Why wouldn't you buy wiper blades online?

[Klutch9]

Auto parts stores usually have some sort of rebate or sale on wiper blades, but I generally find those deals to be awful (like only $4 off a pair of expensive blades). I just bought a pair of Bosch Direct-Fit wiper blades for $12.03 shipped from Amazon. Not bad!

Other than scoring 2 Bosch blades at Murray's for $10 about 2 years ago, and Costco having the buy-one-get-one on the Goodyear blades every fall, I'll keep buying my blades online from now on. Anyone else do this?

 

[eljefino]

They make good order stuffers to reach a $50 coupon at advance auto. The rebates start looking better when you get 40% off the pre-rebate price.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I buy 'em at the dealer. They're 5 bucks/side and last longer than most aftermarket blades have for me. I'm not sure if my CR-V's blades still have the factory inserts, but they are the genuine Honda ones (Mitsuba), so I believe they might be. Whenever I replace them, they'll be with the Mitsuba inserts from the dealer.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I usually stop in to Sears or KMArt or Wallyworld when one blade is shredding - No time to wait for a drop shipment. (Nit: Amazon is getting a bit to far reaching and BIG for my sensibilities. What makes them the web clearing house of the world? They may be easy to buy from, but so is a web search to the partner store. Why do we have to clear purchases thru them for a drop shipment? Its GOTTA add to the cost. Also smellls like a variation on the theme of Monopolisation. I predict Amazon will be forced to scale back in the not to distant future).

 

[dja4260]

I purchased 2 sets of Bosch blades from amazon. I think I paid $45 for all 4. Not bad considering pepboys had the same for $18-24 per blade.

 

[mpvue]

I'll answer the OP's question with how much is your time worth? you can't always assume amazon is cheaper, so unless you have gone to the local auto parts stores and saw the price, compared rebates, looked up the parts online to see who has the best deal...
come on, is that really worth your time??? for wiper blades???
last set of blades I got were from national Auto (a PA chain), I got complete wipers, an extra pair of refills, a can of glass cleaner and a gallon of washer fluid for... oh, I don't recall, it was last year. some sort of package deal they were running at the time. the inserts last more than a year and I still have the extra refills in the trunk.

 

[crw]

Well, last week when I needed a blade for my 1975 BMW 2002, the store opened four packages of blades before we had the right combination of stuff that would fit. Essentially they had to take off the mounting hardware and reverse it. Of course, I only pay for one set.

I have 7 cars and it seems that each one has a different way to connect wiper blades. I've given up on it. I just go in to AZ or O'Reilly and let them deal with it.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: mpvue
I'll answer the OP's question with how much is your time worth?


Some people can't get to a parts store conveniently but have plenty of "extra" time at work to shop online.

 

[ronbo]

Twice year spring/autumn ANCO has a $5.00 rebate for pair. Use to buy mine at Wal-Mart for $6.00 apiece.
Now I get my blades at OLLIE'S BARGAIN OUTLET for $2.00/$3.00 a blade.
Have to buy my rear blade insert at dealer for $4.00( RAV4).

 

[porcupine73]

I've been really liking the Valeo wipers. If I remember to swab them with alcohol+silicone from time to time I can get about two years out of them before they start to leave streaks. Amazon has them but usually I get 4-6 at a time so tirerack comes out lower in price.

Hm....I didn't know Ollie's had wiper blades. I will have to check that out!

 

[KrisZ]

For me the answer is simple, these fancy wiper blades don't impress me. I tried all sorts of pricey wipers and I was never happy with them long term. The cheapest blades at my local Canadian Tire work the best on my Mazda, so that's what I use.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: porcupine73
I've been really liking the Valeo wipers.


Are those the newer wipers that come OEM on many newer vehicles? They look almost like frameless blades, but they actually have a metal frame inside with a conventional insert? I LOVE those blades. My Camry had them as OEM and I actually "stole" them off that car when I traded it and put them on our MDX. They work great, and the OEM refills for the MDX actually slide right in. I really like the look of the blade without seeing the naked frame.

 

[punisher]

I bought a pair of Bosch Icons from Amazon a couple months ago and got an instant $8 credit when I checked out ($34 to $26).

 

[ahoier]

Originally Posted By: crw
I have 7 cars and it seems that each one has a different way to connect wiper blades. I've given up on it. I just go in to AZ or O'Reilly and let them deal with it.
Yep. I'm with you there. The way I look at it, I get them at Walmart, if they don't perform to my liking, I can return them At least according to their "parts and labor warranty" on the work order print out they hand me.

No, I don't pay for the installation, just the blades....and they install them while I shop for sugar, milk, coffee creamer

And as mentioned, a lot of the newer vehicles are now coming with very specific hooks/connectors.....I noticed my friends newer model Hyundai had some weird connector....Walmart sent him to the dealer for blade replacement cause they didn't have "compatible" connectors.....now I'm sure they could have broke the blade apart fro mthe connector and fit the "new" aftermarket blade in there in it's place......but they weren't all about that....hehe.


To the original question, "Why wouldn't you buy wiper blades online?"

Usually I don't realize I need them, until it's too late And it's easier to pull into Walmart or AZ and have them install them for me during the rain storm

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Auto parts stores usually have some sort of rebate or sale on wiper blades, but I generally find those deals to be awful (like only $4 off a pair of expensive blades). I just bought a pair of Bosch Direct-Fit wiper blades for $12.03 shipped from Amazon. Not bad!

Other than scoring 2 Bosch blades at Murray's for $10 about 2 years ago, and Costco having the buy-one-get-one on the Goodyear blades every fall, I'll keep buying my blades online from now on. Anyone else do this?

I just got some Goodyear blades at Costco for $7.88 each. Really nice wipers I must say. Last month I bought some RainX blades for another car ($45 for a pair) but the Goodyear seem every bit as good so far.
I don't buy blades online. Sometimes they say they will fit a certain vehicle and then when you try them it sometimes won't fit. It's easier to drive back to a store than deal with a package carrier in this instance. If a person already knew that the brand and size would fit....then sure.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: porcupine73
I've been really liking the Valeo wipers. If I remember to swab them with alcohol+silicone from time to time I can get about two years out of them before they start to leave streaks. Amazon has them but usually I get 4-6 at a time so tirerack comes out lower in price.


Yes, the Valeo wiper blades seem to be on a perpetual BOGO at TR.

I am going to try the beam style Silblades, or the PIAA Forza Hybrids next, just to 'switch things up', and experiment a little.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I bought several pairs of Trico NeoForm and Bosch Evolution for all my cars from Amazon 2-3 years ago when they were on sale and had manufacture rebate. All wipers fit well on all my cars.

The cost of each wiper was about $5-6 after rebate, which was less than 25-30% at local stores.

 

[NateDN10]

I just bought a pair of wipers on Amazon. Free shipping, and their regular price for the pair was about $5 cheaper than at Advance with 20% off. Took all of about 5 minutes to order - much less than the 20 minutes it would have taken me to drive to Advance, buy a pair, and drive home.

 

[partspro]

But will they install them in the pouring rain or when your old blades are frozen to the arm in winter ??. Its not fun, I've done thousands.

Do you know how many people simply haven't a clue how to install wiper blades ??

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I buy them exclusively at Amazon.

The selection is better than anything locally, the brand/size that I want is always in stock, I don't pay shipping or sales tax, and they are at my front door within a week. I keep one of each size of the old wipers out in the shop just in case I get a rip or tear in a wiper that's on one of the vehicles-I can change it out immediately.

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: mpvue
I'll answer the OP's question with how much is your time worth?


Some people can't get to a parts store conveniently but have plenty of "extra" time at work to shop online.

Let's see-10 minutes to purchase on line, versus a 40 minute round trip drive to the parts store, where they may or may not have what I want. Top it off with higher parts store prices and 6 or 7 percent extra for the sales tax, and buying on line seems like a no-brainer.

And since I work for myself I can make all the "extra" time at work I want.