OE Wiper Blades

[CharBaby]

My '15 Altima needs new wiper blades. They're still the OE. I always replace with BEAM style wiper blades. Here's the question:

Are these new vehicle wiper blades refillable? I almost hate to throw them away as they're really so nice with the aerofoil to keep the blade in contact with the glass. They're really well made! Are we supposed to throw the whole unit away or replace with a refill? These lasted over 3 1/2 years and are now only starting to split/tear. I'd like to get same/similar.

Nissan dealers only sell the whole wiper blade unit for tooooo much money and parts stores only sell the whole thing. I haven't seen refills in a long time.

 

[nthach]

If you can find refills from Bosch or Trico to refill them, I say rock the OE blades for as long as you can. The dealers don't stock refills but if you ask nicely they can get them ordered. Toyota is now pushing their crass Chinese-made blades now, it'll be a matter of time before I exclusively buy Denso/Valeo/Bosch off Amazon.

Nissan and Subaru these days are getting their service blades from Trico.

 

[CharBaby]

These OE's are(Not Mitsubishi) but Mitsu-something. I had to squint to see the engraving on the housing.

 

[Drew99GT]

Trico still makes refills; you can get them on Amazon. Just need to figure out what mm the spine/holder of your OEM arms is. They make them in 6, 7, 8mm etc.

 

[nthach]

Mitsuba. OEM to Honda(unless it's a 8th gen Civic Coupe with Bosch wipers), Nissan and Subaru. You can get refills from a Honda dealer, if you know which model uses the same refills as your Nissan.

 

[EdwardC]

I like the OEM wiper inserts for my Honda as well. I plan to do the same on our Nissan Leaf when the time comes. A quick Google yields this as one of the blades for a '15 Altima (you'll want to confirm with your exact model). https://nissanparts.penceauto.com/p/Niss...288953TA0A.html

 

[RoadRaceJosh]

Originally Posted By: nthach
Mitsuba. OEM to Honda(unless it's a 8th gen Civic Coupe with Bosch wipers), Nissan and Subaru. You can get refills from a Honda dealer, if you know which model uses the same refills as your Nissan.


I wish I had known this sooner. Actually, is it true for a Canton, MS built Frontier? My Frontier OE blades have been the best so far, but they were replaced by Trico (meh), Denso (noisy) and now Goodyear from Costco. I'll be searching for Mitsuba blades.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: Joshua_Skinner
Originally Posted By: nthach
Mitsuba. OEM to Honda(unless it's a 8th gen Civic Coupe with Bosch wipers), Nissan and Subaru. You can get refills from a Honda dealer, if you know which model uses the same refills as your Nissan.


I wish I had known this sooner. Actually, is it true for a Canton, MS built Frontier? My Frontier OE blades have been the best so far, but they were replaced by Trico (meh), Denso (noisy) and now Goodyear from Costco. I'll be searching for Mitsuba blades.

What you get from the Nissan dealer will be Trico Exact Fit but with a Nissan label. Ditto for Subaru.

Those Goodyear blades are OK. I wouldn't use them on cars with excessively curved windshields or cars that tuck their wipers under the hood and/or use complex pantograph wiper arms like a Lexus.

 

[Oily_Thing]

Bosch Icons are very good wipers, if you gotta replace the whole thing. Pretty cheap at www.rockauto.com.

 

[CharBaby]

So basically the OE's are just throw aways?

 

[Nick1994]

Call the dealer and ask if they sell refills for it. I did that with a Honda, was a piece of cake to slide new rubbers in.

 

[CR94]

I can get OE refills for my OE Toyota blades from internet dealers for about $10 apiece, or a higher price from the local dealer.

Until a few years ago, you could buy refills for most blades for $2/pair from Walmart or Kmart. Then they stopped stocking refills, only complete blades, which were generally inferior to the OE blades of my Mazda. Therefore, I bought the blades, removed the refills, put the new refills into the old OE blades, and threw away the rest of the new blade---a stupid waste.

 

[DBMaster]

I buy silicone inserts on eBay. The prices are decent and they last longer than standard rubber refills.

 

[dailydriver]

FULL BEAM (NOT the 'hybid' styles) one piece style blades are insert refillable??

 

[stevejones]

Like you, I went thru OEM blade anxiety. Held on to the OEM blades for several years in the hopes I'd get refills. Finally, one day, I just threw them in the trash.

 

[Kira]

Dirty dogs they are. Plain wastefulness actually bugs me....everybody loses.

There should be an "Impact on Mother Earth" index on everything.

Ohh...that ain't political either.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

My suggestion would be Trico Ultra. They are kind of expensive, but they are US-made, and much better than Goodyear's wipers. Trico makes good wipers

If you don't want to spend the money on Ultras, the Trico Flex is a good value. The Flex is made in Mexico, but it dews cost less and is still a quality product.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
My suggestion would be Trico Ultra. They are kind of expensive, but they are US-made, and much better than Goodyear's wipers. Trico makes good wipers

If you don't want to spend the money on Ultras, the Trico Flex is a good value. The Flex is made in Mexico, but it dews cost less and is still a quality product.


It's not that I don't want to spend the money, I want to be able to see during foul weather. I have had good success with BEAM style wiper blades and even have some in my stash(slightly shorter) that I can slap on.

My car takes D:28" & P:16" but, I can use a D"24"-27" & P:16"-17" just fine. I've used different sizes in the past on other vehicles and they work just fine.

 

[KrisZ]

The only OEM blades that were excellent in my case, were Honda blades I used on my 95 Accord over a decade ago. I had them for about two years, winter/summer and then the car was totaled. They performed exceptionally up until that point.

Can't say the same about Mazda and Dodge blades.

 

[meep]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
FULL BEAM (NOT the 'hybid' styles) one piece style blades are insert refillable??

yes - there is a channel in the beam that the rubber insert travels through and is held captive in. At the ends you either snap off an end cap or just bend the insert out of a slot and pull them out.

I've had mixed results with the trico refills on amazon. In the sizes for my old tundra, they were great. In the sizes available for the volvo long blade, 2 have been junk, smearing in weeks. It is hard to source the inserts needed for the narrow format (used in beams) above....21 inches IIRC.

-m