Why did Toyota design the rear defrost like this? It would be way better if the sweep of the wiper had the defroster lines. Doesn't make sense to have defrost and not defrost the whole wiper area. Now after clearing the snow I have to scrap that part.
With the rear defrost operating, enough heat would be generated to melt the upper part of the window over here in UK, but you may have to either leave it on longer or use de-icing fluid of some kind. Your market will differ from mine, so I shan't be specific. Your fellow countrymen on PC will be a better source of info we don't often get severe cold winters.
If you look out the rear window from the driver's seat, that top part isn't visible so I gather Toyota didn't add any there because it doesn't help with rearward visibility.
I understand that but it doesn't help the wiper if it's stuck to the glass. This is the first car I've owned that it's like this.
I can see your point, but can't understand your anxiety. It is unlikely to be raining in this situation to require using the wiper and for reversing, you have the rear view camera and side mirrors. My one concern would be that you had the front wipers going when selecting reverse, because that would initiate the rear one also... not good if the blade is frozen to the screen like you say!
Something new I just learned - didn't realise it would turn the rear wiper on under those circumstances. I'm now itching for it to rain so I can try it out. Sunny day.
Right. In those cases where I expect the wiper to freeze, I lift them up (assuming no strong winds accompanying the snow) It is country-dependent. I know we don't have that feature in North America (on Toyotas anyway. My smart had that feature).
One thing I've found on the Gen 4 is that the rear wiper blade only lifts about 2cm (not measured) above the glass before it is blocked.
if you slide the cap at the bottom of the arm down, the arm will lift up higher to facilitate changing the blade.
What kithmo said. The UK used to have a different rear wiper design than the North American spec cars. The UK used a similar wiper arm mechanism as the front wipers (just lift up) while the North American version had a cover that limited movement. You had to remove the cover from the base of the wiper arm in order to fully lift up the wiper. (The base design changed from Gen 2 to Gen 3 to Gen 4). Now in the Gen 4, you just slide the base/cover down (rather than remove like the last 2 generations), in order to facilitate wiper arm movement.
