I like any of the BEAM wiper blades that I have tried!
Wiper Advice
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Seems to me, after reading this thread and a number of previous ones on the same topic, that YMMV with wipers. You pretty much have to do the trial-and-error thing until you find what works. OEM is usually good, but not always and experience varies with particular styles (beam v. conventional). My own experience taught me that how much you pay for them does not indicate how well they will work for you.
You MIGHT find it helpful to see what others driving the same vehicle as you have experienced, but environmental conditions, where you store the car, and the season all have impact on wiper performance and longevity.
There could be an entire forum dedicated to wiper blades, I think.
You MIGHT find it helpful to see what others driving the same vehicle as you have experienced, but environmental conditions, where you store the car, and the season all have impact on wiper performance and longevity.
There could be an entire forum dedicated to wiper blades, I think.
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Seems to me, after reading this thread and a number of previous ones on the same topic, that YMMV with wipers. You pretty much have to do the trial-and-error thing until you find what works. OEM is usually good, but not always and experience varies with particular styles (beam v. conventional). My own experience taught me that how much you pay for them does not indicate how well they will work for you.
You MIGHT find it helpful to see what others driving the same vehicle as you have experienced, but environmental conditions, where you store the car, and the season all have impact on wiper performance and longevity.
There could be an entire forum dedicated to wiper blades, I think.
I disagree. OEM has very strict requirements it must meet. Aftermarket does not. If there is an OEM refill available, it is almost always the best choice. My father, who worked in the Bosch wiper division for 25+ years, taught me this.
Remember that a universal tries to be everything to everyone. It's mediocre across the board.
Seems to me, after reading this thread and a number of previous ones on the same topic, that YMMV with wipers. You pretty much have to do the trial-and-error thing until you find what works. OEM is usually good, but not always and experience varies with particular styles (beam v. conventional). My own experience taught me that how much you pay for them does not indicate how well they will work for you.
You MIGHT find it helpful to see what others driving the same vehicle as you have experienced, but environmental conditions, where you store the car, and the season all have impact on wiper performance and longevity.
There could be an entire forum dedicated to wiper blades, I think.
I disagree. OEM has very strict requirements it must meet. Aftermarket does not. If there is an OEM refill available, it is almost always the best choice. My father, who worked in the Bosch wiper division for 25+ years, taught me this.
Remember that a universal tries to be everything to everyone. It's mediocre across the board.
I think you are right, in concept, though I never found the OEM refills in my Accord to be as good as the Pylon inserts that used to be available. The best performance I ever got was from PIAA super graphite inserts using the OEM frame. Unfortunately, those inserts are no longer made.
Were the Honda OEM inserts the one in which you have to thread the two thin long metal retainer in the new rubber? (Putting them back is always a challenge.) If not, then you did not get the real OEM inserts. Rubber with built-in retainer don't work. You are better off buying the new blade in that case.
Yes, they were the type for which you reused the metal insert strips. Some of the aftermarket inserts - PIAA, for example, come with new metal inserts. I bought my OEM inserts straight from a Honda dealership. They just didn't perform as well as a couple of the aftermarket inserts I used.
The ones on my 2012 Mazda 3, though, are doing very well. The car stays in a parking garage at work and my garage at home. The wipers are still original and at two years are still in good shape. It's the heat and UV that wear them out fastest around here.
The ones on my 2012 Mazda 3, though, are doing very well. The car stays in a parking garage at work and my garage at home. The wipers are still original and at two years are still in good shape. It's the heat and UV that wear them out fastest around here.
Originally Posted By: JerryBob
Last summer, I was in the market, and Consumer Reports liked "Valeo". I bought a pair on Amazon, and they have been good so far. I'd use them again. They were fairly priced, IIRC.
Did you get the 900 series 'beam' blade, or the 600 series 8 point metal arm blades??
Last summer, I was in the market, and Consumer Reports liked "Valeo". I bought a pair on Amazon, and they have been good so far. I'd use them again. They were fairly priced, IIRC.
Did you get the 900 series 'beam' blade, or the 600 series 8 point metal arm blades??
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
The best performance I ever got was from PIAA super graphite inserts using the OEM frame. Unfortunately, those inserts are no longer made.
These did not leave the dreaded semi-circle marks on your windshield??
They did for me years ago when I used their complete blade assembly (non-beam style) with this compound squeegee material.
I would only try their blades again NOW that they got rid of the graphite compound, but I still worry about the performance of the silicone vs. just a very good 'natural' rubber, especially for the coin those cost.
The best performance I ever got was from PIAA super graphite inserts using the OEM frame. Unfortunately, those inserts are no longer made.
These did not leave the dreaded semi-circle marks on your windshield??
They did for me years ago when I used their complete blade assembly (non-beam style) with this compound squeegee material.
I would only try their blades again NOW that they got rid of the graphite compound, but I still worry about the performance of the silicone vs. just a very good 'natural' rubber, especially for the coin those cost.
My concern with silicone wiper blades is that, thought silicone conforms(w/o forming a memory) to the glass and should wipe clean and smooth, it doesn't like dry glass and will grab/stick on even mildly wet glass as in the "intermitent setting". This is where the rubber wiping edge does a better job!
It is too bad that Honda OEM inserts no longer works as well as they used to in past. It has been many years since I bought them and they were stellar at that time. Afterwards I found TripleEdge and surprisingly they were good and had unbelievable warranty. Every time they wore out, I got a brand new set completely free. Eventually they got smart and started asking for shipping. It was still a good deal, so I paid. Now they no longer provide replacement for the replacement even after paying for shipping.
Last year I stocked up on RockAuto wiper clearance. I have used some of them and they seemed to be acceptable i.e. did not find any glaring faults when the ones that I used.
Last year I stocked up on RockAuto wiper clearance. I have used some of them and they seemed to be acceptable i.e. did not find any glaring faults when the ones that I used.
I have a set of the Trico Teflon blades (NAPA branded) that I stashed away - from that Rock Auto clearance. It looks like they use the same insert system (with the metal strips) as the OEM's on my Mazda. The Tricos have Teflon strips embedded in the sides of the squeegees. Should be interesting. My plan was to remove the rubber and use them in my OEM blades.
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
I would only try their blades again NOW that they got rid of the graphite compound, but I still worry about the performance of the silicone vs. just a very good 'natural' rubber, especially for the coin those cost.
Natural rubber always wipes better than silicone.
I would only try their blades again NOW that they got rid of the graphite compound, but I still worry about the performance of the silicone vs. just a very good 'natural' rubber, especially for the coin those cost.
Natural rubber always wipes better than silicone.
Funny, how on the Accord's windshield the graphite coated inserts were the best I had ever used, but for others not so much. A 350,000 mile used windshield is full of little pits and scratches. That is why I think that finding acceptable wipers became more challenging as that car got older.
If you pick up your wiper blades and look longways down the wiping edge you can get some idea about how smoothly they will wipe. I find that if the squeegee is still standing straight up, rather then being bent off-vertical, they should still flip back and forth pretty well. If they are bent over one way or the other I have found they will be prone to that annoying skipping.
I know there's more to it than that, but that has been my observation.
If you pick up your wiper blades and look longways down the wiping edge you can get some idea about how smoothly they will wipe. I find that if the squeegee is still standing straight up, rather then being bent off-vertical, they should still flip back and forth pretty well. If they are bent over one way or the other I have found they will be prone to that annoying skipping.
I know there's more to it than that, but that has been my observation.
My own experience with the Michelin wipers, even though Consumer Reports rated them highly several years ago, was that they did not last long for outdoor cars. They were poor performers on my old Honda (garaged) windshield and on my daughter's and girlfriend's outdoor cars they were shot after less than six months. As we say, YMMV. I had good luck with the basis Rain-X blades, but Wally World stopped carrying them.
I never had good luck with the basic Bosch Micro-Edge, either.
I never had good luck with the basic Bosch Micro-Edge, either.
LOL it definitely is a YMMV type thing. I just put on the Bosch Micro-Edge and they are very smooth. Granted they are 3 days old. But I already went through a rain storm in which they were really good. Quiet and streak free. Hope I am saying the same 4 months from now. Summer in Florida is HOT with lots of sunshine and lots of rain.
I find that if you live anywhere that gets snow and ice, and then 90+ and sun, they all poop the bed at the same time.
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