Wiper blades

[froggy]

Hi, Where is the best place to buy wiper blades? Halfords a bit pricey! cheers Terry .

[Northern_Mike]

DickieG and Citroenmad might be able to help with this one - both of them have some excellent blades on their cars.

Halfords are *sh1te* blades.

I got mine from http://www.wiperblades.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , chose their own branded cheapy ones and they've been absolutely fine.

[rory_perrett]

Other half is always complaining about the wipers on her Xsara which always seem to drag and scrape. Splashed out on "the best" at my local motor factors which which cost about £30 the pair. They were ok for a while and then went the way of all the previous ones. Then I went the total opposite, £4.99 a pair delivered off e-bay and to be honest there was not much difference. Concluded that cheap ones replaced reqularly is the best option.

Rory

[RichardW]

I can highly recommend these:

Flat blades

They are pretty much unbeatable - especially at that price - have had several sets on Xantia and Picasso - they are so godd when new they literally scrape the accumulated grease off the screen. And they don't chatter - ever! Brilliant.

[myglaren]

I bought a pair of those ^^ and they are far, far better then the crap that was on my current C5 - which were in tatters admittedly.

The old C5 still had the original wiper blades (still has, I'm driving it while the other one is serviced).
I went to my local car parts geezer who wouldn't sell me the Valeo ones I asked for, he cleaned the screen with Glasgae Brandy (meths) and the wipers worked fine after that, still going strong three years later.

[Hell Razor5543]

I have used the flat blades on my previous Xantia, and I thought that they were pretty good. I got mine from Tesco (yes, really) at £7 each. When I get round to it Gracie will have a set as well.

I also use RainX on my personal car and the company van. Used correctly the visibility in the rain is incredible. I only apply it to the windscreen. Basically it seems to be a wax coating, so the rain cannot stick. This means no weird refractions, and, depending on the rake of the windscreen, the air travelling past blows the rain off the top. You have to re-apply it every few months (depending on how much you drive), but a bottle usually would last a few years. 2 downsides though; because (in my opinion) the visibility is so good you don't always realise how wet it is until you have to brake , and if you are travelling after dark, and there are droplets on the screen, when you pass under a street light the droplets can fluoresce, causing a momentary loss of visibility. Tesco sell this as well (and to the moderators, no, I don't own or have shares in them either!)

[Hell Razor5543]

Got round to it, after seeing the link on this post for the e-bay ones.

[Citroenmad]

DickieG and Citroenmad might be able to help with this one - both of them have some excellent blades on their cars.

Halfords are *sh1te* blades.

The ones DickieG put on my HDi are Goodyear retrofit aero wiper blades. Being made by a top compnay such as Goodyear, they are superb. They fit the contour of the windscreen perfectly and operate very quietly.

I usually get some cheap aero blades from ebay for the Xantias, I got a set (front and back) for the V6 Xantia for about £12 posted.

You can't go wrong for this price

I go like these Goodyears though, I'll get these again when needed.

[waynedance]

wiperblades.co.uk for me as well.

I fitted mk2 C5 wiper arms new from the dealer so i could have propper flat blades and have Bosch flat blades. Tried cheaper one including champions but nothing beats the Bosch.

[Timmo]

ive got the tesco flat bladeds ont he Xant, and they are okay, they do suffer with sap spots though, regularly have to Clean the blade off, but they do okay,
i got soem blades from a chap i met through the trade some years back, he got them designed and tested in russia over winter, ive had them on both my bx (offroad for past 4 years) and the wife's fiat for the past 6 years, they have been absolutely Faultless, never had a smeared screen from them, had the occasional noise form them when they have litrally cleaned the screen of all water and squeeked a little, but on the whole, Fantastic,
the downside is that they were close to £25 each retail! - i got a 'development pair' for testing along with a Lot of other products,
http://www.xopc.co.uk/acrobat_extreme_wiperblades.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

i do have to say though, applied Properly onto a Clean glass screen, rainX can take some beating!!! anyhting over 40mph and you barely need the wipers!! but, it does very much depend on how clean the surface is!! very fickle product in that sense, - i normally give it a good wash, clean the blades, Clay the screen, wipe down with IPA then apply the RainX! have tried shortcutting on the side windows but it doesnt work half as well!!!

[addo]

I clay or compound the glass, too. Makes an awesome difference. Also a vote for the flat blade wipers from me.

Rain-X isn't good on the front here; you hit locusts at 90MPH (naughty, I know) and their body fat smears terribly, you can't clean it off like untreated glass.

[froggy]

Which compound to use?

[Hell Razor5543]

I have seen people mention claying. Please, what is this. I have no idea.

[Timmo]

Clay comes from the old trucking coaching days, it was designed to remove Fallout from the roads which would often be seen on coaches/lorries etc., a beigey brown tinge to the front end,
Lehm clay is the original name, but meguires pushed it into the automotive side in the mid 00's, basically with a liquid lubricant for most (bilt hamber use a water only one) you use a small section of clay, warmed up and wipe it over the surface, it removes fall out, tar etc. From the paint, various grades of it are available, like sand paper if you like, ultra fine, fine, medium coarse etc. It does help remove the contaminents, and is very good on glass,
If you should be unfortunate enough to fall on a Detailing forum they'll tell you how its an Essential part to your detailing routine! They all know this because they've read it on the internet somewhere! its essentially for use twice a year on the average car,

[DickieG]

If you should be unfortunate enough to fall on a Detailing forum they'll tell you how its an Essential part to your detailing routine!

"Detailing" Grrr its called car cleaning

I suppose in this world of silly posh name tags dustmen are now called "Cleansing Technicians"

Anyway back on topic, I bought the said GoodYear wiper blades from Costco.