drove my wife's 03 t/l s in the rain today. the car has about 18kmiles, I don't normally drive her car, but it seemed to me the wipers were extremly noisy with a slapping sound with each wipe. is this a common complaint? is there a known fix? thanks.

 

mine are quiet. just buy some new wipers. i have had good luck with the bosch

 

the slapping sound is normal.

try using newer blades, as i notice mine get noisy after 6mos to a year of use.

 

I had to get rid of my stock wipers after 10K miles and four rain storms. The rubber started skipping on the glass and made this horrid sound whenever I used them.

I got the PIAA silicone ones ($36 shipped) to replace them. They work well and are very quiet after 5K miles. However my issue with them is that lately if my windshield is even moderately dirty or dusty, they still leave some marks on the glass. I'm annoyed by this and will probably replace before the end of the year. So the PIAAs are good but not as good as I thought for $36 (same with Boschs though slightly cheaper).

It doesn't rain much in LA so if I had to do it again, I would just buy some decent cheaper refills at Autozone/Kragen/Pep Boys and replace them more often.

 

i replace mine twice a year. its a cheap saftey investment. i replace them in the spring and the fall.