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Wiper Blade Reviews and Buying Guide:If you live in a rainy climate like I do, then having wiper blades that work effectively can be a life saver. I live in Portland, Oregon where we get our fair share of rain from October to April every year. You can pretty much bank on it that we will get rain showers throughout the fall and into winter making driving a dangerous proposition if you don't have new windshield wiper blades on your car. Most experts agree that wiper blades are good for roughly 6 month to a year depending on the climate you are living in and how often you use the windshield wipers. I have found that using windshield treatments like RainX give my wiper blades a much longer lifespan since they are working less hard at getting rid of the water buildup on the windshield. If I only have to use the wipers 50% of the time compared to the other drivers on the freeway, then the wiper blades should last twice as long. One other thing to consider for wiper blade life is "does the car get parked inside or outside?". The blades on my Saturn that is parked on the street wear out much faster due to climate conditions than the cars in my garage.
 was the only one that held up after 6 months, although they were the not best blade for the first 6 months. The Teflon Blade from Trico did the worst in terms of performance after 6 months along with the Anco AeroVantage. Don't think that price guarantees a good wiper blade either. In both the test by CR and other surveys we found, some of the top rated wiper blades were also the least expensive to buy. The latest technology in wiper blade shape are the beam blades which have no external frame. The Bosch Icon wiper blade is a beam blade that is also referred to as a bracketless wiper blade which ultimately should give the blade a better performance on the curved windshields. Bosch claims the Icon will last up to 20% longer than conventional blades, but tests done by independent parties have not shown this to be true. Expect to spend anywhere from $7 to $20 for an 18-inch wiper blade and $7 to $25 for a 24-inch blade. I can't stress this enough, if you put a windshield treatment like RainX ($4 for a bottle) on your windshield once every 3 weeks or so doing the rainy season, you are guaranteed to save the life of your wipers considerably. I was introduced to the product by a friend and was amazed at how less stressful it is now driving on the freeway at 65 MPH even if there is a huge downpour. The RainX treatment "beads" up the water on the windshield and it literally just slides off the glass like I'm in a wind tunnel. I have to assume that by using the RainX solution I'll save $100's over the lifetime of having to replace my wiper blades less often than others. On several car forum and automotive sites we found the Valeo 600 Series wipers receiving comments like "best value wiper blades" and "last better than more expensive brands". RECOMMENDED - We suggest shopping online at Amazon.com since they carry all the leading brands and often have the lowest prices on the internet. You can browse the top selling wiper blades online here.
Top Rated Beam Blade:Looking for some new technology in a wiper blade? Check out the RainX Latitude ($17.99 -- see link above) which is top rated for longevity in windshield wipers. The RainX wipers have the contoured design which "applies even pressure along the entire blade length" per the RainX website. These beam wiper blades are twice as much as the Valeo blades listed above (18 inch) but you do get longer life and performance that is slightly better. I have used the RainX windshield treatment and can vouch for it's usefulness, but I have yet to replace my current wiper blades with the RainX Latitude. From what we could find online in reviews posted to car forums, owners were happy with the results that the new RainX beam style blades provided during wet weather. You can see all the details online at www.rainx.com/Products/Wiper_Blades/Latitude.aspx.
Bosch Wiper Blade:One of the more searched for terms associated with wiper blades was "Bosch Icon". We decided to look into this particular product line to see just what the hype is all about. It appears that the Bosch Icon Wiper Blades ($18) are the newer beam blade design which are backetless blades. They are designed to give more uniform pressure along the wiper blade making for better performance and a smoother wipe. Marketed as "all-season" wiper blades, the Bosch Icon doesn't show in independent tests that the blades last 20% longer as they are advertised. However, owners are happy with their performance and say the wipers work better than other brands when there is ice and snow on the windshield. They are also very quiet in their operation. Available at Amazon here.
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