9 year old Wipers?

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FirstNissan

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I was at Advance auto checking out when a mid 30s girl comes in with her little child, holding a windshield wiper. Tells the guy behind the counter that she needs a new wiper, as this one isnt good anymore. Guy asks, what car is it, 2001 Lexus RX, how old is the wiper , its the original wiper!!! She only wants one wiper, since the other wiper is still ok, too cheap to pay $10 extra for a new set, walks out with 1 new wiper only.
Sometimes its nuts how little some people do to their cars for maintenance, makes me never want to buy a used car ever again!
 
No need to waste money if it works it works has no meaning on how the car is kept up.
 
Originally Posted By: dave123
No need to waste money if it works it works has no meaning on how the car is kept up.


These are the people that get the big arc scratches on their windshield in a sudden downpour when 9 years of UV,Ozone, and contaminants cause a wiper that was "working" to disintegrate.
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: dave123
No need to waste money if it works it works has no meaning on how the car is kept up.


These are the people that get the big arc scratches on their windshield in a sudden downpour when 9 years of UV,Ozone, and contaminants cause a wiper that was "working" to disintegrate.
Yeah you have to be careful you don't wait too long. They can tear and it will scratch the windshield.
 
Originally Posted By: dave123
No need to waste money if it works it works has no meaning on how the car is kept up.


So you don't mind if the previous owner just changed the brakes one wheel at a time when the squealer hit? Just one spark plug, no need to do the rest.

Wipers are a safety item, cheap, and simple to replace... and right in front of your face too. If they're being overlooked everything else is too.
 
Originally Posted By: bepperb
Originally Posted By: dave123
No need to waste money if it works it works has no meaning on how the car is kept up.


So you don't mind if the previous owner just changed the brakes one wheel at a time when the squealer hit? Just one spark plug, no need to do the rest.

Wipers are a safety item, cheap, and simple to replace... and right in front of your face too. If they're being overlooked everything else is too.


You also forgot I buy one tire at a time this one really saves money
 
I just changed the wiper blades in my wife's vibe. she still had the originals but never said anything. I noticed how I couldn't see that well driving her car when it was raining. I put new michelin blades earlier this week. the other day, my wife said "hey, those new wiper blades work great, I can see real good when it rained" lol
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: bepperb

So you don't mind if the previous owner just changed the brakes one wheel at a time when the squealer hit? Just one spark plug, no need to do the rest.


That's why MOST used cars are a [censored] and not a good value in reality. Just some other uninformed person's problems covered up and unloaded.

A used car with ALL receipts (its doable, my early 1980s cars have them all) is another story, and you can see what's up.

With wipers Id consider changing just one if there was an issue and the other was done before or still OK. Im not sure I get 9 years, but I can get 4+ years out of wipers with them seeming like new, despite living outside.
 
I actually disagree with the one wiper is OK crowd too.
If one goes, the other is not far behind, unless one wiper has been taking a vacation, they both move the same amount of times, which means they both have the same amount of wear on them. Replace pairs only..
 
Originally Posted By: dave123
Originally Posted By: bepperb
Originally Posted By: dave123
No need to waste money if it works it works has no meaning on how the car is kept up.


So you don't mind if the previous owner just changed the brakes one wheel at a time when the squealer hit? Just one spark plug, no need to do the rest.

Wipers are a safety item, cheap, and simple to replace... and right in front of your face too. If they're being overlooked everything else is too.


You also forgot I buy one tire at a time this one really saves money



It's like you knew, and in all fairness I have to tell you, I did buy just one tire about two years ago.

But our Highlander had 30,000 miles when we got it, tires had never been rotated, spare was full size with matching wheel. Rears looked new, fronts had 3/32. So it was a fairly reasonable thing to do, put the spare on one front and a new tire on the other. I guess you have to do as I say, not as I do, though. Or I can't cast any stones, shame on me, or something of that matter.

Found the matching tire at least, and the tire guy couldn't have cared less. Probably happens all day.
 
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It's possible Jiffy Lube changed her wipers at some point in the past and billed her and she forgot all about it. It didn't have Lexus stamped all over it...
 
On the flip side of things, her car lasted ~9years and still running. I know most of us freak out about every leak or rattling noise coming from our cars, but we also know people (like my mom) that drives 250+k miles cars with only jiffy lube fluid changes.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
It's possible Jiffy Lube changed her wipers at some point in the past and billed her and she forgot all about it. It didn't have Lexus stamped all over it...


This is what I was thinking. I haven't seen any that don't start peeling within a few years.

All said, I am more scared thinking of all the mechanical disasters sharing the road with me, driven by people that don't think that being able to see, stop or control their vehicle is important than I am of global warming.

In Detroit I am surrounded by bald tires, missing wipers, mis-aimed headlights on cars bought without the optional turn signal feature ( I can only assume) all vying for Public Nuisance #1.
 
My '02 Mustang is still on it's original set of wipers. It had a build date of May 2002.

Of course I don't even know if they work. The car hasn't seen rain in a few years.
 
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