PSA: Don’t buy Bosch ClearAdvantage wiper blades 

"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish) 02/07/2018 at 12:00 • Filed to: Product reviews

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I replaced my expensive-ass Icons that wore out in under two months with cheaper Bosch blades, and my drivers blade just flew off on the highway, in the middle of a fucking bridge. I’m assuming some shitty little retaining clip broke, but the result is driving half a bridge mostly blind, and now I’m stuck in an emergency pull off area.

Party_in_the_USA > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:08

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You should rule out install error before knocking them

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:09

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Shit!!

Ash78, voting early and often > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:10

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I used to swear by Bosch wipers, but I’ve been very unhappy lately. The Icons on my car started streaking on day 1, and the much larger Icons on the wife’s van chatter so badly you can’t even use them. Not nearly stiff enough for the job..I think I’m going back to old-fashioned metal frames.

bingham123 > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:13

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swap the blade onto the drivers side and lift the other one up and carry on your way

404 - User No Longer Available > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:19

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I just bought 2 of them to replace my 6-year old original ones. Initially, they were crap, kept making noise and didn’t wipe anything off my glass.

But it turned out what really happened was that there was this weird, sticky goo on the surface of my windshield. I supercleaned the glass with a stove scraper blade, clayed and coated the glass with RainX, they were running silent since.

But nonetheless they are still on the car right now, didn’t fly off or anything.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Party_in_the_USA 02/07/2018 at 12:25

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This. I’ve thought I had them locked in when they actually weren’t. It happens. I’m never leaving Icons, but that’s just me.

LOREM IPSUM > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:28

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Do you need someone to bring you a wiper blade or have you made arrangements already?

gmctavish needs more space > Party_in_the_USA 02/07/2018 at 12:28

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I wouldn’t knock them if I had any doubt about installing them correctly

gmctavish needs more space > LOREM IPSUM 02/07/2018 at 12:29

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Yeah my dad brought me a spare wiper

gmctavish needs more space > bingham123 02/07/2018 at 12:30

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That would’ve been a good idea once I’d pulled over. My dad brought me a spare blade I had

gmctavish needs more space > Ash78, voting early and often 02/07/2018 at 12:31

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These last two purchases makes me want to go back to frame wipers too. The regular old style Bosch ones I’ve never had any issues with

TorqueToYield > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:31

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I’ve found OEM wiper blades to be the best - Subaru and Toyota have both been fantastic for me, lasting over a year in the snow belt.

Cheaper than a lot of other brands as well.

LOREM IPSUM > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:32

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Awesome. I was going to offer to pick one up and bring it to you if ya needed. Glad you’re back on the road.

gmctavish needs more space > TorqueToYield 02/07/2018 at 12:33

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Yeah I’m gonna see if Subaru still carries blades for an 06. The Yaris I drove for work for a while would eat through Bosch and Anco blades like crazy, but the factory Toyota ones lasted twice as long

facw > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:44

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Hmm, I’ve got Clear Advantage blades. I’m not super impressed, but they haven’t flown off. Given the huge range of mounting options, it’s entirely possible some are good and some are not.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:49

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The only problem I’ve had with my Bosch wipers so far is that they leave one very small streak on my window, but then again it’s nearly impossible to keep the windshield on the Legacy clear without some black magic.

LOREM IPSUM > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:54

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Not really related to Bosch blades, but I knew I was in for a fun ownership experience the first time I drove my e38 in the rain. Turned the wipers and on the second or third stroke the passenger blade suddenly flipped itself over, blade pointing to the sky, wiper arm scraping back and forth against the glass, as the blade assembly worked itself closer and closer to the cowl and hood.

Pulled over immediately, reattached blade, got back in car, turned on wipers, blade immediately does the same thing.

If I recall correctly I was going to drive home with the arm in the service position but it was making contact with the hood, so I wrapped something around the hook on the end of the arm so it wouldn’t destroy the glass and drove across the Pattullo to Lordco (shudder) for new blades... Which happened to be Icons.

LOREM IPSUM > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 12:59

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I hear good things about Piaa and RainX blades fwiw, but have no experience with either. Will probably be trying one of the two on the Bionic Cheetah soon though.

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 13:04

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I had icons on the Integra. I installed them correctly three times, the first two times they came off while driving, but they stayed on the hood so I was able to pull over and put them back on.

They went on exactly the same the 3rd time, but never came off after that.

Although this happened in Texas. So it may very well not have rained after I put them on the third time.

gmctavish needs more space > LOREM IPSUM 02/07/2018 at 13:14

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Well thank you anyways

gmctavish needs more space > facw 02/07/2018 at 13:16

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Yeah I wasn’t overly impressed by the fit when I put them on, they felt cheap, since they are, but I didn’t think they were this bad. Well, just the driver side I guess, the passenger still feels good enough.

gmctavish needs more space > LOREM IPSUM 02/07/2018 at 13:17

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Geez, that sounds pretty ridiculous.

gmctavish needs more space > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 02/07/2018 at 13:21

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Same, even brand new wipers are leaving one or two streaks, and the inside has some weirdness going on that I can’t wipe off, it just wipes around.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 13:25

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I probably just need to thwack the wiper against the glass again after warming it up. That should fix the streak problem. It used to streak on the up-stroke but not the down-stroke.

itschrome > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 13:29

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ICON or GTFO...

DasWauto > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 13:34

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Knowing Subaru, they likely still use the same blades from 2006.

gmctavish needs more space > DasWauto 02/07/2018 at 13:34

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Ha, fair point

gmctavish needs more space > itschrome 02/07/2018 at 13:38

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I loved them.....for about a month. They started to streak in a couple places after that, which was somewhat understandable, since I bumped the wiper stalk and they did one pass over ice. But over that next month they just got worse and worse, until they were a streaky mess. I don’t know if I got a bad pair or what, because I’ve had nothing but good luck with Evolutions. Regardless, I’m not keen to drop $80 on them again.

vicali > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 13:40

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I get the michelins from Costco - they’ve been good so far. The OEM Toyota ones on now are prone to freezing up.

gmctavish needs more space > vicali 02/07/2018 at 13:44

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I read some good things about Michelins, I think I’ll be trying those, PIAAs, or RainXs if Subaru doesn’t have blades for me

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 15:03

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I second the disgust for the clear advantages. The set I had, had a big swipe in the middle of the blade that wouldn’t clean the windshield. I’m on to the valeo beam style blades. I get them for less than $10 on amazon or rockauto. I normally buy 2-3 pair when I do a rockauto order to save on shipping. The valeo and the trico force have been very nice wipers.

gmctavish needs more space > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 02/07/2018 at 15:11

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Oh I forgot about Valeo....I’ll have to check those out

bubblestheturtle > gmctavish needs more space 02/07/2018 at 21:02

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Had that same thing with my Bosch. Replaced (the replacements) in some small town during a rain storm when they threatened to fly off. Much better now.