I ordered the Bosch 19" and 21" wipers for my 2002 Honda Civic as a part of a Buy One Bosch Blade Get One Free [...]. I probably would've never considered trying Bosch windshield blades otherwise, but I'm so happy I did.
With my previous blades that I got during an oil change at a quick-lube shop, I got a lot of streaking and squeaking whenever I used them. Every time I encountered a rain storm, I had to abide the same consistent, annoying noise if I didn't want to compromise my own safety. It was very difficult to bear.
Even after I pulled the trigger on buying the blades, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to install them on my car because of my lack of automotive know-how. When they came, however, my worries went away. The Bosch blade package showed me how to remove my old blades and how to install the new ones. It was a piece of cake. The only problem? They came individually in two separate boxes that were HUGE. What a waste of packing material, Amazon! :(
Back to the blades: How do they function? Beautifully! I streamed washer fluid onto my windshield and it cleaned it away with no streaking and no noise whatsoever.
What better testimonial can I give than I decided to buy another pair for my partner? They work wonderfully - get them now! Bosch 4822 Evolution All-Season Bracketless Wiper Blade - 22"
I've had these about 2 weeks on a Chevy Tahoe and they work great, the only problem is that the passenger-side blade lacks enough "spring" to follow the contour of the windshield, leaving the outermost 2 inches of the blade with virtually no contact with the glass. I'm hoping that as they age a little the rubber wiper will settle in and lower itslef closer to the glass, but who knows...
Most new cars come with spring-less wipers from the manufacturer. If that's the case I don't think this makes much sense to get these.
If you have an older model car that uses spring-loaded wipers that doesn't do much more than smudging water back-and-forth on your windshield, these wipers are a substantial upgrade. I first bought them for my 2001 RAV4 and replaced only one wiper just to compare side-by-side and it's like seeing half the windshield is squeaky-clean and the other half feels like looking through someone else's eyeglass. The difference is so dramatic you don't need to have the results side-by-side to know there's a huge difference. After that I bought a pair for my 2005 S2000 as well. Same great results compared against the factory spring-loaded wipers.
In combination with applying RainX to the windshield, the result is very similar a brand new car off the dealer's lot. RainX helps the wiping during low speed, and it also has the added benefit of not needing the wipers much at high speeds. I would say these wipers contribute 80% and RainX 20%.
One word of warning is that though the bracket of these wipers come fairly curved in its natural position, it may not fit the the curviest of windshields like a glove. My S2000 windshield outcurves these brackets at the extreme end on the passenger side. That means in wiper off position the last inch or two of the wiper is not touching the winshield. Only after the wiper moves up a few inches does it fully come in contact. In reality this does not affect my visibility from the driver's seat at all. Hence it's a full five-star rating from me despite this.
I live in Seattle with frequent rain, but no snow. So this review does not extend to how well they work in below-freezing weather. See other reviewers' comments regarding snow.
I recently installed 2 sets of these wipers on both my F150 and my wife's Explorer. After an ice storm and 2 snow storms we both decided these wipers are dissapointing at best. These contoured blades are supposed to maintain contact with the windshield in snowy conditions. Well, neither one of us found this to be true. We both spent more time on the side of the road, cleaning the ice/snow off of these, hoping they'd maintain contact with the glass. On my set, after a few times of banging the ice/snow off the blade, the little plastic covers kept opening up. I noticed when I removed these (only 4 weeks old) that 3 of the 4 covers were missing.
Don't be fooled by their cleaner appearance or by their advertising, these are not worth the money.
I purchased a couple of Bosh Evolution wipers in june '08 for a Mitsubishi Lancer. Here's my review:
SHIPPING:
Amazon states that "This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order", so Amazon shipped each blade in it's own big, bulky box. I had to pay double for shipping, which doesn't make sense and is completely wasteful and annoying.
INSTALLATION: The wipers are "universal", so the're designed to fit many cars and include an adaptor for "J" type wiper arms. However, there's no way I could have known beforehand if they would have fit the wiper arms of my car (but I guess "universal" really fits all).
I recall one of these adaptors has a latch that was a little loose.
The graphic instructions are printed on the back of the packaging and I found the blades very easy to install.
PERFORMANCE:
The factory installed wipers on my car had brackets and after 1 year they had started streaking the glass. This bracketless idea WORKS, because the streaks eventually dissappeared.
But wiping the water is what you want these for, and here's a dissappointment.
The wipers work well when they're doing the upward motion. However, after they reach their uppermost position (when the driver's wiper is completely vertical), the wind starts pushing the water inwards (towards the blade of the wiper in front of driver) instead of outwards. The water "builds" on the side of the blade and when the wiper is doing the downward motion, it "sprinkles" the windshield back with water... right in the line of view. And that is VERY annoying, especially if they cost like 4 or 5 times more than the regular ones.
ENDURANCE:
These have lasted almost a year, but I expect them to last at least another one. I have no idea what kind of maintenance these require or will require, because they have this new graphite coating and I believe I might have rubbed it off when I cleaned them with a cloth after installing them. Alas, they're working fine right now.'
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