That'll be $86
- Thread starter redhat
- Start date
^^^
I don’t mind paying extra for certain things, but checking out takes forever as the counter person is also the cashier.
I liked when Pep Boys had a dedicated cashier(s) at the front of store. Grab what I needed off the shelf and immediately pay for my stuff.
I don’t mind paying extra for certain things, but checking out takes forever as the counter person is also the cashier.
I liked when Pep Boys had a dedicated cashier(s) at the front of store. Grab what I needed off the shelf and immediately pay for my stuff.
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2012
- Messages
- 3,566
Miss Pep Boys around here. Now they are only service and tire shops.
Hamburg/Blasdell NY, my local one, had a great big store, tons of selection, a dedicated speed shop and even would sponsor car events. One time had a dyno on a trailer come and had cruise nights.
Miss it.
I think pretty much all car makers had that style at one time. The inserts were just a rubber strip with a metal stiffener in it; it snapped into your existing wiper arms.
I get the ones at Costco for $8. They are a full beam design now. Last about a year, then I throw another pair in the cart. As someone else mentioned, these things really get baked in Texas.
I was in shock the last time I bought wiper blades. IIRC the Michelins at walmart were 26 bucks a piece.
Yeah, it's sad the way that they have made the pricing at parts stores the automotive equivalent of convenience stores. When I was a young man the prices on many things were roughly equivalent to what you would see at Walmart. I don't shop at the parts stores either unless I have an immediate need that can't be satisfied elsewhere, or they have a really good sale.
Most of the time I will go to the dealer for parts before I go to a parts store. That was never the case 30 years ago, when you could find decent quality aftermarket parts for much better prices. Now in addition to the high prices, aftermarket parts are much more of a crapshoot from a quality standpoint than they used to be.
The inserts are about $10 each at Honda and most will install for free.
Just say NO to blue washer fluid. methanol eats wiper rubber and paint.
I run dish detergent and tap water all the months that are above freezing - seems to stretch out the life a year or two
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
I buy the OEM factory inserts for everything I can. No way I'm tossing the nicely designed OEM blade assembly for universal aftermarket parts.
It takes a little effort to inform yourself what things cost from multiple sources. You can get an idea of what is a reasonable cost. Paying $86 dollars for wiper blades to me is an example of just walk into the first place you think might sell wiper blades and buy them without doing anything to inform yourself first. This is an example of the cost of willful ignorance.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
I clean my blades often - they work better and figure bug acid and tree funk can’t be good for them …
We are all gearheads here. There is some stastically significant portion of the population that doesn't know any better. It's more than just a few.
Exactly and why is there too often this high and mighty attitude towards others that aren't. I mean, someone needs a part for their car, you go to the auto parts store. 100% reasonable thing to do. One alternative is not replace the blades and be a safety risk to all of us.
Not true.... If it's what I call convenience or need-it-now items, i.e. wiper blades, light bulbs, etc, sure they do. Same as paying more for a gallon of milk at the gas station/convenience store vs going into a grocery store for just one item. Sometimes I'll do it.... I hate it and grumble to myself, but I do it.
See above - "convenience" item. Our daughter was home for Thanksgiving and I always check over her (our) car, fill it up with gas, etc. Driving to the gas station, I noticed she could probably use new blades, and being that she has an almost 2-hour drive back to college, in inclement weather, I decided I'd better get some. Sure, I could order them and put them on next time she's back (that's a month though) or buy 'em and have them delivered to her apartment, but there's an O'Reilly across the street from the gas station. I didn't like the idea.... Cheapest blades they had were close to $15/each. These were the cheaper quality ones too and I always buy "good" blades, when reasonable. I ended up paying $21-22/each. I remember the total was about $46. Ughhh. The employee did offer to put them on though ! I thanked him and said I wouldn't make him stand in the rain doing it when I can do it in our garage. I get home and put them on and a bit later, our daughter gets back and asked "where should I buy wiper blades - my car needs new ones, I think". I guess I could have done it the BITOG way and scoured Rockauto for closeout blades for $3/each with $12 shipping !!
Wipers either went into hyper inflation or I'm Rip Van Winkle.
The part I forget, but was it 3 or 4 years ago they REALLY took off?
Sadly I remember the day when all the majors, autoparts places, online etc were all within a couple bucks and all around or under $10 and I'm NOT talking about 1975,1985, 1995,2005........more like after 2015!
I am surprised Rock is so low. I used to buy them from Amsoil (yes they sold Bosch blades) and with my discount, good price, but I started to hate the blades and then Amsoil stopped selling them. I have some laid in now, Michelin, Trico, etc.......but I should shop now I suppose. Amazon doesn't have anything under $20!
The part I forget, but was it 3 or 4 years ago they REALLY took off?
Sadly I remember the day when all the majors, autoparts places, online etc were all within a couple bucks and all around or under $10 and I'm NOT talking about 1975,1985, 1995,2005........more like after 2015!
I am surprised Rock is so low. I used to buy them from Amsoil (yes they sold Bosch blades) and with my discount, good price, but I started to hate the blades and then Amsoil stopped selling them. I have some laid in now, Michelin, Trico, etc.......but I should shop now I suppose. Amazon doesn't have anything under $20!
I could easily see this happen. A good 2yrs ago my local Napa wanted ~$36/ea for "premium" blades. Yeah, no.
Amazon isn't very good for blades. The ones I want / like always seem to be sold by 3rd-party sellers. Walmart seems to be the best option, in my experience, or as odd as this sounds, Menards (they're a regional competitor of Lowes, Home Depot, etc). They have (4) Trico designs ranging from $5 and change up to $12 and change.
I like Trico FORCE blades. They're frameless and what I like the most is they are low-profile. Their mounting point is not on top of the frame, but almost side-mounted.
I’d always chuckle when people told me “I’ll go to O’Reilly’s I’m not paying you guys for something I can do cheaper” about their newer vehicles at the dealership. For one install was free, for two the Motorcraft premium flat blades were $13.98. A comparable Michelin or Bosch blade at Walmart was $24.
Now if it was something with a standard J hook blade they could save a good amount buying refill or some el cheapo blades at the dollar store. That style is more the exception than the rule on newer stuff though.
Now if it was something with a standard J hook blade they could save a good amount buying refill or some el cheapo blades at the dollar store. That style is more the exception than the rule on newer stuff though.
I talking in more general terms about every day life. Everyone makes purchases and can inform themselves about how much things cost at different sources. You don't have to be a gearhead to be informed about the cost wiper blades or be a petroleum engineer to be informed about the cost of gasoline at retail outlets.
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