Has anyone tried the new Rain-X wiper blades?

jeffyscott

It will be a cold day in hades before I shell out $40 for two wiper blades.

I probably would have thought that way too, until I saw just how much better the Icons are compared to my previous wiper blades of choice...which were Bosch microedge. The extra $15-20 is well worth it to me...especially since these have worked well (winter and summer) for far longer than other blades.

theyrealltaken

I just took off my SilBlade silicone winter blades. I can't say they last five years (as their maker claims) because I haven't had them that long, and I also only use them in winter. But I *CAN* say I've had them for two (three?) winters now and I'm still happy with them, which says a lot because I can almost never keep a set of rubber wipers beyond four months because they start to streak and drive me crazy. I guess I'm hyper-sensitive to windshield wipers and their failures.

I'd use SilBlades in summer too if only they came in a 21" size I need. I can forgive the missing inch in winter, though.

I tried Triple Edge blades many years ago. I threw them away. As far as I could tell, they last forever because they're too hard & stiff to actually follow glass closely enough to wipe water away. Perhaps I should have given them more time to break in, but I didn't want to wait. (To be fair, I know someone who had the same reaction to summer SilBlades).

I saw the Bosch Icon blades, but they don't come in the 16" length I need for my rear window. I see that SilBlade now has a similar "one-piece frame" blade, but they don't come in the 21" length I need for the driver's side. (This is getting frustrating...) The Rain-X Latitude blades come in all three sizes I need, and as soon as I find a store with all three in stock, I'll buy them. I'll gladly pay more to see better.

I also put Rain-X on all my car windows and outside mirrors, and enjoyed the results enough that I'm really kicking myself for not having found time to do it again. Maybe this weekend.

I think I'll get Diamon-Fusion or Nanoprotect AG for my next new car...

texmike

Agree, I bought the Rain-X Latitude blades and they seem to work great. Just hope they last long enough to warrant $20 apiece.

jeffyscott

My wife's 23 month old Icons, that came on her new Jetta, are still doing great. Meanwhile, the conventional blades on my 3 month old Mazda are already starting to annoy me at times.

bottgers

I thought I'd let you know how the Aquapel works. It doesn't. It doesn't appear to bead water at all and I had to use the wipers even at highway speeds. I re-applied Rain-X and what a difference! The Rain-X may have to be applied more often, but at least it works. Don't waste your money on the Aquapel.

Kirstie_H

Thanks for that! I'm always looking for a bargain and might have fallen for a "knock-off" Rain-X.

rockylee

I've only used it once in my life and lost the bottle. I applied it to my 92' Bonneville, when the stuff came out. It beads the water really well. What in the heck do these Rain-X Wiper blades really do as I'm unfamiliar with them ? Do they have a resivour built in them that slowly apply's Rain-X fluid to your windshield ?

Thanks,

Rocky

jeffyscott

The wiper blades have nothing to do with the fluid, they are just a bracketless design like Bosch Icon.

rockylee

Oh okay....So what makes them so special ? Wiper quality ?

Rocky

geo9

ROCK....Yea they are "special" all right !
Come in a snazzy yellar box with neat graphics and
a $18 bucks EACH pricetag !!!!!!!!!

Must be that quality made in mexico difference !

rockylee

Well what are the best "blades" on the market ?

Rocky

geo9

Hmmmmm...........I just buy the cheapest ones that are
on sale when I need them. I use 2 sets. The regular
ones for summer and the winter ones that are fully
encased in rubber for snow and ice season...........

Been wanting to try the heated ones on my plow truck
for winter use but the $75 bucks is steep !!!!

Kirstie_H

Instead of offering snide comments, why not just respond with your experience, or let others who have used them respond? There are plenty of people who would like genuine feedback on rocky's question.

british_rover

PIAA had some great blades on the market a few years ago. Some of the guys I knew in SCCA Rally Racing used them with great sucess.

kcwolfpack59

Love 'em. Got them buy one get one free after rebate. Had them on since Oct. 06 through a nasty Missouri winter. The one piece design worked perfectly though an apocalypic record ice storm. I have a thing about good wipers and I am happy with them.
The only thing I will say is they are not as aerodynamic as I thought. Under some windy conditions when driving over 65, the right one skips slightly.
I think they look cool, too. Tried the one piece from anco for the other car and they are not as good, and took them back and got more of the Rain X.

jeffyscott

Rocky, there are only 3 pages of posts here. You might go back and read them, there was some pretty good discussion of the pros and cons of different blades, IIRC.

Bosch Icons have won me over. Discovered them when they came on my wife's new Jetta. The Rainx ones look so similar that I will consider them in the future too. I even wonder if they are made for them by Bosch, because of the lookalikeness.

rockylee

Okay....I will have to do just that. I also have never heard of heated wiper blades. :surprise:

Rocky

geo9

KIRSTIE>>>>>>>>>>>>>Not being snide in my response to
my GM bud Rock........
Just commenting with my reasons on why so costly at $18 bucks each.........

Too bad you read it that way.........

geo9

Yea Rock...............They are advertised on some of the
snowplow sites. All the hanging/exposed wiring scares me
as not to last too long during heavy snow events, scraping
and brushing around them or how those dangling wires
would hold up after HOURS of usage during plowing !

Heck..The "winter" style blades are bad enough! They have
ruined the windsheild on my 04! You can see the wiper
pattern "burned" into the windsheild..........

Oh well should have my new 07 in a week or so.
No V-max package on the 3/4 tho.!
But that 6.0 should have enough GRUNT to drag a blundra
around........LOL! :P

british_rover

They should just make heated windshields an option on all of those vehicles.

rockylee

Well a few car company's have that option don't they ? I thought Lincoln, was going to introduce that option I read somewhere ????

I know GM, offer's heated windshield washer fluid on several of it's models now.

Rocky

geo9

I too thought Ford had a heated windsheild (instaclear??)
a few years back in Lincolns.
I will note that the GM "dustbuster" vans had heated strips
in the bottom of the front windsheild...........

Some models of the GMT-900 trucks have heated washer fluid.

rockylee

Many buick's and cadillac's also have heated windshields as well. I do think the heated windshield is a good idea.

Rocky

ejevo

I have them and would give them a big thumbs down.

Purchased a set for my '04 Civic from Pep Boys. Got the 'buy one / get one free' rebate on them, so total cost was about $17.

Installed them on 11/27/07. Took a ride into CT yesterday in the rain (2/18/08) and the driver's side wiper leaves a big swath of moisture (about 3" wide) on each return swipe, right in the driver's field of vision. Even in a mist, it didn't clear the moisture entirely. At around $17/ per set, let alone per wiper, I'd expect them to last longer than 3 months on a garaged vehicle.

It's back to Honda OEM blades for me. They at least last about a year.

dave8697

Wiper blades are getting worse. One was Stuck in some thin windshield Ice at the bottom and when I turned it on, the wiper separated for 4". It only had maybe 10k miles and 2nd winter. They doubled in price and quality is half.

We had 3 or 4 ice storms this winter and my rainx wore off the glass and scraping was hard the last 2 times. Finally put a new coat on when it was 64 degrees this past weekend. With a fresh coat, the frost comes off with the squeegee side of the scraper. I do the side windows and mirrors for easy ice and frost removal. With a 47 mile commute, I don't want to spend more than 30 seconds scraping my car in the morning. I don't think a rainx wiper would remove frost or ice on a 15 degree morning in 20 seconds from start up, will it?

bottgers

....of wiper blades. I started with regular ol' Ancos, tried several of the supposedly "premium" blades, and now I'm going back to Ancos. The premium blades are no better than the regular ones. The only thing that makes them premium is their price.

jipster

The OEM blades on our 2004 Mazda MPV are still going strong... at almost 4 years old and 37,000 miles. Our last oil change the tech wrote,"need wipers bad", during a full circle inspection. But, they still wipe and clear off rain very well... without any streaking or gaps.

bottgers

I've noticed the same thing with our 2003 MPV wiper blades. They're working well. I'm not sure where Mazda gets their wiper blades, but I've never had blades that's lasted this long before.

jeffyscott

I had the opposite experience with mazda OEM wipers, I replaced them after about 6 months on my 2007 Mazda6.

tonyy1919

I have been an anco fan since I was young, Over 50 years, But now, I'm looking for a blade that does not fall apart in a week. I just purchased 2 and as I was driveing down the road, it started to come apart. Out in the rain I had to stand and put it together. The metal used to be one solid piece. Now to lite metal strips. that come off the plastic that was metal. need something new that will last.