I am not got to try and convince you to use these Roj, make up your own mind. I read a lot of the comments and just laugh. All I can tell you, and this is echoed by Matt and James, is they work great for us, and I have used them since they were first introduced on 5 of my cars with no problems or complaints

Buy whatever you like I am just not interested in the PIAA wiper blades at $30 + $19.80 S&H + $5 customs +

I mis-spoke. I use a bosch "Icon" series frameless wiper blade that looks and works basically identical to the reflex, which i used for a time. Flexy and tensioned in one direction, very rigid in another is the basic idea, without a frame with a bunch of moving junk to chatter and frost up.

On my pitted original 1980 nearly 300K mile window in the 240, there isn't any point in using anything but the absolute cheapest blades that won't freeze up, which I get from my boss for like $10-15 a set.

On the 740/940s with the much more swept back window, and new pilkington OE windshields (not the thin pit prone crack prone PPG glass that I hate), I use the "Icon" blades, mostly because they last a bit longer, and I like how they work when going snowboarding and like how they look.

My neighbor bought the silicone blades and killed them on a newish V70. He now just buys refillable decent bosch ones for cheap.

On a car with anything but a nice window, I'd just get whatever you can tolerate that won't jam or chatter for like $15-25 and call it a day, the window, grit and de-icer will kill anything pretty quick anyway. The lifetime warranty is nice, though does one have to keep and present the wannanty card? I am terrible with that kind of stuff.

\

That is not what we would be looking at costwise for the PIAA wipers that I was talking about. It would've been much lower than that. But that is all moot now. The wipers I'm now looking at are the same design as the Reflex but have silicone blades and have a 5 year unconditional full replacement warranty yet are nearly the same price as the Reflex wipers. Did you read my previous post about those blades ?

I'm glad to hear that some of you are having good luck with the Reflex blades but I can also show you several other forum pages where LOTS of people state that they were very unhappy with them and thought they were a waste of money. By all means continue to use the Reflex if they work well for you but keep in mind they're not warranted and will not last anywhere near 5 years. Each time you replace them with new ones within 5 years of buying your next pair you're cost is going waaaay up above what our cost will be buying these other blades.

Do the math: What's the cost of 3 - 5 or maybe even more pairs of Reflex blades over the next 5 years compared to $37.00 plus a proportionate share of the shipping cost which shouldn't amount to much more than $30-$40 at most ?

You realize how much time and money you use talking about windshield wipers? They are fucking windshield wipers.

I'm going to auto value, they have those reflex lookin dealies there and I get em at cost.

off topic: can I fit a 215/70/15 on the back of a 740?

- R

My thoughts exactly Raz, you were just eloquent enough to put it into an appropriate phrase

Width will be no problem. That's a big tire though. We run those on our Astro Vans at work...

Sources, please.

And I know that I said that I change my wiper blades every year or so, but looking back at it, it's actually been two years since I've changed mine, and they still work pretty well. On a good windshield, there's no reason they can't work longer. And I'll wager that the same people who are saying that the Reflex are a waste of money aren't saying that they'd buy Piaa instead. In my opinion, you're taking arguements and twisting them around so that you get what you want, which is to convince a bunch of other people to help finance your shipping costs and get you a better deal. Sorry, I don't respect that, and I think a few others here see right through your motives as well.

By the way, you've also conveniently ignored James' testimony that an old windshield tears up a silicone blade just as easily as a "conventional" blade, and you've also fallen completely into the marketing trap by believing that "conventional" blades don't include any silicone in their rubber.



Do the math yourself. What's the cost of SENDING YOUR WIPER BLADES BACK to these guys when they fail? Are you going to drive your car around for 2-3 weeks while your blades are in transit? Are you going to keep another set of blades in your trunk for the next 5 years?

Sylvania has a 2 year guarantee on their Silverstar bulbs, and in one summer my wife and I went through 6 of them. Just because they have a guarantee, doesn't mean they're going to last. Now imagine sending a lightbulb to the US so you could wait for your replacement.

This is a rediculis thread. Personally though for my "performance" wipers I like using the "chrome" plated double edged wipers from canadian tire. Think about it! Double the wiper blades so that's double the performance right? Plus they look big pimpin so it attracts all the ladies when they see my pimp ride. Also with the colour it has to add at least 3whp.

So I think the verdict that everyone has come to so that this thread can die is that no one else wants the "ultimate" and "amazing" silicone wipers because it costs the same and is more of a hassle. Also because of personal testimonies from people on THIS board I believe that they are quite happy with their own current wiper selection. Honestly though, I don't really pay attention to my wipers. If they are sucking I'll clean them off, if they are still sucking then I'll go to the store and buy new ones. Enough said

These arguements are just going to get worse and I think we should forget about it.

I suppose I should include a little more windshield history, since it actually made more difference than the wipers to be honest. Mom's car was bought from my neighbor with a 6-month old PPG replacement windshield in it. After 6 months of mom driving the car, which is about 2000-3000 miles (mom doesn't drive very far), the windshield was developing a small crack and notable pitting (mostly highway driving).

The car is a 1-owner 744TI with 125K miles on it and came with the "silicone IPD" (I guess PIAA) blades on it when we bought it, along with a lot of other work. The blades worked great, until the windshield started to pit badly after about a year and I took the car up skiing, where the wipers started to chatter and the windshield cracked as I continued to drive the car like an animal. The windshield cracked all the way across finally from a truck kicking up a few rocks I had the insurance replace it and was a crotchety bastard that they use volvo/pilkington glass, which at the time, cost $350-400 US, which isn't cheap. I looked at it compared to the PPG, and it is much thicker, and after 2 or 3 years, it has developed no significant pitting and the bosch framed cheapies on it that I spent $10 on are working really pretty dang well. I found a spare set of refills in the trunk this last year, so my total wiper cost on that car in 4+ years has been $10. The car now has 135K on it after 4 years from 125K hehe. The old blades still wiped decent, but were growing moss at the ends and starting to rot off....bwahahaha.

This fall, I've been through 2 sets of blades on my '80DL with the original glass. Driving that car is like looking into a sand storm in the rain. Needless to say, as soon as a rock takes that one out, I'm rustproofing the frame once I piano wire the old window out and having someone seal it up for good with a nice OE 1991-1993 240 window. I have no idea how my window frame on the '80 isn't rusty and the original window doesn't leak, as the frame looks about ready to jump off the car with the whole window!

Anyway, that is my experience. Feel free to make fun of me. The next "mods" to the 744TI will be a fresh OE service radiator, somewhat worked 530 N/A head, new fan clutch and 27 or 30 thou MLS HG (this car will NEVER see anything above 5K RPM, much less 6). The 3" cat and 2.5" straight through exhaust helped a lot, and is nearly as quiet as stock (2 mufflers, a resonator and an S-bend), but the car pings a bit at 10psi on regular, which is all it ever gets.

I don't have a lot of time to look but here's one forum I found. There are others out there that I was looking at yesterday. It's really beside the point so I'm not going to look again for them.

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/show ... p?t=139945



For the love of God I AM NOT SAYING TO BUY PIAA ANYMORE !! I changed my recommendation to a different type of blade 2 or 3 posts ago.

I am now recommending the flex blades this company sells. ( http://www.streakfreewiperblades.com/ ). They look like Reflex wipers but have silicone blades. THEY ARE NOT PIAA ! Again, I am NOT TRYING to get people to buy PIAA wipers. Do we have that clear now ?

Ok, moving on...



I can easily afford to buy the wipers at the single blade shipping cost and pay the normal shipping cost. My motives are that I found what I think is a very attractive deal and wanted to share the information and offer a way for others in the club to get in on that deal themselves. So you are WRONG in your accusations and I take offence to what you said.

BTW Why do you sometimes try to orchestrate group buys ?

Y'know, it seems as though when you put yourself out there and try to do something positive for the group there are some of people out there who have nothing better to do than to be negative about it try and shoot you down, attack your motives and make you look like the bad guy for having tried to get others interested in what you think is a good deal. Now that's something I don't respect.



I didn't respond to what he said because it doesn't matter whatsoever whether or not silicone blades can wear out just as easily as conventional blade materials or if other "conventional" blades contain some silicone or not. The fact of the matter is that these particular silcone blades are warranted for a full 5 years and will be replaced FREE WITH NO SHIPPING CHARGE (see below for more details) if they wear out during that time. There are no other blades on the market silicone or not that carry that kind of warranty. PERIOD.



There is no cost to that. I checked with the company and here's the deal. If within the next 5 years the blades fail for ANY reason (i.e. they wear out and start streaking) you simply call them (on their toll free number) and tell them the length of the blade(s) that need to be replaced and they will send replacement(s) no questions asked FREE OF CHARGE. NO SHIPPING COST to you. You will not have to send the old blade(s) back to them. They also said that if their supplier does happen to ask for the failed blade(s) to be returned (happens almost never apparently) they will provide you with the postage required to send the blades back to them.

Now that's what I call standing behind your product. !

Now for the rest of the math: We don't have to buy an even dozen to get their discounted rate. Any wipers we buy over the even dozen will be priced at their discount rate of $18.50/blade. This is for front blades. Rear blades will be cheaper than that.

Shipping cost on a dozen wipers via USPS 6-10 day service was quoted to me at $24 so $2 per blade. That's cheap. If we buy more than a dozen the total shipping cost may go up a bit but the cost per blade shipping will likely go down. There will be some GST on the blades too but we'll ignore that since you'd have to pay that no matter where you buy them from.

So I rest my case. Do the math and tell me what has better economics: Buying a pair of unwarranted "conventional" or CT Reflex wipers at anywhere from $20 - $40/pair that you will likely have to replace anywhere from 2 - 10 times over the next 5 years or buying one pair of the pure silcone flex blades I'm recommending for $37.00 plus $4 (or maybe slightly less) for shipping ?

I think it's a no-brainer.



What has this got to do with wiper blades ? Completely irrelevant arguement and not worth discussing.

I hope that addresses everyone's concerns and answers all the questions and hopefully everyone is now acquainted with all the facts.

Ok, once again does anyone want to order some of these blades now ? I will look after all the details and pay to get the order here. You can pay me when you get your wipers. You just need to tell me how many wipers you want and what length(s). Please don't take too long to decide, I'd like to get this order in soon.

Roj

Well if your motivations were like you said, I should apologise. However, in the group buys I orchestrate, I don't feel the need to justify such-and-such a part's existence by using arbitrary specifications, such as "brand X wiper needs to be replaced once a year, at least". For crying out loud, we all know how often we change our wiper blades so don't try to tell us we'll be doing it 10 times in the next 5 years if we don't buy your special "silicone" wipers.

If anyone wants something in a group buy that I'm organizing, I let them make a decision on their own. I don't try to convince them by repeating over and over again how much money this is going to save them and how much better their lives will be by following in my footsteps. Like you, I organize group buys on parts I'm going to buy anyway, so it doesn't really matter to me if anyone else wants any, therefore no convincing necessary.



What has this got to do with wiper blades ? Completely irrelevant arguement and not worth discussing.[/quote]

Based on your assertation that they will send you new blades gratis, without any explanation or exchange, I guess it's got nothing to do with it. This statement was made under the assumption that anyone who offers a warranty demands return of their product not only to analyze and improve said product, but to prove that it failed and that you bought a set in the first place. Were this the case (and to be honest, I'm suspicious that it's not) one would have to live without said product for a given period of time until failure could be assessed and a replacement is shipped. Furthermore, when a replacement is shipped from the US, one had better hope that the paperwork is filled out correctly, otherwise duty, brokerage, and GST will be paid on the replacement part, even though it was "free". Not to bang on the doom drum, but I've seen it happen.

But I guess that's irrelevant, isn't it?

completely off topic, adn on the topic of pitted and gross windshields (cause come on, even before I got the bigass cracks of doom my windshield was disgustingly pitted)



Does the Volvo/Pilkington glass make that much of a difference?? what can I say, it's going to need to get done eventually, I may as well get opinions. I know andy, at one point you said its usually reccomended going aftermarket for windshields, but is there a difference in quality?

Will they work? I mean, I wonder if I'd rub the inside of the wheel well?

I need to drive pretty far, in shitty conditions and I don't have overdrive, and my 3.91 rear end is revvy for 4th, even going 100km/h with 215/60's im at 3500rpm+

...

mrow?

- R

Well I didn't start out that way I simply gave some background info and asked if anyone was interested in participating in a group buy. Then a number of people took it upon themselves to try and shoot down the idea and spout off why they're not interested. If they aren't interested that's fine but they should just shut up and let the others decide if they want to get in on it and not try to crap all over the idea. Then I get accused of twisting facts so that I can get people to buy in simply to reduce my shipping costs. Honestly, I just don't understand why people don't take their opportunity to just stay quiet when they aren't interested in participating in the group buy and don't have anything positive to say about the idea. If all one can do is sit there and do nothing but try to pick someone's idea apart then they should just stay out of the discussion and let everyone else make up their own minds.

So in order to counter all the negative and/or misleading or incorrect things said by other people I have to re-state what I think are the merits of the product I'm trying to get people interested in, the rationale for buying it and explain why I think participating in the group buy is a wise thing to do. In short, I have to defend and promote my ideas which is what I was doing.

I suspect that you don't have to deal with all the negative crap I've had to put up with on this issue when you try to orchestrate a group buy but I ask you to try and put yourself in my place and think about how you might react in a similar situation. Can you understand how I felt and why I reacted the way I did ?




Ok, I understand where you were coming from on that but I have to ask why you would bother to try to cast doubts about the merits of my group buy proposal and/or dissuade people from participating in it by offering that example ? You could've asked questions about how the warranty replacement program worked or waited until I'd had the chance to report back with the detailed information on their warranty program and shipping policy, etc. but instead you chose not to and brought all that negative stuff up about your experience with headlamp bulbs.

Do I jump in and start hammering away at and/or start saying a bunch of negative stuff about your idea/proposal when you try to orchestrate a group buy ? No, I don't. If I don't have all the information I need to make a decision I ask questions and if I'm not interested in what you're offering in the group buy or don't think that it's such a good idea I stay out of it and don't say anything.



1. They ship USPS not UPS so there's no brokerage fees.

2. Warranty replacements are not taxed at the border so you won't have to pay any duty or taxes when you receive them in the mail. I know this for a FACT because I've had several expensive items shipped to me by mail as warranty replacements and I've never had to pay a cent for GST or Duty.

3. Again, why do you spend the time and energy trying to raise all these potential negative issues and cast doubt about the merits of my group buy idea ?

If you aren't interested that's fine. If you can't find something positive to say about my proposal then don't say anything at all.

I never once said that you should go aftermarket for a windshield, I actually tell people to go oem because it is thicker and better quality. I might have said that you have options and that volvo will install either.