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OEM Wiper Blades

17K views 37 replies 12 participants last post by  stevew 
#1 ·
Wiper size

Hello all, I have ordered an Insight Touring last week but I am still waiting for my dealer to provide an ETA.



I am very @n@l about my windshield wipers. I wish to order my preferred wipers while I am waiting for my new ride to arrive. I've looked in the online manual, and searched online, but I cannot find the size of the wipers. Can any current owners please let me know the size? Thanks in advance.
 
#5 ·
My understanding is that you don't need to buy the wiper assembly. You can just replace the rubber blade itself. Of course, going that route I suspect that you would have to buy the part from Honda but I am guessing it is cheaper than buying a complete assembly aftermarket.
 
#6 ·
Little off topic but I have forgotten to say this in my videos and I was wondering what you guys think. What are your opinions on the wipers that came with your insight? Now I doubt they are especially high end or anything but, IMHO, these are by far the best wipers I've ever had in a car. I don't know if it's the mixture of a good wipers blade with excellent pressure from the rod springs, but I have never had wipers that cleaned my windshield as well as these. Any opinions?
 
#7 ·
I always used OEM rubber inserts with my cars. I think Honda has the better rubber inserts because the ones on my Ford Fusion weren't as good. I prefer the swipe motion on the 17 Ford Fusion and 09 Civic over the Insight. The open middle and shut middle motion is better than the open left and closing right. The open left and close right leaves a mark on the windshield from the 2nd blade on driver side portion of the windshield.
 
#10 ·
Since the Insight has beam blades, I'd go with a total blade replacement - not inserts. I'd feel the blade itself would deteriorate over time. Curious what everyone would choose for a replacement for a whole blade. I'm torn between Bosch Icon and Rain-X Latitude. I'm a year into the original blades (I garage my car) and they still work perfectly. I'm going to try to make it through the winter with them. Since I'm a year into stock blades that perform well, it may come down to the cost of replacement stock blades vs. the two aforementioned choices.
 
#11 ·
Of all the Honda's owned, OEM was the best - just replacing the rubber is all you need.

I have gone aftermarket... never seemed to work as well as the OEM.. The rubber on the OEM seems to stay softer thereby doing a better wiping job.. aftermarkets seemed to have a harder rubber and streaked more... imho
 
#13 ·
I know I plan on changing mine out before snowfall this year. The original ones have always had issues, but the dealership I got my car from did a lot of construction and I'll assume that all of that dust got in the original inserts, they've always left streaks no matter how many times I've cleaned them.
 
#15 · (Edited)
After a little over a year and 25K miles, I swapped my worn OEM blades out for Rain-X Latitudes tonight.

Driver=26", Passenger=18"
Walmart stocks them: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rain-X-L...26-Inch-Refill-Replacement-5079281-2/46543611

Swap was easy. The Insight has a standard 9x4 hook arm.

It's raining here tonight, so I was able to get a minute or two in the rain. So far, I'm pleased.

The main difference I see is the top of the blade of the OEM is a bit more streamlined/aerodynamic. The Latitudes have a peak in the middle running the length of the blade. I don't believe this would make much of a difference since, when stowed, the blades aren't getting any airflow over them.

FWIW, I am keeping the OEM blades - just in case they help the resale value when the Insight becomes a collector's item due to its awesomeness.
 
#16 ·
The main difference I see is the top of the blade of the OEM is a tad bit more streamlined/aerodynamic. The Latitudes have a peak in the middle running the length of the blade. I don't believe this would make much of a difference since, when stowed, the blades aren't getting any airflow over them.

FWIW, I am keeping the OEM blades - just in case they help the resale value when the Insight becomes a collector's item due to its awesomeness.
...and just in case you need swap them back in to shave off 2 mpg from your Fuelly results. :)
 
#24 ·
I find that very funny carfreak. I have found that my original Honda blades on my insight have been the best wipers blades I've had on any car I've owned. Even after one year and a full winter the blades are quiet and always swipe completely clear. I have never had blades that have been this good ever.

Carfreak may I suggest you get rid of your obviously possessed Insight before it demonically impregnates your lady with the Antichrist and brings the apocalypse down on all of us. 😟
 
#25 ·
The funny thing was the rubber actually still felt soft and pliable to the touch. I wish I would have made a video to show how obnoxiously LOUD they were. My mom even yelled at me once cause she wanted to know what the horrible sound was that she was hearing through the Bluetooth. It was bad and annoying. Worst blades EVER.
 
#26 ·
Hasarad
I bought Bosch winter blades for my 2010 Element--not happy at all. One blade misses half of the windshield, and no matter how I try to adjust it, it doesn't do any better.
I'm looking forward to how the Insight stock blades do in the snow here--I haven't had the opportunity to drive it in the snow yet, but I've always used winter blades because
they don't clog up with snow like the normal stock blades.
 
#27 ·
On the video I made on how the insight drives in snow, I forgot to mention that I did suffer icing on the the blades in the falling snow. Now this was a wet heavy snowfall so your mileage may vary in other kinds of snow. I ran on maximum defrost most of the time so the standard blades may not be the best choice for winter use.
 
#29 ·
I can safely attest that these wipers don't like heavy snow at all. They also don't seem to have enough down pressure to keep snow/ice/slush from getting under the blades. I'll replace the blades in spring, and hopefully soon enough I'll be out of the factory washer fluid so I can get some "winter" fluid in there to help prevent the icing issue.

I will say that the defrost vent is great for visibility, but an electric heated section down near the bottom would have most likely solved all "winter" issues.

I've always had issues with the OEM new blades, but that's due to the fact that the dealership we got our car from was expanding, and a lot of dust etc... found it's way into every nook and cranny.
 
#35 ·
I took my wiper blades and the rubber inserts off to clean them after they started to smear. The OEM blades are made by Mitsuba(name was printed on the wiper blades). They're made in Japan including the rubber insert when I looked at the replacement packaging from Honda dealerships posted online. I originally was going to replace just the rubber inserts but after doing some research I wanted to try silicone wiper blades. I looked at Rain X, Michelin, and PIAA silicone wiper blades and decided on Michelin. I'm going to install them later this week when I have time to clean the car.

 
#36 ·
I would like to post an update on the Michelin silicone blades. I returned them before installing after realizing Michelin markets them as 4-layer coated silicone blades vs actual silicone. Currently using Honda oem refills but would like to try the PIAA silicone blades at some point.
 
#38 ·
Insightfully
I never did get to really test the OEM blades in the snow. I drive my Element if the weather's real bad. Or stay home. (Retired). But the little snow that I was driving my Insight in didn't bother the blades at all. I had new OEM blades put on the Insight when my oil was changed. I think they do a pretty good job in the rain. Of course my cars are both garaged, so the blades don't sit in the sun for very long periods. . . except when I'm driving my Element to far away destinations for vacations.
 
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