Everyday Blog

This might seem absolutely daft, but when you’re looking at which new or used car to buy next; you’d be well advised to have a look at the Wiper blades. They can make a significant difference to your non-fuel running expenditure.

Many of the new models that have been introduced in Europe during the last few years have been fitted with the new type of Flatblade Wipers. These look fantastic, and provide inherently much better wiping performance than traditional Wiper blades.

Flatblade Wipers are also said to be far more aerodynamically efficient than traditional Wiper blades, and this creates two benefits.

Firstly, Flatblade Wipers have much better contact with the windscreen , in particular at higher speeds.

Secondly, Flat wiper blades have a much lower coefficient of drag when compared with traditional Wiper blades. However, when you consider what a miniscule part of the overall drag of the car the Wiper blades account for; you’ll see that even cutting wiper blade drag by 80% won’t make any noticeable difference to your car’s economy.

Conversely, if you’re not vigilant, you could wind up spending up to £160 a year just on replacement Wiper blades!

This annoying situation has happened because the car manufacturers and the manufacturers of the Original Fit Wiper blades have managed to use their introduction as a means of controlling the unsuspecting owner into a very small number of suppliers for the replacements; namely the franchised dealer and the wiper blade manufacturer’s own local distributors.

This scarcity of competition has led to some extremely high prices being demanded for Flatblade Wipers.

A friend of mine is fortunate enough to have a very costly Supercar. Nevertheless even he was extremely annoyed to be quoted £80 for A wiper blade when his car was just over 6 months old. He looked around for an alternative source, and after the car main dealer, he could only find the wiper blade manufacturer’s local agent, and guess what? The prices were within a few pence of each other.

He was especially outraged by this, because in the past, he’s always fitted Silicone wiper blades to his cars as soon as the original rubber ones wore out. Despite keeping all his cars for a minimum of three years; he’s never needed to replace any of his Silicone wiper blades.

What further outraged my friend was the salt that the rubber wiper blade manufacturers rubbed into his wounds. On the packet of the £80 wiper blade is a warning that he should look forward to replace these Wiper blades within 6 months to a year.

Sadly, manufacturers of Silicone wiper blades have not yet found ways to get around the patents on the connection systems for these original fit Flatblade Wipers, but you can get Silicone Retrofit Flatblade Wipers, which bring together the looks & aerodynamic efficiency of Flatblade Wipers with the performance, life and guarantee of Silicone wiper blades.

So, when you’re choosing your next car, take a look at the wiper blade arms. If they have the well known hook type fittings, you can fit either classic or Flat Silicone wiper blades to fit. If they’ve got the fancy new patented connections, remember you could need to change them twice a year, and check out the cost. It may be as much as you spend on servicing!