A Guide to Replacing the Windshield Wipers and Buying New Ones

With the cold season just around the corner, those of us who prepare their cars for the winter are busy checking tires, cooling fluid levels, and making sure our heater works but we often overlook the critical windshield wipers.

Being constantly exposed to heat, cold, dirt, dust, and all kind of debris the wiper blades, which are made of rubber, have a limited lifespan. If they start exhibiting symptoms like squeaking and they do a poor job of wiping the windshield, leaving a gooey film on it, the time has come to replace them.

Before buying a new set, it is critical to know what kind of hook design your car’s wiper arms have and the exact dimensions of the blades.

If you are unsure, either use the online catalog of established wiper manufacturers  or go to your nearest dealership of parts shop.

You will need to know exactly what make and model your car is and what year it was built. Some wipers come with adapters to fit various hooks, but you still need to know the exact length of your current wipers.

Make sure you do not buy the cheapest available wipers, especially if winters are tough in your area and you plan on using your car. Premium wipers will make a difference when it is most needed.

We recommend choosing flat blades if they are available for your car. They have fewer moving parts than traditional blades, they are more aerodynamic, smaller, lighter, and fit any windshield, including modern, highly curved ones.

If your car is older and did not come with flat blades when it rolled out of the dealership, there is no need to worry since there are many retrofit alternatives for older vehicles.

As for the wiper manufacturer you choose, the safest bet is to buy the OEMs from your local dealership but those are often far too expensive and, if your car is older but you want to fit flat blades on if, as we discussed above, the OEMs might be traditional blades.

The second option is to get a set of aftermarket blades from a premium manufacturer. The first one we would recommend is Bosch, which has an OEM quality line of flat-blade windshield wipers called ICON that have excellent reviews and are not as expensive as original manufacturer blades.

Another top manufacturer is Valeo, which manufactures OEM quality wipers, among many other parts. They have many different ranges, but we recommend the Aquablade range which features an innovative construction that uniformly distributes the wiper fluid and does an excellent job of cleaning the windshield.

The Rain-X Latitude is another great choice, as they are easy to find on sites like Amazon or eBay and come with excellent reviews.

Regardless of what wipers you will choose, it is extremely important to replace them when they show signs of wear and tear. Often neglected, this leads to a nightmarish driving experience when it is raining or snowing, which can lead to preventable accidents.