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Originally posted by tjcj:

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Originally posted by Joe 5632:
Thanks for the reminder. Living in sw Florida I replace mine at the beginning of the rainy season which will begin next month. I’ve been using RainX Latitude for years and they have done the job for me since I don’t see snow, ice or frost. Of course being old and retired, if it rains hard I just stay home. Usually nothing is so important that it can’t wait a day.

Latitude is Rain X's Mid/Upper level blade. Good attitude about not having to go out in the rain unless you have to. Too many people driving at half the speed of traffic with a death clutch on the steering wheel, hunched forward because they can't see. Poor skills, lights, wipers, tires, bad news for themselves and everyone else on the road.

Too many people only think, they know everything about operating various motor vehicles. You can, if you will, stay on topic about wiper blades. You can search for or, start your own thread to complain about fellow drivers. Savvy?

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Originally posted by tjcj:

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Originally posted by straightshooter01:
This is one item from Costco that I am not completely happy with the product. For the price yes, especially when on sale, they are so so. But usually, almost without exception, I feel that I can buy a product at Costco and it is a fantastic product that meets or exceeds expectations, but these blades are pretty so so. I would love to see Costco get Bosch to make a Kirkland branded set and sell them for 1/2 the price of Bosch.

Michelin offers 5 different levels of blades and they are made by Pylon who makes blades for many sellers. Costco carries the entry level blades.

And that is what surprises me. With a lot of products, Costco would contract for the top quality and sell it at the mid level price.

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Originally posted by straightshooter01:

quote:

Originally posted by tjcj:
Michelin offers 5 different levels of blades and they are made by Pylon who makes blades for many sellers. Costco carries the entry level blades.

And that is what surprises me. With a lot of products, Costco would contract for the top quality and sell it at the mid level price.

The wiper blades Costco used to carry before Michelin were Goodyear branded. Those ones were monoblade style, cost the same, and worked better than the Michelins.

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Originally posted by clang:
I have a Toyota Avalon that needs some oddball wipers. It's something to do with the way they attach and the wipers that go on sale never work. Last Fall I bought a pair from NAPA that were around $50 for the pair. They were a name brand - I think they were Bosch. They were complete crap from the first time it rained.
an what
I replaced them with the cheapest blades I found on ebay - they were about $13 for the pair delivered. Brand name is Xukey. Easy to put on and no crazy adapter like I typically have to use. It's been a few months and I am completely satisfied with them.

Was on the left coast last month. Driving a borrowed neglected Toyota Van. Wipers falling apart. Went to Nearby O'Reillys and had trouble finding a matching pair. Wider arms. Ended up with the top Bosch on one side and cheaper Bosch on the other. Night and Day difference. Cheaper one chattered from the get go. Glad you got something that works for you.

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Originally posted by pbslinger:

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Originally posted by David Lee:
RainX your front glass pbslinger. If you've never been out in rain with a wind shield treated with RainX, you are in for a experience. I never before saw rain disperse in such a manner.

I first used RainX in the 80's. Maybe it works great on some windshields that naturally tend to blow water away, but I question if it really improves wiper performance.

It absolutely does, by a LOT. The difference is impressive. If it doesn't it's because you didn't clean your glass (really clean) before you applied the RainX repellant, or failed to follow the directions on the bottle. IF you do those things your blades will glide across your glass like skating on ice. But if the last time you used it was in the 80's my guess is that polymer surface chemistry has advanced a whole lot. Actually not a guess, it certainly has. There are actually better rain repellant products for windshields than the RainX brand, but I never wanted to spend the coin because RainX has worked so dam well for me. Auto detailing is a hobby, I'm quite well equipped and always experimenting to learn more. RainX is gtg. RainX will also "seal" the glass so to speak, by imparting a type of static charge (physics people please step in) in addition to the slippery surface chemistry with a very high water bubble angle, so that dirt can't stick to the glass, imparting a longer life to your blades, because the blades aren't running against dirty (sandpaper) glass.

Yes I've noticed the sudden spike across the board for all wiper blades, it's absolutely ridiculous. I found blades at Napa though, their house brand, for about $9 a piece. But my cars are pretty boring, nothing expensive or high performance.

I never thought about the NAPA stores when I needed wipers. I even saw at WalMart, RainX blades which had yellow material, something other than rubber, which was treated with RainX. My Michelin blades seem fine. Where they started out wiping quietly, I raised the 28" blade up to brush away tree junk from the glass. I picked it up wrong and bent it a little. In light rain it is a bit loud now. Still works as it should.

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Originally posted by wrightd:
Yes I've noticed the sudden spike across the board for all wiper blades, it's absolutely ridiculous. I found blades at Napa though, their house brand, for about $9 a piece. But my cars are pretty boring, nothing expensive or high performance.

The NAPA branded Exact Fit are good mid range Blades, I am not a fan of their entry level Proformer series though. My truck has 22" blades on both sides. Napa offers 23 different blades for my truck with a list price ranging from $10.66 to $61.72. Nobody pays List but I'm using it here as an indicator of the range of blades available.
They carry wipers at several levels from: NAPA, Bosch, Rain-X, and Trico, No store is going to have all those blades but of the 23 listed I could have 12 different sets today and the remainder in 2-3 days. Most Parts Houses will have similar availability, Retailers will not. Last words: Find a brand, style, quality level that works for you, THEN go price shopping, (Including internet). Or know a guy.

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Originally posted by OKCGene:
Costco. For sure.

Michelin on sale this month $6.99 each.
.

I'm a Costco devotee but I've decided I'm not buying those wipers anymore. They don't hold up in the desert (but they might be just fine in other areas). I dropped $50 on a pair of Rain-X a couple months ago and have been much happier.