Windscreen wiper blades are a vital safety component fitted to every car, but they're not as straightforward as you'd think.
There are several different types of blade available, different types of fitting depending on your car's wiper arms and different lengths of blade depending on your windscreen size. It's important that all of these are right or you won't be able to get them to fit and they won't clear the screen properly.
Which windscreen wipers do I need?
Wiper blades generally come in one of three different styles: conventional, flat and hybrid. Conventional wipers tend to be fitted to older models and have an articulated metal frame with the blade attached.
Flat wipers are fitted to most modern cars and comprise a thick rubber blade with a connection block in the middle. As the name suggests, they're more aerodynamic than conventional wiper blades, which helps to improve a car's overall drag coefficient figure, improving fuel economy, albeit by a small amount.
Hybrid wipers are kind of a cross between the two, but the frame the blade is attached to acts as an aerodynamic spoiler that pushes the wiper blades onto the screen at higher speeds.
If your car was fitted with conventional-style wiper blades when new, you can replace them with flat, or hybrid wipers; they're commonly fitted to give both a performance and visual upgrade.
But if your car came with a flat blade as standard, you can't then fit a conventional-style blade. Then again, why would you want to?
Where to buy windscreen wipers?
In pre-internet days, your only option for where to get windscreen wipers replaced would have been the service department of a car dealer, an independent garage of car accessory shops such as Halfords.
These days, your options are many and varied, with other accessory shops such as Euro Car Parts and GSF Car Parts on the scene. Internet windscreen wipers replacement options include websites dedicated to just selling wipers, plus giants such as Amazon and eBay.
Trying to find what size wipers are right for your car? Most wiper specialist websites prompt you to enter your car registration, which should bring up your make and model.
Wipers come in many different lengths so you want to make sure you get the correct length for your car. While many retailers will sell model-specific pairs of windscreen wiper blades that are the correct length, we'd strongly recommend measuring your existing blades because mistakes happen and having to send them back in the post is a right faff.
How to remove windscreen wipers?
First, a safety announcement: wiper arms are held against your windscreen by strong springs. These help to maximise contact between the rubber and the glass. When you lift arm away from the screen, it will sit in a 'resting' position that will allow you to work on the blade.
However, it won't be fixed there - all it takes is a gentle nudge for it to flip back and shatter the windscreen. So we'd urge you to get a bath towel or similar and place that on the windscreen while you're working on the wipers.
Many wipers can be removed and replaced when they're in the 'park' position, but others with hidden wipers require them to be put in the 'maintenance position'. Details on how to do this will be in your car's handbook.
If you need to remove the wiper arms, as well as the blades, most cars’ arms pivot from a linkage that is fitted behind the metal or plastic scuttle panel immediately in front of the windscreen. However, some cars have wipers that pivot from the corners of the windscreen, and 'park' in the A pillars when not in use.
Whatever your car's set-up, you'll find instructions on how to remove the wiper arms and scuttle panel in your Haynes Manual. Some car parts require the scuttle to be removed so you can gain access.
Are windscreen wipers easy to fit?
If you're buying your wipers from a specialist website, you should be sent the right set for your car, but it's important to know that there are a variety of fixing mechanisms that attach the blades to the wiper arm.
The two versions you're most likely to come across involve the wiper arm either being straight or hooked. On both wipers the blade can be released by squeezing a pair of tabs, or by sliding a latch. This will allow the blade to be removed – either by pulling straight off, or, when the arm is hooked, by unclipping the blade so it effectively slides back down the arm.
Some wiper kits come with the correct attachment for your car and others are 'multi-fit' and come with a selection of plastic fitments to attach the blades to the hook, side-lock, top-lock, pinch-tab, bayonet or slim-top arms shown at the top of this page. If yours is multi-fit, compare what's on the current wiper to make sure you select the correct one.
Take a photo of the fitting before you remove the old blade, and use this for the refitting because it's easy to get confused about which is the right way up, especially if you're having to use a multi-fit attachment instead of a bespoke attachment.
Learn more about wiper blade replacement here
Can wipers fail MoT?
Definitely, but they'll need to be in a pretty poor state for a car to fail the annual MoT test. Unsurprisingly, missing or non-functional wipers will cause an automatic fail. But you should also pay close attention to the blades' rubber, because if it's clearly damaged or worn, and is obviously not clearing the windscreen, the tester will fail the car.
When to replace windscreen wipers?
When did you last change your wiper blades? Can't remember? There's a good chance they need renewing now, but an obvious clue is streaking, even though you've cleaned the rubber to make sure there's nothing stuck to it. Squeaking or juddering is another clue that your windscreen wipers are at the end of their life.
It's not easy to know when to change windscreen wipers, because they degrade slowly over many months, but here at Haynes we recommend changing them once a year – and putting the date in a calendar or diary.
Obviously, lots of precipitation means wiper blades wear more quickly but the real harm comes from the sun's UV rays, which degrade the rubber. So unless you keep your car tucked up in a garage and only get it out for occasional weekend use, buy new blades every 12 months.