The windshield wiper blades on my 2012 V are fairly new, about 1 year old. They make a terrible noise as they do their job, like the blade is not flexing as it moves across the windshield. The noise goes away, remarkably, at the highest wiper speed. The windshield was treated with Rain-X this past summer. I guess, despite their not being all that old and don't get that much sun exposure since the car is garaged most of the time, that the blades have gotten "old". But I thought I'd see what people recommend doing here? Assuming I have to replace the blades can someone recommend the best ones for the V? Thanks.
If they are "skipping" in one direction but not the other, there isn't enough friction with the glass to make them turn over. Clean the glass good (no Rainx) and clean the blades with alcohol. If that doesn't do the trick, new blades are in order.
On a recent trip I had new wiper blades on my wife's car but had put the 5 year old ones in the trunk. Rain. And as I watched the wiper blades, the driver's side were not flexing (meaning turning so that the blade was at a differing angle as it started it way back) so that on one way on the ark they were skilling and the other they were sliding. It was the dragging where the skipping made the sound. Next gas stop and I swapped in the old wiper and all was silent and effective. Bad wiper was only on one side and the pair came from the dealer.
It's cold. Old rubber doesn't flex well. Consumer Reports test these things and clearly states that very few blades last longer than 6 months. At $10 blade it is money well spent everytime you change your oil.
Maybe garage-stored, away from UV damage helps? We're still on the original blades (build date Aug 09), and they seem like new, work fine.
Besides cleaning the glass, verify that the curvature of the metal inserts matches the slight curvature of the windshield. Be careful not to install them into the rubber wiper refills "upside down". OEM blades and rubber refills have worked best for us. OEM wiper refills on our 2012 Prius v Five have never made noise and have never skipped. I replace all the wiper rubbers with OEM every fall before winter on all our vehicles.
