My automotive gripe & solution: rear window wiper blades.

[SoupOrMan]

Gripe: My rear window wiper blade finally gave up the ghost after nine years of solid service to my 2005 Hyundai Tucson. First I go to Wal-Mart, Target & Sears auto sections to find replacement blades. Driver & Passenger front windshield wipers only. Next I go to the numerous parts stores (Advance, AutoZone, O'Reilly & NAPA) to find a rear window wiper blade. NAPA has rear assemblies, but won't tell me which ones will fit my particular SUV. The others don't have them and I hear from seven different places "Go to the dealer."

Dealer wants $25 PLUS installation (1 hour minimum at regular time, naturally) of a snap-on/snap-off wiper blade & frame.

Fuck that. Fuck it in the ear with a rusted shovel that's on fire.

I go to Menard's to pick up some more furnace filters. I notice they've added a small automotive section.

14-inch wiper blade assemblies are on sale for $3. I get an idea.

Solution: The 14" wiper goes into the shopping cart. The original assembly gets pulled off the wiper arm and is inspected for corrosion or breakage. There's none. I get home, remove the ruined blade from the snap-on frame, pull the good rubber blade out of its assembly and cut it to size. I have a fence tool from Channelock that cut right through the steel ribs in one snap and it worked great here. I put the cut-down blade into the snap-on frame and pop it back into the wiper arm.

Works like a bloody charm, it does.

In short, fuck $25 plus installation. I'll do it my fucking self.

[Aesop]

Sounds like a Hyundai thing.
I had a rear wiper when I drove an Astropig, and all I had to do was buy a blade and pop it on, just like the front ones.
The bigger problem was Chevy and UAW being unable to build and install a functioning electrical system to make them work all the time, but I suspect alcohol was involved there.

[SoupOrMan]

Apparently there's some sort of Korean voodoo that requires you to buy rear window wiper blades only through the manufacturer.

[PawPaw]

I'm amazed, not at the Korean sub-assembly problem, but that anyone actually uses the rear wiper. My lady has been driving one of several SUVs for about 10 years and I don't believe we've ever used the rear wiper. As far as I know, it's UV'd beyond use and is stuck to the back glass. I never thought about actually flipping the switch to see if it works.

[Termite]

My Ford Escape's works just fine, and Auto Zone has them. Ditto the Expedition and the Rodeo.

Must be a Korean thing............

[Greg]

I'm amazed, not at the Korean sub-assembly problem, but that anyone actually uses the rear wiper. My lady has been driving one of several SUVs for about 10 years and I don't believe we've ever used the rear wiper. As far as I know, it's UV'd beyond use and is stuck to the back glass. I never thought about actually flipping the switch to see if it works.

My wife's CRV has a rear wiper. In rain it can be useful but isn't really necessary. In snow, or when things are kicking up road salt, you really want that wiper, and you want it to also have wiper fluid.

So I can easily see you not caring, or needing to care. Some of us, we need those fiddly little things.

[MarkD]

No problem getting the rear wiper on our Jeep Liberty either.

Now some idiot who shall remain nameless (but his name rhymes with Dark G) didn't put the damn thing ON right, so it fell off, but....

[Darrell]

Toyota is like that too, I can get the fronts at Wally World or any auto parts shop, but nobody sells the rear wiper. Toyota sticks it to you by selling it as a complete assembly, IIRC. However, I just measured the blade length, went to an auto parts store and bought a set of refills the same size. I had to snake it into the clips, but no big deal. Cheap, and they work just fine.

[evan price]

Wife's Sequoia has a plastic horn riveted on the blade that engages a plastic ramp on the tailgate when the blade is parked, so that it is off the glass so the window can roll up and down.
Same thing.
Bought a Bosch wiper blade which was the correct thin profile blade, discarded the new frame, used the new blade on the old frame. They no longer sell refills for blades because they make blades so damn cheap that they are loose and rusty by the time the rubber wears out nowadays. Also, profit.

[Denis]

Toyota is like that too, I can get the fronts at Wally World or any auto parts shop, but nobody sells the rear wiper. Toyota sticks it to you by selling it as a complete assembly, IIRC. However, I just measured the blade length, went to an auto parts store and bought a set of refills the same size. I had to snake it into the clips, but no big deal. Cheap, and they work just fine.

This ticks me off too. On the other hand, I have our Toyotas (a hatchback and a station-wagon) serviced and inspected annually, and that rarely, if ever costs anything above the basic workshop hourly rate for one hour per vehicle plus consumables, so I don't begrudge the dealership their small profit on two rear wipers. I replace the front ones any time I'm passing a big DIY store in Germany, as they all carry the good Bosch ones cheap. I suppose I could buy an extra and cut it to fit the rear holder each time, but it's not worth the time or effort to me.

PawPaw - I couldn't imagine doing without the rear wiper, but we do get a lot of rain here, and some snow in the winter, along with salted roads, which make for a nasty opaque crust. Decent blades front and rear, and proper alcohol-based washer fluid are a must. The odd time I drive a saloon car, I miss the rear wiper, and find that the rearward visibility is very poor without it.