JHZR2
Staff member
My wife's 08 Rabbit needed new wiper squeegees for the first time. They have the new style single beam steel frameless wiper design.
These stupid things arent designed for refills. Replace only at up to $25 each, depending upon which brand you buy. Really? The average household salary in this country is $40k, which is $20/hr. After taxes that is like $15. Windshield wipers now are priced such that an average earner has to work two hours to afford a replacement set? Seriously?
The rabbit has a 24" and a 19" wiper. Even at wal-mart, the cheapies were $17 and $12, the pricier ones were more like $17 each. At pep boys the bosches were about $20 each, though the second was half off after rabate or something like this. I was not about to pay this.
I love PIAA wipers. They last forever and stay streak free. Really great items. I got two refills ($14 or so) and tried to do the refill.
The VW OE wipers do come apart with a screwdriver. It isnt user friendly, but it will. The OE squeegee will come out eventually with enough force. Try to put another new one in, and the friction really starts. They are tough to pull through, especially where the arm connector holds the two steel bars. It gets tight. The squeegee mounts in the upper most track (where the two steel bars would be installed if this was going on a regular frame wiper). Not a lot of upper rubber to provide form for pushing/pulling this thing through. With enough soapy water the wife and I pulled them through. On the longer one, I nicked it with my fingernail, so it doesnt wipe clean... Time to bet another squeegee and re-do... Just what I want to do.
I just dont get it... Why cant they use a cheaper, more servicable design. Even if the frameless costs $20, $30, even $50 a piece, that's fine, so long as I can refill them. However, they are neither conducive to refilling or convenient to do so.
And frankly, compared to the frame PIAA wipers I have on my other cars, Im not convinced that the frameless designs do any better than framed ones. Ive yet to replace a frame PIAA wiper for poor performance, and I have multiple that are going on 3-4 years now... living outside, summer, winter, direct sun, etc.
Not fun or a cost effective thing...
These stupid things arent designed for refills. Replace only at up to $25 each, depending upon which brand you buy. Really? The average household salary in this country is $40k, which is $20/hr. After taxes that is like $15. Windshield wipers now are priced such that an average earner has to work two hours to afford a replacement set? Seriously?
The rabbit has a 24" and a 19" wiper. Even at wal-mart, the cheapies were $17 and $12, the pricier ones were more like $17 each. At pep boys the bosches were about $20 each, though the second was half off after rabate or something like this. I was not about to pay this.
I love PIAA wipers. They last forever and stay streak free. Really great items. I got two refills ($14 or so) and tried to do the refill.
The VW OE wipers do come apart with a screwdriver. It isnt user friendly, but it will. The OE squeegee will come out eventually with enough force. Try to put another new one in, and the friction really starts. They are tough to pull through, especially where the arm connector holds the two steel bars. It gets tight. The squeegee mounts in the upper most track (where the two steel bars would be installed if this was going on a regular frame wiper). Not a lot of upper rubber to provide form for pushing/pulling this thing through. With enough soapy water the wife and I pulled them through. On the longer one, I nicked it with my fingernail, so it doesnt wipe clean... Time to bet another squeegee and re-do... Just what I want to do.
I just dont get it... Why cant they use a cheaper, more servicable design. Even if the frameless costs $20, $30, even $50 a piece, that's fine, so long as I can refill them. However, they are neither conducive to refilling or convenient to do so.
And frankly, compared to the frame PIAA wipers I have on my other cars, Im not convinced that the frameless designs do any better than framed ones. Ive yet to replace a frame PIAA wiper for poor performance, and I have multiple that are going on 3-4 years now... living outside, summer, winter, direct sun, etc.
Not fun or a cost effective thing...
