Wipers: poor performers

I've had my v for about 2 months and 3k miles now. The wipers are already beginning to streak small lines across the windshield. I've cleaned the rubber inserts a few times, but they still streak, almost as if the rubber already has nicks. Anyone enable similar experience? I would love to replace them with floppy flexible all rubber aftermarket wipers which perform awesome on our other car, but the v has a very nice whole plastic cover assembly which would probably rule that out. Just wondering if anyone else finds the wipers to be poor in performance?

I have noticed this on my v. First noticed it within the first couple thousand miles. Haven't changed the blades yet.

Thanks for the confirmation!

Yes, same here, very poor blades; will switch them to Bosch Icon before winter sets in.

Actually, that's not entirely honest, the OEM blades were spectacular for about, oh, I don't know, three or four wipes....

Will the Bosch icons require you to replace the entire oem assembly or can you utilize wiper inserts?

After having the car for about a month, the wipers seem to work well on the front (initial) starting stroke for me, but on the back (down) stroke they miss a ton. Usually the driver side misses a lot of the area that the passengers side blade moved to the driverside area. I used RainX treatment on my windows which helps in general but it didn't seem to help the missing complete areas issue at all (not that I really expected it to). Does anyone know if there is so easyway to adjust the blade so the down stroke hits correctly?

The Bosch ICON blades require you to replace the whole frame assembly.


I just have one piece of advice: don't ever buy the Valeo wiper blades that are on sale at Amazon once in a while. I was dumb enough to buy a couple pairs. They streaked the moment I put them on the car. Worst. Wipers. Ever.

I have had good luck with Bosch blades as well as the Goodyear ones they sell at Costco. The Michelin ones at Wal-Mart are decent for the money, but have annoying degradation characteristics.

Curious, since low mileage on vehicle can toyota dealer cover this, or not considered warranty item? Or, I imagine they would only replace with same.

Highly doubt that it would be covered. Wipers inserts are probably relatively inexpensive and easy enough to replace. I'm just annoyed that they don't clean that great after 1-2 months of ownership.

My issue is that the passenger wiper blade stops its travel right in front of the driver on the windshield. Tht "unloads" wiped dirt or debris right in front of the driver on the windshield. Sometimes the driver's side wiper clears the debris, and sometimes it doesn't. This design is obviously NOT optimum.

Are the 2012 models using entirely different wiper blades than the 2010?

My car is 3 years old this month and I just ordered my second set of wiper rubber inserts. I checked and this last set has lasted 18 months just like the first set.

I think I just need a new insert for the drivers side wiper. I ended up just flipping the insert and now the initial stroke is missing a lot but the down stroke cleans everything (including the stuff the passenger wiper moved over to the driver side).

I'm with Boston Jim: on the downstroke passenger side, I get a thump every stroke. How to change that? I'm pretty competent, and don't like to wait at the dealership for minor stuff.

Having the same issue .. have had the v for about ten months on second set of wipers and they are not any better ..taking my car in and seeing what they will do.. irritated to say the least...

Have no problem with wipers. Works just fine for me. Bought car in January and I live in Seattle metro (we know the rain- all 52 shade of it ) It must be the heat that causing the the issues (based on location of the posters).

I too had the same problem, mostly with the driver blade. I replaced it with a GoodYear flex (BOGO at Costco last month) and, although it is much better, it still misses a 1" wide strip directly under the arm attachment on the return stroke. I am going to try a 24" blade (from the Pilot I traded for the Prius v). I am thinking that 26" is just too much blade to keep in good contact with the glass.

I'm wondering if it's your cleaning choice. Maybe try a spray can of some sort "automotive glass cleaner", the heavy-duty foaming stuff stuff with all the environmentally unfriendly ingredients. A film can build up on the windshield, and it takes heavier cleaner to strip it.

I'll clean the glass with the stuff I got, spray it on, take it off with a cloth and a fair bit of elbow grease. Then use the same cloth (damp with residue) to run pinched along the blades several times.

Could depend on what blade supplier they go with, but our 3rd gen is coming up on 29000 km's, and the original blades still fine.

I had a RAV4 before my Prius V and found the Toyota wiper blades poor even when new. I bought some Valeo's from TireRack and they work great and last a year or longer. Not sure if they have Prius V sizes.

There's a Toyota brand washer fluid, I picked up a bottle a few weeks back, purposely used the old fluid a lot and just now managed to pour in about 3 quarts of this new stuff, will see how it goes. It has a lot of statements on the side of the bottle, regarding superior cleaning power, glaze cutting, and so on. Also lubricates the pump motor. Will see how it goes.

Does anyone know the 3 sizes of wipers on the v? I'm guessing we have to buy a pair of each (but then we'll have a set of spares), right?