It would seem so simple to replace the rubber part of a windshield wiper - slide out, slide in - but you have to buy a whole new wiper blade assembly just to get the rubber refill. Why do they do it like that? The simplistic answer is to sell a more expensive part, but it would seem that selling a cheaper item that does the same thing could out compete a more expensive item. So what is going on here? Collusion among wiper blade manufacturers?
In the past, I certainly remember being able to buy both refills (of the rubber blade), as well as the entire blade assembly, and I tried the rubber refills a couple of times.
My recollection is that replacing just the blade was fiddly, difficult, and unless the replacement was for the exact same model as the rest of the assembly, it wouldn’t fit right or work right. So, cheaper, yes, but also less likely to provide a good result, IME.
Yeah, it’s way easier to just replace the whole blade.
Also, as Kenobi implies, with a blade, I just need to know the make and model of my car. With a rubber insert, I would need to know the brand of the wiper blade and which model.
I asked this question at the auto parts store once, after they stopped selling inserts. They told me too many people were installing them incorrectly, so they’d fall off, leaving the metal claws scratching the windshield.
I remember the last time I bought the rubber inserts—that would have been around 1980. It was a freezing cold day and I could not get the insert installed with my gloves on. So I took off my gloves, and ended up cutting my finger on the metal clip that was supposed to hold the insert in place.
Yeah, the hell with that. I’m fine with buying a whole new blade assembly and popping it on the wiper arm. They’re not that expensive.
For that matter, I’m also fine with paying the guy at the oil change place to put new wipers on the car. Life’s too short to spend an hour effing around with a wipe blade that doesn’t want to snap onto the wiper arm properly.
I’d settle for wiper blades that mount universally. I can change the ones on my Mazda just fine, but the ones on the Ford E-350 defeat me every time and I have to take it to a mechanic.
I’ve also noticed a change in the design of replacement blades over the last few years. The old design had a multi-point suspension system, like this. The newer design is one piece, like this.
I like the newer design.
The first time I changed the rear wiper blade on my Prius I had all kinds of problems. But YouTube is your friend, and I soon learned the trick.
I hope my Accord’s wipers are @Crafter_Man’s type 2, not type 1. Here in California the rubber rots before you wear wipers out with use.
Back in the late 80’s I had a Yugo that I used as a work car (don’t laugh about that. $2900 for a brand new car. It went 88K trouble free miles and kept the miles off our better cars).
But laugh about this: the wiper on the passenger side broke in freezing cold weather. I could not, for the life of me find anything that even remotely fit the wiper arm. The odd fucktard style attachment on the arm wouldn’t fit anything available in this country. I went nuts looking everywhere for something that would fit. And at the time there were no more parts available from Yugo.
One mechanic tried to replace the arm itself, but the attachment from that to the wiper motor was also strange as hell. I couldn’t drive that car in the rain.
I went to a vehicle extraction exercise at a fire department in a neaby suburb once. I was just an observer but it was to train/practice the firefighters in using jaws of life, saws, shears and other cool tools. The car was a Daewoo that seemed to be in great condition. It had some minor problem with the drivetrain but the parts were simply ungettable at the time as Daewoo had exited the North American market. So they tore the (almost) perfectly good car apart.
I remember switching from buying inserts to blades, because of the fitment issue.
I recently switched back to buying inserts. I bought expensive PIAA silicone wiper blades, and part of the point of it for me was to get high quality blades, and to be able to get exact fit inserts as they wore out. I wanted to save money, and also be less wasteful and better for the environment. It worked, too. I got rid of that car though, so I’ll have to decide if and when to do the same with the new car.
It would be nice if there were some standardization so that there would be less waste.
…hence the joke:
Man walks into auto parts store and says, “I’d like a pair of wiper blades for my Yugo”.
Counterman thinks a moment and replies, “OK, sounds like a fair trade.”
On newer Volvos with heated wipers you actually can buy just the inserts, because the complete wiper blades are hideously expensive.
Of course, Volvo being Volvo, those inserts costs about the same as complete non-heated wiper blades.
Most of the auto parts stores I frequent (Knecht’s and O’Reilly’s) will have someone go out and pop the new wipers on for you, no charge. I take shameless advantage of this because it’s a PITA for me to do it and in the PNW you pretty much are forced to replace them at the very least every two years so it’s not exactly an infrequent occurrence.
Every two years? I replace mine twice a year.
I said “at least” every two years. That’s the most I’ve ever gotten out of a set of wiper blades and those were the nice spendy silicone ones. During heavier winters when we actually get snow in the Willamette Valley it’s pretty much replace at the beginning of the next winter.
Why do Yugos have rear window defrosters?
So your hands don’t get cold while you’re pushing it.
Why are they called Yugo?
You get hit from behind YOU GO!
How do you double the value of your Yugo?
Fill it up with premium gas.
What does every Yugo come with?
A bus schedule.
In reality we had few problems and it made a decent work car. Engine blew at 88K though. It owed us nothing. It was the only brand new car I ever bought with spare cash.
I’m a solid convert to the one piece style wiper blades, especially the silicone blades. I have yet to replace them on my 2018 ST and the PIAAs I put on my wife’s Edge are on the second season. They see temps between +35 and -40 C each season and a mix of fine dust, snow, ice and driving rain.
Yes, twice a year, I want to go into the fall rainy wet season with nice clean blades. Then, whatever blades you have used through the winter get torn up by turning them on too soon when the windshield is still frosty.
Change those out in the spring and then they get torn up when you turn them on in the morning on a summer day and they try to clear off the pollen.
End of summer, repeat.