Wiper blades

[Bill Dawes]

Had my UX Takumi since July last year and over the last few weeks one of the wiper blades has developed an annoying little squeak at the bottom end of its stroke.  Called in to Lexus dealers in the hope it may be covered under warranty, as expected answer was no, just fair wear and tear, after  6 months and 5000 miles?  my three previous cars, Kia Sportage and Niro, never bought a new wiper blade in three years I owned each one. Lexus quoted me £34 for a new set. Anyone know what brand Lexus use, doing a quick Google a pair of Bosch wiper would be about £20.

And on another point I raised in the past I also asked then if minimum speed that auto high beam activates can be changed from it's default 40mph, answer no which is what other owners on this forum said. Still puzzled why it needs to be 40mph, too fast on a dark winding lane.

Bill D.,

[rayaans]

Sounds pretty wear and tear to me. Anything can cause them to become degraded including chemicals, de-icer etc

The wiper blades on the UX are denso

[Nelsthebass]

I had to change mine to Bosch about 6 months in to ownership - the Lexus ones are garbage and the Bosch ones are the best

[Nelsthebass]

TBF - I find the auto highbeam really unreliable as seems to dazzle more often than not so I just don’t bother anymore and either use the old fashioned stalk method or press the auto button on and off 

[gdamorini]

On 2/20/2023 at 8:34 PM, Bill Dawes said:

And on another point I raised in the past I also asked then if minimum speed that auto high beam activates can be changed from it's default 40mph, answer no which is what other owners on this forum said. Still puzzled why it needs to be 40mph, too fast on a dark winding lane.

Bill D.,

I find that auto high beam works very well, either on straight and on winding roads.

Actually the minimum speed is 40 km/h (25 m/h), below 30 km/h (19 m/h) the high beams are automatically turned off.

I attach a screenshot of the manual regarding the auto high beams.

[gdamorini]

On 2/20/2023 at 8:55 PM, Nelsthebass said:

I had to change mine to Bosch about 6 months in to ownership - the Lexus ones are garbage and the Bosch ones are the best

I changed mine after two and a half years, and they were still in fair conditions. The rear wiper is still the original one after more than three years.

[Las Palmas]

Lexus OEM or Denso refill, cheap and no noise. Refill for CT https://www.ebay.de/itm/265645294267

Tried Bosch. Noisy.

[Gary H]

I'm on my third set of front wiper blades (the rear is still the original). Both sets replaced under warranty. 

Ever since the car was new, it's always had a weird 'smear' on the drivers side sweep. Not enough to cause great annoyance but it's...'there'. They were replaced by two different dealers without questions asked to be fair to them. However, within days of them being replaced, this 'smear' comes back again. 

It's as if it's missing part of the windscreen or there's an 'arc' of grease on the screen. It certainly isn't contamination on the screen as I'm someone who cleans a car fortnightly! I can only assume it's either something to do with the wiper arm/mechanism itself or perhaps some tiny manufacturing fault with the windscreen - but it looks perfect to me... Very odd. 🤔

[Bill Dawes]

Gary, as well as my annoying little squeak at the end of the wiper stroke, you have reminded me that I have the same problem with smearing even though I clean my car and use my washers frequently.

I have wondered if it is the treatment I had done (Supaguard I think) to the car when I purchased it last July.

Bill D.

[Gary H]

It's an odd one, isn't it?! 

I know the only treatment on my windscreen is Rain-X. My car was the showroom model at Liverpool Lexus, so unless they put treatment on it whilst it was in the showroom, no other product has ever been used on it. I've used it on my previous cars without any issues.

A new application seems to reduce that 'smear' left by the driver's wiper quite significantly, but like with the wiper blades themselves being replaced, it's usually back after a few days. Maybe a week if the weather has been good and not had to use the wipers as much. 

[LenT]

On 4/1/2023 at 1:52 PM, Gary H said:

It's an odd one, isn't it?! 

I know the only treatment on my windscreen is Rain-X. My car was the showroom model at Liverpool Lexus, so unless they put treatment on it whilst it was in the showroom, no other product has ever been used on it. I've used it on my previous cars without any issues.

A new application seems to reduce that 'smear' left by the driver's wiper quite significantly, but like with the wiper blades themselves being replaced, it's usually back after a few days. Maybe a week if the weather has been good and not had to use the wipers as much. 

Rain-X was launched in the UK by a company called Mitchell Marketing.  At that time the packaging specifically warned that it should NOT be applied to windscreens!

I always thought that this was a bit odd, but was told that there was a concern that the action of the wipers might produce a smearing effect.  I’ve never used it myself and I don’t think any such warning now appears.  But I can see that such a mechanical action might have that effect.  And reapplying it might well seem to reduce that smear - only for it to reappear!

It may have something to do with the pressure and composition of specific wiper blades, if it only happens occasionally.  But the fact that it reappears with the same blades may be a clue.

[Gary H]

13 hours ago, LenT said:

It may have something to do with the pressure and composition of specific wiper blades, if it only happens occasionally.  But the fact that it reappears with the same blades may be a clue.

Yes, I recall those warnings about Rain-X a long time ago! My father started using it on his car and there was no effect. Shortly later I started applying it to my own and I think I've now applied it to three(?) previous cars, at least two for sure, without any effects at all. 

The 'smear fault' on the driver's side my windscreen was apparent within a few days of the car being collected - which of course it remained near enough 'showroom fresh' and at that point hadn't been cleaned by myself - so I'm reasonably convinced, if not sure, whatever this 'fault' is hasn't got anything to do with Rain-X. I'm very much leaning along the same line as something to either do with the wiper blades themselves (of which I'm on my third set - all produce the same 'problem'), something in the mechanism/pressure being applied or perhaps a very minor fault in the windscreen itself which I can't personally see. There's no issue at all with the passenger side.

It's not something which is bad enough to warrant further investigation in my opinion and two separate dealers have now replaced the front blades - so I think it's just 'one of those things'.