RX in NC Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Lexus seems to have invented a new wiper blade width for this particular vehicle. At my local NAPA, Pep Boys, AutoZone, etc., the "standard" width refill blade is too wide and the "narrow" width refill blade is too narrow to fit into the channels of my existing wiper blade holders, particularly the driver's side. Even my local Toyota dealership parts guy acknowledges that their Toyota refills don't fit properly when installed into the channels of a Lexus wiper blade holder. Our driver's side takes a 24-inch refill and our passenger's side takes a 21-inch refill. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay my local Lexus parts department thirty dollars or so for a set of blade refills when I should be able to buy two blade refills at any auto parts store for about eight bucks for the pair. I want just the rubber blade refills, not the entire blade holder assembly. In 35 years of driving I've never owned a vehicle, domestic or foreign, that didn't use either the "standard" or "narrow" blade refills that you can purchase at any auto parts store. Even my quirky 1986 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio used 18-inch "narrow" refills right off the shelf at NAPA. Has anyone come across some refill wiper blades that fit other than going to Lexus and being royally ripped off again? This is ridiculous. Thanks for any assistance you can provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 In all honesty, and I've tried almost all the wiper brands out there, the Lexus refills are the best. Don't know why, but even the Toyota ones don't last as long and don't wipe as well. I've tried all of them, Bosch, Aanco, everything sold in those Pep BOys type places. They all work as well at first, but the Lexus blades definately outlast all of them. Why don't you try finding the refills somewhere online without Lexus' markup. Lexus' markup on parts is insane (300% in some instances) I've told the story on here before about Lexus wanting to charge me $20 a quart for Mobil 1 synthetic oil. Thats $100 for oil! Even the service rep was so shocked he cut the price in half to $50 ($10 a quart) and then subsequently never charged my AMEX card for that, so they gave me the oil free. Sewell Lexus (Lexus-parts.com) has the refill for the rear at http://www.lexus-parts.com/partlist.asp?Su...D=44&ModelID=85 for $3.33 they don't list the fronts but I'm sure they have them, just have to call them (Ask for Darrel Diller, he's our contact at Sewell) I'm sure they're similar in price. Honestly, the Lexus refills are better. They're not worth $30 just for refills but they're worth having them shipped from a wholesale retailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX in NC Posted December 4, 2004 Author Share Posted December 4, 2004 I appreciate your information but I don't like buying tough-to-fit parts over the net where I can't hold them in my hand and slide them into my blade holders to ensure that they do indeed fit my exact application. I can do this in the store every time by carrying my blade holders inside with me, but I can't do this when attempting to locate the correct refills online. Bosch refills have always performed well for me, but I never ask them to go longer than a year in my particular climate. I typically refresh the wiper blades on all of our vehicles at the beginning of each winter driving season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 I can understand that. I have Bosch blades on mine now and they've hit their end after about 4 months whereas the original Lexus blades lasted a full year, which is longer than any blade I've ever tried. What sucks now is I have to buy the whole wiper assembly from Lexus now to get the Lexus refills, I should have kept the old blade assembly... God... I figured I'd call my dealer who usually has pretty good prices on parts (LOL, not the $20 a quart dealer, I stopped using them when that service advisor left, he probably got fired for stopping them from !Removed! people) and they have the inserts for $15 for the drivers side and $11 for the passenger's side and $9 for the rear. Now that just shows you, lexus-parts has the rear insert for $3 , so the normal dealers mark up that part at LEAST 300%, as lexus-parts.com has got to be making a profit even at $3. They also price my blades at $41 driver and $38 passenger. LOL, maybe the Bosch ones weren't as bad after all... If you're going to go aftermarket I'm using Triton Teflon blades now on my Explorer and find they last longer than the Bosch blades. They're also refillable whereas Bosch blades aren't nowadays. PIAA has a new set of blades out now that are $25 or so each that are supposed to be excellent. Maybe I'll try them before I fork out $80 for Lexus blades. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Puzzling.... The first time I need new blades I buy the complete Bosch assembly and then after that the refills, typically two mismatched sets. I seem to get a good one year life from the Bosch's here in the NW "rainforest". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX in NC Posted December 4, 2004 Author Share Posted December 4, 2004 Yes, I may wind up buying new blade holder assemblies just to get this vehicle to the standard "narrow" refill size. But I really hate wasting money by purchasing new assemblies when my original assemblies are just fine (other than they apparently lock me into the Lexus "custom width" refill ripoff revenue stream). If anyone else out there has found a replacement refill blade that fits the Lexus blade holder channel OTHER than buying your refills from Lexus for about thirty bucks a set, please chime in here.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Puzzling....The first time I need new blades I buy the complete Bosch assembly and then after that the refills, typically two mismatched sets. I seem to get a good one year life from the Bosch's here in the NW "rainforest". ← Maybe it has something to do with the increased air pollution here vs there degrading the rubber or something. Don't know but I've never had good luck with the Bosch blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenore Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Puzzling....The first time I need new blades I buy the complete Bosch assembly and then after that the refills, typically two mismatched sets. I seem to get a good one year life from the Bosch's here in the NW "rainforest". ← Maybe it has something to do with the increased air pollution here vs there degrading the rubber or something. Don't know but I've never had good luck with the Bosch blades. ← Personally I just go to walmart and buy the whole blade assembly for under $5 and then replace it annually. Lot cheaper than the Lexus route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 On my 92 LS I took a good set of needle nose pliers and "adjusted" the wiper assembly tabs to fit standard blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexusfreak Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I've switched to Napa exact fit all season blades from Lexus (they replaced the blades when I took delivery in January). The Lexus worked very wll to be sure but the frame of the Napa blade (and the blade itself) it more reinforced & has better contact pressure on the windshield especially on the highway. I notice that it clears ever so slightly better than the Lexus blades I had in the slushy stuff which I experenced a really good dose of it yesterday as there were over 600 + accidents for our first snowfall in Toronto.......had it all including freezing rain to boot. B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey00 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Lexus seems to have invented a new wiper blade width for this particular vehicle. At my local NAPA, Pep Boys, AutoZone, etc., the "standard" width refill blade is too wide and the "narrow" width refill blade is too narrow to fit into the channels of my existing wiper blade holders, particularly the driver's side. Even my local Toyota dealership parts guy acknowledges that their Toyota refills don't fit properly when installed into the channels of a Lexus wiper blade holder. Our driver's side takes a 24-inch refill and our passenger's side takes a 21-inch refill. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay my local Lexus parts department thirty dollars or so for a set of blade refills when I should be able to buy two blade refills at any auto parts store for about eight bucks for the pair. I want just the rubber blade refills, not the entire blade holder assembly. In 35 years of driving I've never owned a vehicle, domestic or foreign, that didn't use either the "standard" or "narrow" blade refills that you can purchase at any auto parts store. Even my quirky 1986 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio used 18-inch "narrow" refills right off the shelf at NAPA. Has anyone come across some refill wiper blades that fit other than going to Lexus and being royally ripped off again? This is ridiculous. Thanks for any assistance you can provide. ← Get the PIAA blade refills. Should be just a little over $10 each. The nice thing is they are the best wipers going and they fit the RX blades. Passenger side is 21" and has a claw width of 6mm. Driver side is 24" and has a claw width of 8mm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX in NC Posted December 7, 2004 Author Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thanks for the advice on PIAA blade refills. Perhaps they're worth checking into although they sound a bit pricey. What stores carry this brand? I'm not interested in ordering them online with the difficulty I've had in properly fitting replacement blades on my wife's RX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey00 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thanks for the advice on PIAA blade refills. Perhaps they're worth checking into although they sound a bit pricey. What stores carry this brand? I'm not interested in ordering them online with the difficulty I've had in properly fitting replacement blades on my wife's RX. ← To find a local dealer go to PIAA.com, then wipers, then dealers. Most dealers only carry the complete blade, not just refills. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX in NC Posted December 7, 2004 Author Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thanks for the quick reply. I'll check out PIAA.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunedRX300 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thanks for the quick reply. I'll check out PIAA.com. ← I got two PIAA Super Silicon refills $8 each at http://www.optauto.com/ but I had to wait since I wanted another item that is backordered. I did not get an email with tracking # but the price is good even with shipping charge and tax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Yeah I'm certainly not going to pay Lexus $80 for OEM wiper blades. I've been doing some research and the PIAA blades look cool. My only concern about them is that the new Lexus models (this wouldn't be a problem for RX in NC) have a factory coating on the windshield and side windows that repels water. I know from experience that other products that repel water react unhappily with this coating which worries me somewhat about the PIAA blades because they have that silicone coating. I'm thinking about ordering some Valeo blades. They'll be about the cost of the Lexus blades but they're a european blade that BMW is now using. Its kinda neat, they have no hinges like a normal blade and supposedly are supposed to cover better and be more stable at high speeds. Here they are: http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/AccRes...ories&x=131&y=7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexusfreak Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I was close to getting PIAA as well for my ES, except for the price was like 4 times more than 'normal' blades & according to steviej, didn't last any longer than normal either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I just ordered the Valeo blades ;) http://ultimatewiperblade.com/ You know you're a Lexus owner when you just dropped $90 on wiper blades. But at least I didnt give my $90 to the dealer! That'll help me sleep tonight...yeah... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rx-Fan Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 You know you're a Lexus owner when you just dropped $90 on wiper blades. ← Yeah - those look really cool! I wonder if you can change out just the blades after a year (or so). The thought of $90 every year doesn't sound all that good to my (currently Christmas injured) wallet. Make sure you post your comments about how they work out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 LOL, it doesn't look like it. Looks like the whole thing has to be replaced. They're great wipers though, all the new BMW 5s come with them. I've driven a couple of them in the rain owned by friends and clients and they are silent, don't chatter and are REALLY low profile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBrad Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Quick tip - I got three and a half years out of the OEM blades by wiping them down with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel every couple of weeks during the rainy season. Cleans the goo off and then they are good to go. Do this on my truck too. Nine years old and still only on its third set of blades. I live in a hot summer, high ozone environment and this still keeps the blades clearing the windshield year after year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Yeah that doesn't surprise me, the OEM blade is a good quality blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartkat Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Aquapel doesn't care what your wiper blades are made of. It's gotta be the greatest thing since winshield tint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WW2 Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 On my 92 LS I took a good set of needle nose pliers and "adjusted" the wiper assembly tabs to fit standard blades. ← "Cutomizing" the assembly worked weel for me. But be careful which end you cut if you shorten the inserts. Here in LA wiping the blade also works well to extend life. Otherwise the air will eat them up pretty quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexusfreak Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 I just ordered the Valeo blades ;) http://ultimatewiperblade.com/You know you're a Lexus owner when you just dropped $90 on wiper blades. But at least I didnt give my $90 to the dealer! That'll help me sleep tonight...yeah... ← WOW! That's a pricy wiper blade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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