2 per pint.
Nail polish remover - first hit:
www.feelconfident.co.uk/mister-mascara-nail-polish...l
£3.99 for what? 10ml? So more like £200 per pint.
And it gets more expensive, surely.
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Acetone - £2 per pint.
Or free if you just so happen to know which chemical cupboard to look in at work ;o)
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the 28" wiper blades on my old Toyota Previa are supposed to be rubber replacement only as the metal carriers are unique to the car and are screwed to the arms not clipped on. I did change the carriers once but that involved time with a drill then pop-rivets to fit them as I didn't fancy Toyota's prices for genuine ones.
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my local Wilkinsons (hardware shop) are selling generic wiperblades for £1.25 each - thats a whole blade not a refill !!!!
They come with adapters to fir different types of arm.
Shows how halfords etc are ripping people off !
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Wilkinson are at the pile it high, sell it cheap end of the market. Halfords are getting more bling by the year.
They both know their customers!
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ive had wilko's £1.25 each on my motor for 3 years now 30k and still working ok
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>>Or free if you just so happen to know which chemical cupboard to look in at work ;o)
I've had a look. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate. Bleach. Gin, whisky.
No acetone...
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When most people clean their windscreens they never think to clean the wiper blades themselves. The multi leaved rubber can harbour a lot of grit and slime, and that's what leaves the wiper arcs on windscreens.
HJ
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When most people clean their windscreens they never think to clean the wiper blades themselves. The multi leaved rubber can harbour a lot of grit and slime and that's what leaves the wiper arcs on windscreens.
But I use the wipers to clean the windscreen... do the wipers need an automatic clearer for them? Wiper wipers perhaps?
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For all of you who made comment about nail varnish remover, the point I was trying to make is that it is an affective cleaning agent, you do not need to bath the wiper blades in it! It is very cost affective as you will hardly use any, try it before making comments back!
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I just replace the rubber parts about once every 12 months for 6 or 7 quid a time... Mainly because I have some sort of obsession about not having smearing on my screen.
While I'm doing that I'll move the rubber from one of the front blades to the back.. Don't need that one to be perfect. Both metal parts are quite substantial so I always thought it was a waste to replace them too. The rear one is moulded plastic so I don't know how I'd ever go about replacing that anyway.
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Worth mentioning that carparts-direct has a free wiper blade offer and also has a two minute video at www.carparts-direct.co.uk showing how to fit blades correctly to avoid judder etc.
HJ
Edited by Honestjohn on 19/02/2008 at 17:03
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My front wiper blades have been on the car for 18 months / 60k miles-ish . Still perfectly OK. No secret cosmetic unction tricks or thieving from store cupboards required. Just as HJ suggests clean the wiper blade when cleaning the window and always keep a good strong screenwash mix in the washer bottle. Never switch the wipers on without first giving the window a squirt from the washer bottle. The blades will then last for ages.
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>>Never switch the wipers on without first giving the window a squirt from the washer bottle.The blades will then last for ages.
>>
How I wish. I always used to do this but my Mondeo II insists on starting the wipers before the squirt arrives :-((
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"Never switch the wipers on without first giving the window a squirt from the washer bottle. The blades will then last for ages."
A reason why I like having a rear wash.... in very cold weather squirt the rear first in case the water/wash has frozen. Do it on the front and you might no longer be able to see.
I do keep a strong mix in the winter but have got caught out when I'd thought it was no longer winter ;-)
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A reason why I like having a rear wash.... in very cold weather squirt the rear first in case the water/wash has frozen. Do it on the front and you might no longer be able to see.
Just don't try it when there's ice on the rear window... I did that once and the wiper went up but half the blade rubber stayed where it was, frozen in ice.... It was most amusing :D
Edited by kaytronika on 20/02/2008 at 08:17
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Good point about being frozen. My wife's FIAT once burned out the motor (under warranty) when this happened. You would have thought a fuse went first but no the motor itself.
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Yes I know what you mean Henry but what I was getting at is that if the wipers are needed, I always do the "wash wipe" cycle first. Theory being that I'm not just spreading grit and other muck................................oh heck..........note to self......must get out more......I'm sitting here typing notes to the ether about flippin' wiper blades !
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Save a fortune, just get swmbo to lean out of the sunroof with the shower-glass squeegee!
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re replacement blades for '05 A3, Audi tell me they are the only suppliers of "flat" blades. Calls to couple of suppliers seem to confirm this .. anyone know different, pse?
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You can normally buy Bosch Aerotwin refills from Audi dealers, or buy whole new ones (sometimes refills too) from search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZmickstaps or www.wiperblades.co.uk
Edited by Hamsafar on 21/02/2008 at 10:15
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