How to change wiper blades including refills

Thanks for this. That's a lot easier than I'd imagined. I wonder if there are any compatible third-party wiper blade refills that are cheaper or better? Or indeed if you can cannibalise another wiper blade for the rubber.

 

Beware if you have a 2016 (can't speak for '17 and onward) but you will be unhappy to find that the wipers sold at Wal*Mart and Auto-Zone, O'reilly and so on will probably not fit. Took the guys at Advanced Auto Parts about 45 minutes trying various wipers before they were able to find one that fits, none of the part numbers that were supposed to fit actually fit.

 

I bought my refills at the local Toyota dealer for $8.95 each for the front ones. They are infinitely better than the Rainx and others at the auto parts stores.

 

Unfortunately didn't come across this until after all the fun I had at the auto parts store. Long story short, there are some that fit but I couldn't tell you which ones did and neither could they. One thing is for sure they had to send back a lot of wiper blades because they had opened somewhere between 8-10 sets. At any rate, next time I replace the wiper blades I'll probably go back to OEM and start getting refills instead.

 

How many miles are you guys getting out of your blades? Also, parking in the sun, day after day?

I'm just a little puzzled: our 2010 is build-date August 09. Admittedly it's garage parked almost without fail, and only 75K kms, but still on original blades, and they really seem fine, like new.

 

I had something like 44,000-45,000 before I changed mine. I bought the Pirus in August 2016. The rubber was still intact just starting to dry out and streak...

 

Sitting in the sun a lot?

 

During the summer, yes. Pretty much typical for the south east, hot, humid, fair amount of rain, dirt etc. Mind you I'm in a rural area and probably drive more than the average person...almost to 50,000 and not quite 2 years old.

 

Aren't yours getting lubricated by a gentle Vancouver rain every few days? ;-) (I used to live there in 1990)

We generally change them every year since they tend to dry out and get hard (then streaky and noisy). It's best to do it before monsoon season, when Murphy's Law seems to come into play.

 

Reminds me of when I was stationed in Aden in the '60s. They always (edit) "removed" the word from their cars. Limo driver carried feather duster around to brush the dustst off everything instead!!!!

 

@RCO, put the drink down and proofread that.

 

I was just trying to decipher it myself. And wondering if he's taking the same meds as Roseann Barr.

 

Thanks guys. I'll take more water in it next time!

 

I was thinking about trying Ambien, but I fell asleep while I was thinking about it. And furthermore: A "drug and alcohol free old-time mechanic" told me years ago to clean each "blade rubber" with a wet paper towel every so often. He said that would prolong the life of the "blade rubber". He also said that I should not use the wiper blades as a "snow/frost scraper". My 2016 Prius 3 has 14000 miles on her. Bought new in July 2016. Wipers still work like new.

 

Thanks for the installation help. I changed mine out today and it was quick and simple. I lubricated the inserts with some dishwasher soap and that made them slide on easy.

 

I'm a big spender. I bought the whole arm. $18 each? I changed them at 24 months? It's the driver's side that keeps splitting. Next time, I'll just get the refill. I think it's already splitting again. 33 months. Toyota OEM.

I always wondered if maybe the washer fluid kind of makes the rubber brittle over time? (I'm using Rain X.) I use those wipers several times a week. So they get lots of use. Bad habit, using the wipers to wash the windshield.