Discussion
I have always used Bosch super plus wiper blades from Halfords which seem OK, but they were getting tired on both cars, so ordered some from Autobulbs - ABD Retro-fit Aero blades, which are curved and are supposed to fit the screen much better (wraparound screen on the Saab never works with wiper blades very well).
Anyway, fitted the MX-5 blades yesterday and they are crap! It has a bog standard normal screen with no large radius curves, and a big patch of the passengers side sweep area is left unswept, and although the driver's side area is swept cleanly on the way up, it leaves a mess on the way down. So, I have gone from 2 year old Bosch wipers which were OK, to brand new fancy-pants ones which don't do the job at all!
Found an AutoExpress review of them saying that they leave areas unswept. How can they sell the things when they are clearly unfit for purpose?
Haven't tried the Saab ones yet but all 4 will be going straight back to autobulbs, what a complete waste of time...
What do other folks use?
Anyway, fitted the MX-5 blades yesterday and they are crap! It has a bog standard normal screen with no large radius curves, and a big patch of the passengers side sweep area is left unswept, and although the driver's side area is swept cleanly on the way up, it leaves a mess on the way down. So, I have gone from 2 year old Bosch wipers which were OK, to brand new fancy-pants ones which don't do the job at all!
Found an AutoExpress review of them saying that they leave areas unswept. How can they sell the things when they are clearly unfit for purpose?
Haven't tried the Saab ones yet but all 4 will be going straight back to autobulbs, what a complete waste of time...
What do other folks use?
Edited by NiceCupOfTea on Tuesday 14th December 13:58
NiceCupOfTea said:
Where would you buy them? And what is PIAA?
PIAA is a "cult" japanese supplier. They sell massively overpriced kit that has the saving grace of being the best available. Last time I looked they wanted 35 pounds for a set plus 25 pounds for the special screenwash you need.
ExPat2B said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
Where would you buy them? And what is PIAA?
PIAA is a "cult" japanese supplier. They sell massively overpriced kit that has the saving grace of being the best available. Last time I looked they wanted 35 pounds for a set plus 25 pounds for the special screenwash you need.
I got mine for £30, which is ok for what has essentially been the best set of wipers i've had which have lasted for almost 3 years. You don't need special wiper fluid.
Google PIAA approved suppliers.
Very pleased with the Bosch retro fit Aero wipers on my ATR, got them from www.wiperblades.co.uk
danrc said:
ExPat2B said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
Where would you buy them? And what is PIAA?
PIAA is a "cult" japanese supplier. They sell massively overpriced kit that has the saving grace of being the best available. Last time I looked they wanted 35 pounds for a set plus 25 pounds for the special screenwash you need.
I got mine for £30, which is ok for what has essentially been the best set of wipers i've had which have lasted for almost 3 years. You don't need special wiper fluid.
Google PIAA approved suppliers.
I have fitted curved aero flat blades to five different cars and haven't had any problems with them not clearing the screen properly. Haven't heard any complaints from people I have recommended them to either.
I have never bought from autobulbs though. I usually buy them from whoever has them cheapest (less than a tenner a pair) on Ebay.
I have never bought from autobulbs though. I usually buy them from whoever has them cheapest (less than a tenner a pair) on Ebay.
ExPat2B said:
danrc said:
ExPat2B said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
Where would you buy them? And what is PIAA?
PIAA is a "cult" japanese supplier. They sell massively overpriced kit that has the saving grace of being the best available. Last time I looked they wanted 35 pounds for a set plus 25 pounds for the special screenwash you need.
I got mine for £30, which is ok for what has essentially been the best set of wipers i've had which have lasted for almost 3 years. You don't need special wiper fluid.
Google PIAA approved suppliers.
Edited by chippy17 on Tuesday 14th December 15:44
redtwin said:
I have fitted curved aero flat blades to five different cars and haven't had any problems with them not clearing the screen properly. Haven't heard any complaints from people I have recommended them to either.
I have never bought from autobulbs though. I usually buy them from whoever has them cheapest (less than a tenner a pair) on Ebay.
I bought some for my Nissan off eBay.I have never bought from autobulbs though. I usually buy them from whoever has them cheapest (less than a tenner a pair) on Ebay.
They were great for about 3-4 weeks, then they started jumping on the glass, being noisy and not really performing very well. In fact bloody useless after about 6 weeks.
Different experience to you I'm afraid; I bought and fitted retro-fit aero blades to my Aero when I bought it last year and it was a massive improvement over the bosch ones that were on there beforehand. The Boschs were ok to begin with but they started to squeak really badly after about a month of use. The aero blades have been fantastic since I fitted them last winter; clean sweep and silent and hardly any sign of wear 12 months on.
Saying that, the Autobulbs website did have the wrong size of wiper listed for my car, but they exchanged them straight away.
Saying that, the Autobulbs website did have the wrong size of wiper listed for my car, but they exchanged them straight away.
300bhp/ton said:
redtwin said:
I have fitted curved aero flat blades to five different cars and haven't had any problems with them not clearing the screen properly. Haven't heard any complaints from people I have recommended them to either.
I have never bought from autobulbs though. I usually buy them from whoever has them cheapest (less than a tenner a pair) on Ebay.
I bought some for my Nissan off eBay.I have never bought from autobulbs though. I usually buy them from whoever has them cheapest (less than a tenner a pair) on Ebay.
They were great for about 3-4 weeks, then they started jumping on the glass, being noisy and not really performing very well. In fact bloody useless after about 6 weeks.
300bhp/ton said:
redtwin said:
I have fitted curved aero flat blades to five different cars and haven't had any problems with them not clearing the screen properly. Haven't heard any complaints from people I have recommended them to either.
I have never bought from autobulbs though. I usually buy them from whoever has them cheapest (less than a tenner a pair) on Ebay.
I bought some for my Nissan off eBay.I have never bought from autobulbs though. I usually buy them from whoever has them cheapest (less than a tenner a pair) on Ebay.
They were great for about 3-4 weeks, then they started jumping on the glass, being noisy and not really performing very well. In fact bloody useless after about 6 weeks.
Co-worker has them on his Galant for probably close to 2 years now. Will ask him when next I see him if he has any probs.
For less than £10 a pair I can't imagine buying the branded stuff for 3 times the money again.
Waugh-terfall said:
I've got Valeo specific fit Silencio X.TRM (flat blades) on mine, much better than the standard OEM Valeo Silencio hook-fit it came with. I swapped my wiper arms for the non-hooked facelift models arms which take the flats so I didn't have to have the silly adapter fitting.
I've got Valeo specific fit Silencio X.TRM aero blades on mine and they are absolute st, leave a huge area unswept.Would never have another set.
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