I love rear windshield wipers so much and want all cars to have them

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 01/11/2016 at 12:09 • Filed to: None

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I love my Jeep Grand Cherokee’s rear windshield wiper. Rear windshields get covered in rain or snow just like front windshields, but car companies for the most part only bless liftgate-equipped vehicles with rear wipers. Rear wipers for everyone!

Sure, sure, the real reason you tend to only see rear wipers on hatchbacks, wagons, minivans and SUVs is because without a trunk behind them to deflect the spray of crap from the road, their rear windshields are more likely to get dirty than coupes and sedans. But many Japanese sedans and coupes have also been equipped with funky-looking rear windshield wipers, and I love them all.

As far as I know, the only sedan with a rear wiper that was sold in the US was the Mitsubishi Evo. Mitsubishi probably left the rear wiper on the Evo for mad tyte JDM y0 street cred, or because they didn’t want to spend whatever money it would take to remove the rear wiper from the US-spec model. But Evos sold in the US of A do indeed have rear wipers!

Outside of Japan, a few European sedans have had rear wipers, including the Peugeot 306 and 309, Skoda Octavia, and Lancia Flaminia. When you start typing the name of one of these cars and “rear wiper” into Google, most of the auto-complete results have to do with the many possible ways these cars’ rear wipers have broken.

The one downside of rear wipers is that they don’t usually have very intelligent settings. A rear wiper doesn’t need to wipe as often as a front wiper, but often they only have simple on/off continuous wipe settings. My Jeep has an intermittent setting, but the interval is a bit too fast for all but the nastiest of weather.

But that’s just a small nitpick! I love rear wipers so much, so here’s a big pile of pictures of sedans and coupes with rear wipers. Does anyone know of any other coupes or sedans besides the Evo that came with a rear wiper in the US? Post lots of pictures of rear wipers!

450X_FTW > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:13

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For me, just as important as the rear wiper is the headlight squirter. Seriously this needs to be on more cars. I believe Europe requires all cars have it too

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:14

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Just one more reason why this little bugger will always be one of my favorite cars of all time.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:15

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I really wish mine came with a rear windshield wiper mainly to deal with winter weather. Eventually the spray along with the salt/grit buildup makes the rear windshield very dirty, and you only really notice at night (when it’s too late, naturally) as someone drives behind you and the dirtiness diffracts the headlights and makes rear visibility pretty much non-existent.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:16

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If you look closely, you’ll see that the Impreza RS you put in the post has a WA license plate.

Also, XV10 Camry wagons had double the fun:

JustAnotherG6 > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:17

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Maybe it’s just me.... but I hate rear wipers. I almost never use the one on the mini-van.

The ROI for rear wipers just isn’t there. They are too expensive to replace as often as the fronts and when you don’t they end up start wiping less and less of the rear window until they are regulated to a sqeaking streaking mess. Perhaps if they are more options than “on” (or whatever interval the mfg determines is appropriate) or off I may not be annoyed with them as much.

BigBlock440 > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:19

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Not sure if sold here or a 25-yr import, but... You’ve got a friend in Pennsylvania

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:19

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Wierd, I was thinking about that this morning. I was behind a Honda CR-Z when I noticed it...and it must be pretty useless there, because it is practically horizontal to the ground......

EL_ULY > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:22

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100% AGREE

Master Cylinder > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:23

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Kinda more of a hatchback than a coupe, I guess, but hey just lookit the size of that rear wiper!

Also:

Textured Soy Protein > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 01/11/2016 at 12:25

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I’m almost positive someone added a JDM rear wiper to that car. The 2.5RS was a US-only model, and as far as I know no USDM Impreza coupes came with a rear wiper.

Textured Soy Protein > 450X_FTW 01/11/2016 at 12:26

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My 135is has these. They spray any time you spray the windshield and the headlights are on. The first time I sprayed my windshield at night after getting the car it took me a second to figure out why the headlights had flickered.

Textured Soy Protein > JustAnotherG6 01/11/2016 at 12:29

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This is my biggest annoyance with rear wipers, actually. In my Jeep, it has intermittent and constant wipe settings. For all but the nastiest of weather, even the intermittent setting is a bit too fast. I wish the intermittent setting was slower. Usually I leave mine off and then give it a few quick wipes if I look in the rearview mirror and the view’s getting less clear.

PartyPooper2012 > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:38

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There should be a wiper for every glass surface.

Doors, windshields, lights, dashboard

Probenja > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:38

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Sorry for breaking your heart but the octavia is more of a hatch than a sedan:

Here is a civic that has one to make it up:

Textured Soy Protein > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 01/11/2016 at 12:40

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I’d say rear wipers on this type of roofline are relatively common, actually.

dogisbadob > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:42

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THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I agree 100000%

Textured Soy Protein > PartyPooper2012 01/11/2016 at 12:43

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I found this picture while writing my original post, and couldn’t quite think of a reason to include it. Thanks for giving me a reason!

Svend > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:44

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I selected this for the new car. Skoda have it as a no cost option on the new Superb.

Some say it ruins the lines of the car but I don’t see it and would rather have the feature.

Textured Soy Protein > Probenja 01/11/2016 at 12:45

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Very interesting on the Octavia. It’s apparently that rare breed of sedan-shaped hatchback.

Svend > JustAnotherG6 01/11/2016 at 12:51

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My Skoda only rear wipes automatically when I engage reverse. I can select them to wipe when I use the front ones but even then they wipe intermittently unless I pull the stalk to wipe when I want them to.

PartyPooper2012 > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:53

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I was looking for an image of a car with door wipers... couldnt find any. Thanks for posting it.

PartyPooper2012 > PartyPooper2012 01/11/2016 at 12:53

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p.s. mirrors definitely need wipers.

Probenja > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 12:53

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It’s actually not that rare in Europe, they are called “Liftbacks”:

Takuro Spirit > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 13:10

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LOL

Takuro Spirit > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 13:12

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When I was on NASIOC back in the day, there were folks who would import JDM rear glass and the wiper motor/arm so be super JDM tyte, yo.

Ash78, voting early and often > 450X_FTW 01/11/2016 at 13:21

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I find them useless and easily broken, but I don’t live anywhere that road slush or snow buildup is an issue. I think that’s the killer app.

Nauraushaun > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 22:46

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:O! The Camry Wagon has a friend on the lonely list of cars with dual rear wipers! Thanks for posting.

300ZX has a rear wiper! Both Z31 and Z32

Textured Soy Protein > Nauraushaun 01/11/2016 at 23:11

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Here’s the Camry wagon’s dual rear wiper granddaddy:

Nauraushaun > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 23:21

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What...is that?!

Textured Soy Protein > Nauraushaun 01/11/2016 at 23:27

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An early/mid-80s Toyota Cressida wagon.

Nauraushaun > Textured Soy Protein 01/11/2016 at 23:39

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Awesome. I don’t think there’s any reason, aside from pure excess, for that car to have two wipers.

At least the Camry has sort of a narrow windscreen.

cuts_off_prius > Textured Soy Protein 02/21/2016 at 21:54

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The current Ford Mondeo still has rear wipers as well - and it’s a hatch trunk, as opposed to its N. American Ford Fusion counterpart. Same issue with the new Civic sedan over here. Looks like a hatch, but it’s a sedan trunk lid. I guess it’s that American ‘hatchback = cheap’ perception.