TallestTSX

I was talking to my dealer today during our usual "you're getting an oil change, so I'm going to sell you on other crap we over-charge for" call, and he was saying that my wiper blades weren't the best. I told him I only recently replaced them, and I bought ones that looked like the factory ones, but they didn't last at all while the factory ones lasted FOREVER.

He told me something many of you probably already know that I had never heard of. He said that only new cars come with truly NEW rubber on the wiper blades. All other blades are recycled rubber.

My question is, does anyone know of a place I can buy TRULY new wiper blades with TRULY new rubber? I'd pay a hefty sum to get blades as good as the ones that came with my car.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

PACman

Which brand did you replace the "FOREVER" blades with?

TallestTSX

Bosch ICON

PACman

I've had good experience sticking w/ replacement Honda OEM blades. I'm at 111,000 miles, and on my 2nd set of blades. Keep in mind I live in a warm/hot environment, little rain fall. I'm surprised the rubber doesn't crack or chip off.

Hoosier_Buddy

Are you saying that an Acura dealership employee told you that the Acura replacement wiper blades that he sells are made from recycled rubber and those that come on the car from the factory are made from new rubber?

Or that aftermarket wiper blades are made from recycled rubber and Acura factory wiper blades are made from new rubber?

deepen03

speakin of wiper blades, i just bought the rain-x latitudes for my 04' tsx. they are incredible! definitely worth the 18 bucks a piece at wal-mart.

Itchytoe

It's not true that only new cars come with non-recycled rubber inserts in the wipers. They all use recycled rubber. Original wiper blades last so long because they're made with a harder rubber than your aftermarket ones. As long as you get good aftermarket wiper blades, they'll last just as long if not longer than your OEM ones. I bought my car with 36,000 miles on it and factory wipers that were absolutely horrible. I quickly replaced them and now have about 56,000 miles on the car and the wipers still work like new.
I have Bosch blades, not sure which ones in particular though. I don't know why yours aren't lasting even though mine are. Maintenance maybe? Do you ever take care of the wiper blades, or just leave them on the car and forget about them?

MIA T-SEX

I only replaced my blades twice since buying my 05 tsx. They work like a charm here in Miami.

syee99

Icon's aren't cheap, and they're one of the better blades out there. I've used mine (Bosch Icons) for about 3 years before I replaced them. They were actually alright but streaked a little from running the blades over ice that had formed on my windshield during the winter.

However, if you think your wipers aren't performing at their peak level, switch them out. Wipers from the dealership probably aren't anywhere near as expensive as the Icons.

1Louder

I tried to do a lot of research on the Icons - while the reviews were positive the knock on them was they wore out quickly. In the end I just replaced with Acura blades (many on-line retealers sell, I bought from Curry Acura). They're easily as good as what came with the car if not identical.

ck123

do you guys just replace the rubber insert or the entire blade?
my 06 tsx started to skip within 1 year and i have yet to replace them.

jswim99

I think you guys must live in warm/wet climates. I replace my blades (and my our Civic's) every 6 months or so here in Colorado with the factory inserts. When I find a good price I'll just buy a bunch at once. Also, sometimes I'll wipe them down with Armor-All, and that seems to help a bit. When they get old, my blades don't skip, they just sort of smear liquid. Also, there's a spot on my windshield directly in front of my face that really smears--that's usually my indicator for new blades.

1Louder

When I ordered from Curry, they accidentally sent me a full blade for the longer one, and some kind of "regular" blade for the shorter one (the kind most cars run). I was able to remove the rubber insert from the "regular" wiper and put into the existing blade, but I would tell you it wasn't a perfect fit. I had to bend and twist a bit, but eventually made it fit. It wipes just fine. So it *can* be done, but that particular rubber insert wasn't made to. Maybe others know of rubber inserts that can be swapped in and out. As often as I need to replace them (every couple years), the added cost of the full blade wasn't a deal killer. Now if I had to replace very 6 months I'd be looking at other options.

davidspalding

Let's get our terminology correct. The "insert" is a wiper blade. The 2006-2008 TSX uses an ICON style wiper assembly that a Acura (Mitsuba, IIRC) wiper blade slides into, using the reinforcement splines (ribs) that your old blade has in there.

Also ... I keep my windshield scrupulously clean, ensuring good wiper performance. If you're one of those who "clean" the windshield with your washer fluid and your blades, you'd best get a wiper that you can replace the blade on economically. This "cleaning" will eventually damage the blade, reduce it's effective performance, and probably isn't too good for your windshield either. Just my .

I wrote a DIY post for the 1.5GEN (2006-2008) blade replacement, explaining in better detail what the manual covers. The Acura wiper assemblies run $40-55 for two, while a pair o' blades is $9 or so online. Easy math. If you prefer buying a whole aftermarket wiper ($15-22 ea.) every year or two, good for you.

deepen03

or you can just buy rain-x latitudes or michelin radius blades. the rain-x go for 18 a piece at walmart and the radius are 12 a piece at walmart. i got the latitudes on my tsx and the radius's on my dad's TL. Both perform extremely well. And they have no metal parts on them, so know premature rusting. and the blades are guaranteed to last up to 3x longer than regular blades on the latitudes. not sure about the radius but both are the same exact design so i would assume the same life on those as well.

davidspalding

Reread my post. The 2006-2008 Acura wiper is a Bosch ICON style wiper, no exposed metal parts, superb aerodynamic performance, great adhesion to the windshield (on my car at least, with 70,000 miles). There's no need to replace the wiper with a $12 piece of unless I want to downgrade performance. Oh, and many of those aftermarket wipers DON'T let you replace the blade later on, so you'll need to buy a whole new wiper assembly.

You're telling this user, "don't replace the wiper blade on your Acura ICON wiper for $5, pull that thing off and buy a completely new aftermarket wiper assembly, not not nearly as good as the ICON, for 3 times the cost of your wiper insert."

:thumbsdow