My oem wipers are wearing out. What are the best wipers i can get in the market for my 08 prius.

I have never heard of the actual wipers wearing out. I think you mean the rubber inserts. I replace those once a year. I just buy the rubber inserts from my Toyota dealer. Your can also buy rubber inserts from auto parts stores. You don’t have to ever replace the whole wiper mechanism. I certainly never had to. The stock one works just fine.

 

The new wipers with one-piece construction seem to be a significant improvement. The Bosch Icons are excellent though expensive. I believe Ice-X and others also make these.

 

I just went to Kragens and bought the inserts, they work fine, keep my glass cleaner than the OEMs, cheap too, less than $3.00, and was able to replace front and back and have some surplus left over!

 

This is the note I left myself from the last replacement ==

Bosche
OEM

Note trick to remove and replace rubber: four latches lie in a groove on the rubber strip. To remove, pull up on the rubber strip from the middle to free the last latch. Replace in reverse by threading the latch 3,2,1 and 4 last. Much easier to remove the assembly from the car rather than trying to fit the replacement in-situ.

|-----2--------3--------4

Back window rubber Toyota OEM: 85214-47010
replaced 8/2008 $3.47

 

I almost never buy consumables from the dealer due to their high markup, but wiper blades are competitive with independent shops if I wait for a local dealer coupon. They outlast the replacements by far, so that's all i ever use. I also use Rain-X year round.

 

Toyota ones from the dealer. I've never come across longer lasting wipers.
How long did your genuine wipers last? After market wipers might last 12 months if you are lucky.

 

Our wipers, like our car, is now 2.5 years old... and we live at the edge of the rainforest! we get, usually, about 60" of rain per year (much of that is light drizzle, so there are a LOT of days that the wipers get used), plus in winter, there is the bit of sleet, snow, and ice on the windshield.

I just ordered the Bosch Icons from Amazon. Looking forward to testing them out.

 

I'm going to give the PIAA Hybrid ones a go (the arms are curved to match the windscreen). My parents had an accord with a set of these on a good number of years ago, given to them during some kind of trial (my mom works for a chemical standards company), and they just kicked major nice person. It was like having Rain-X spread on the windscreen every time the blades moved across. The only issue is finding somewhere local that stocks them, they're pretty much an online order item.

 

In my experience, you can get complete high-end replacement wiper units (like Bosch) from a parts store, for less money than just the inserts from Toyota. After that, you just replace the inserts for even a greater savings.

 

I have ICON's on my car. In sumer conditions they smear on the back stroke across the whole width of the blade unless they are used heavily for about 15 minutes after not having been used for a week or so. Maybe they got the blade profile installed backwards at the factory? After a while they work great. Maybe there is some kinda biological activity, or ozone damage occuring to the blade when unused for a long time? Then it takes the 15 minutes to wear off that surface / coating / whatever? Do these have some kinda impregnation in the blade that comes to the surface with disuse and then gets worn off? Supposedly the Rain-X blades have graphite in the blade. Its a little disconcerting to get a 1 second glimpse of the road, then a smear of microbubles.

They are very good for winter icing conditions, as there is no mechanism and spring to get loaded up with ice and then not press down on the window. This was the main reason I got them.

For the rear wiper, I just got the insert from the dealarship - $ 3 ? I seem to remember.

 

Can you come back with an update after trying the Bosch? Like your car, mine is approaching three years old and I am still using the original wipers! They do a good job and are so quiet. There is a little streaking now, so I may have to replace them soon. I am a bit nervous about buying new wipers because I don't want to end up with anything that smears or chatters.

 

I get new inserts every spring, and for winter put on winter wiper blades

Winter replacement windshield wiper blades | Trico Products

 

I strongly recommend the Bosch Icon's. Installed them on our 07 when I purchased it in May 07. The stock wiper blades tended to lift in high winds and at high speeds. The airfoil design of the Icons (plus the fact that they were excellent winter blades) originally attracted me to them.

I recently replaced them with a new set after more than 80K miles. I did it because I thought it was about time - and, in fact, didn't really notice that the new ones were better. I normally use the Rain-X windshield treatment, which does help wiper performance over time - and could have contributed to the extended performance of my original Icons.

When I went to replace the Icons I purchased a set of Rain-X blades - but took them back as I felt that the Rain-X wiper arm adapters were not well constructed (the Icon is specifically designed for the hook design used by Toyota - and does not require an adapter as the Rain-X blades do).

 

Statistically speaking it is a bit premature, the OEM insert lasted about 4 years, I can't say how long the new ones will last. For years I had been replacing the whole arm and because of price I decided to just try a insert. it was amazingly simple and I changed inserts with the arm on the car. As for the poster that asked what kind? I don't remember, but at Kragens ( or any auto store ) the insert displays are not large and all that is critical is physical width and approximate same type. Then just cut to size. And Pat THANKS for the input, you always have some food for thought.:cheer2:

 

Update:

We got our Bosch Icons, and I must say, they are so incredibly easy to install! The ones recommended (size) seems to be just about 1/2" shorter than OEM... but do an incredibly good job of squeegeeing off the rain! And at that, it is even the whole length of the wiper, no streaks left at the outer third.

So far, I'd say these are a good replacement. :thumb:

 

Now I wish there was a decent replacement for the rear wiper. The only non-Toyota wiper that will fit is shorter than the OEM. If they made one an inch longer it would be great, but alas they do not.

 

I bought genuine Toyota inserts from a Toyota dealer. They are still in the packaging, I'm waiting for the originals on my 04 to stop doing a perfect job.

 

There must not be many winds down there. We couldn't tolerate the lousy job the standard wipers do in a good head wind up here (the wind kept lifting the standard blades). No matter how long the OEM rubber lasts, the lifting of the blades in the wind made the OEM made them useless.

The solution was the Icons - and they lasted 80K miles (at least).