Wiper Blades or Inserts?

Discussion in 'Gen 5 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by scotched, Dec 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM.

  1. scotched

    scotched Member

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    OEM blades are starting to show lines. I've had them for a year, and within that year they worked flawlessly for the handful of times I actually used them.

    Wondering if u all went with the OEM inserts or went with another system altogether.

    Where I live it never rains, but pours when it does. My wipers spend most of their time cooking in the sun.
     
  2. mingc

    mingc Member

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    Starting with my 2015, which I had until earlier this year, I replace just the inserts. I had the original wipers the whole while and saw no reason to replace them. I'm going to do the same for my 2023, whose original inserts are still doing fine. Have you tried cleaning the inserts to see if the lines will go away? I live in the Pacific NW where it does rain a lot.
     
    #2 mingc, Dec 18, 2025 at 12:28 AM
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2025 at 12:39 AM
  3. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    IMHO; you should stick with the inserts. Once you replace the blades, you'll have to always replace the blades - since you won't know if they will accommodate inserts and type of insert blades. Unless you keep the original blades and don't damage them when you replace them.
    I went with commercial silicone inserts several years ago. They've outlasted my original OEMs by 2x now. The original OEMs separated at the pivot point.
     
    #3 BiomedO1, Dec 18, 2025 at 8:51 AM
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2025 at 10:31 AM
  4. notspam3

    notspam3 Junior Member

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    I prefer the inserts - easy to do, generates way less waste. Never had to replace the complete blade holder on any car I've had with inserts since 2008.
     
    Brian1954 likes this.
  5. VelvetFoot

    VelvetFoot Active Member

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    I just measured the driver's side wiper on my '26: 27"!
    Largest one in my years of car ownership.