How come there are no more wiper blade inserts?

[labman]

I think part of it has to do with them not being standardized. If you or the original owner replaced the OEM assembly, who only knows which refill you need.

It is like the older pin type CFL's Too hard to find the right one. So now you have to trash the ballast with each one.

 

[Papa Bear]

I get my refills at Canadian Tire here for $5.95 pair. The "narrow" or "standard" fit 99% of the vehicles I know of.

 

[stranger706]

Originally Posted By: ZGRider
I buy the Walmart low-end brand wiper assemblies and they work great on all my vehicles. They only last a year or 2, but they only cost $3 or so.


+1

 

[rationull]

I've gotten my refills at my Honda dealer. The 8th gen Civic has some weird wipers so for the time being I'd rather go with OEM ones. About $6 per side IIRC. Not sure what to make of people saying they're illegal in CA...

 

[PeteTheFarmer]

Advance Auto by me has them, although you might not notice unless you were looking for them.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Originally Posted By: ZGRider
I buy the Walmart low-end brand wiper assemblies and they work great on all my vehicles. They only last a year or 2, but they only cost $3 or so.


Pylons? Those are great wipers for the price. I had one last for 3 years on my hatch of my car and it was still wiping the hatch glass fine when I replaced it, although it was getting noisy/chattery. I put some on my girlfriend's car too and they're working awesome.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I just redid both cars with a mix of frameless brands. So far so good. AA has some less expensive ones, that are fine.

 

[Vizzy]

This bugs me too. I guess it is the economical part of me but I find it a complete waste to replace the actual arm assy if it is in decent shape..for the most part the ANCO assys after a few years were in excellent condition and their was no need to replace anything except the rubber insert....I do know that some years ago even walmart stocked the inserts..but no more..does AZ or AAP stock ANCO refills? or if not who does?

 

[SubLGT]

My local Autozone stocks Anco rubber refills (inserts). They are kept in back, where you don't normally see them. O'Reillys does not stock any refills. I didn't see any at NAPA. The Subaru dealer has refills, but they are over priced and not very durable.

I agree it is a waste to toss a perfectly usable blade assembly.

 

[UncleS2]

Refills? They were/are just too cheap, worked too well, & made too much sense!

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Stuart Hughes
Refills? They were/are just too cheap, worked too well, & made too much sense!


It means so little profit for sellers to stock it.

 

[Spazdog]

If you can get the correct specific inserts? With the metal tracks? Awesome.

But the ones that were being sold circa 2000 at the discout auto parts stores? Well to be honest, they were a pain in the [Jesus rode into Jerusalem on one]

Just touching the old, rotted, ozone damaged, and UV damaged insert would stain your hands black.

They were cut to fit, and then if the OE metal tracks don't have barbs to dig into the rubber, they will slide out and cause the empty section of the wiper arm to score your windshield because the driver would not get out in the rain to slide it back in. This was especially prevalent in Mercedes Benz drivers. Oh, they'll spend the money on the car itself but they're not spending more than $2.99 on a single wiper blade even though I have an affordable proper Valeo brand replacement in stock.
Nope. They would rather score up their windshield with the intricate sweep of their single wiper.

Clearly, I was trying to rip them off by suggesting that they put something intended for their car on their car.

We also had polycarbonate refills. The wide ones were too wide. The narrow ones too narrow. This necessitates spreading or pinching the metal frame. The owner would more often than not ham-fist this procedure and snap off one of the little tabs.

If they could easily slide into the frame, they would chatter.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog

They were cut to fit, and then if the OE metal tracks don't have barbs to dig into the rubber, they will slide out and cause the empty section of the wiper arm to score your windshield because the driver would not get out in the rain to slide it back in. This was especially prevalent in Mercedes Benz drivers. Oh, they'll spend the money on the car itself but they're not spending more than $2.99 on a single wiper blade even though I have an affordable proper Valeo brand replacement in stock.
Nope. They would rather score up their windshield with the intricate sweep of their single wiper.

Clearly, I was trying to rip them off by suggesting that they put something intended for their car on their car.

We also had polycarbonate refills. The wide ones were too wide. The narrow ones too narrow. This necessitates spreading or pinching the metal frame. The owner would more often than not ham-fist this procedure and snap off one of the little tabs.

If they could easily slide into the frame, they would chatter.

This is very hash. I own a Mercedes and I do not like to waste money on anything, but I do spent money where/when it's needed. I hate to pay full list price and wait for sale/rebate, since I planed ahead of time I bought most items on sale only for very good(cheap) prices.

I didn't find the exact fit insert(s) for my car(s) therefore I bought several pairs beam type wipers, Bosch Icon and Anco Contour, on sale from Amazon that will lasted me more than 5-6 years. I changed the wiper(s) as soon as it did not perform at its peak which is about 2-3 years in the mild climate of So Cal.

If you think Mercedes owners are cheap if they don't use Veleo wiper blades, then I must disagree with you on this.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

This is very hash. I own a Mercedes and I do not like to waste money on anything, but I do spent money where/when it's needed. I hate to pay full list price and wait for sale/rebate, since I planed ahead of time I bought most items on sale only for very good(cheap) prices.

I didn't find the exact fit insert(s) for my car(s) therefore I bought several pairs beam type wipers, Bosch Icon and Anco Contour, on sale from Amazon that will lasted me more than 5-6 years. I changed the wiper(s) as soon as it did not perform at its peak which is about 2-3 years in the mild climate of So Cal.

If you think Mercedes owners are cheap if they don't use Veleo wiper blades, then I must disagree with you on this.

You planned ahead. You didn't wait until it was pouring rain to pull into a discount auto parts store and then complain when the counterman brings your the correct part because you see some "over there for $2.99". With that, I have no problem whatsoever

Fortunately, I did not sell him the universal refill. The guy that did works for a BIG dealership now. I fibbed and said I didn't know how to get it out of absolute rest position so the owner was responsible for installation. I don't know if the company bought him a new windshield or not.

 

[paulo57509]

Originally Posted By: Jim 5
I got them recently at the BMW dealer and at the Honda dealer.


+1 on the Honda dealer source. They seem to last forever.

 

[grampi]

It's much easier replacing the entire assembly as opposed to trying to thread just the blade into the old wiper arm. Why would you want to do that anyway? It isn't like the new metal piece is somehow inferior to the original.

 

[jcwit]

Originally Posted By: grampi
It's much easier replacing the entire assembly as opposed to trying to thread just the blade into the old wiper arm. Why would you want to do that anyway? It isn't like the new metal piece is somehow inferior to the original.


Why? Simple, to save money.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: jcwit
Originally Posted By: grampi
It's much easier replacing the entire assembly as opposed to trying to thread just the blade into the old wiper arm. Why would you want to do that anyway? It isn't like the new metal piece is somehow inferior to the original.


Why? Simple, to save money.


The entire assembly can be had for the same or less money, so how are you saving money by just buying the inserts?

 

[jcwit]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: jcwit
Originally Posted By: grampi
It's much easier replacing the entire assembly as opposed to trying to thread just the blade into the old wiper arm. Why would you want to do that anyway? It isn't like the new metal piece is somehow inferior to the original.


Why? Simple, to save money.


The entire assembly can be had for the same or less money, so how are you saving money by just buying the inserts?


I suppose if you buy the cheap complete assembly and compare it to the quality insert. How bout comparing quality to quality, in other words apples to apples.

Just checked pricing and 2 refills can be bought for the price on 1 complete assemble, same brand, same make, same model.

 

[SubLGT]

Even in the aftermarket, it seems that only Anco is offering refills for their own wipers, such as the Aerovantage wiper and the Series 31 wiper.