Went out early this evening, I had only been home about 1 hour but the water on the windscreen had frozen solid. I decided to use some luke warm water to get rid of the ice. The only problem was I forgot I had left the wipers on auto, so as soon as I poured water on the sensor the wipers helpfully flung it all back at me!

Grrrrrrrrrrr!

then

Brrrrrrrrrr!

Do they work even when the car is turned off?

Sounds like a bit of a comedy moment to me. I always defrost mine before I start the car as its more efficient warming up the car whilst driving.

Haha. Ooops!

No they only work with the ignition on which I'm guessing you had done.

School boy error im afraid they do have a mind of there own them things.

I walked up to the car and the rear windscreen and side windows weren't frozen, so I started the engine then realised the windscreen was frozen...

This is why you should always try to remember to turn the wipers off.

If the screen freezes overnight (and freezes the blades to the glass) or there is a good chunk of snow on the windscreen when you turn on the ingnition the wipers will try and wipe.

This can result in damage to the blades / motor / fuse etc.

I would normally check before I start the car. Also I'v had the car since the start of December so I'm still getting use to the auto wipers.

I've had mine four years and still forget to turn them off.

The worst thing is when after it's stopped raining and your cruising along the motorway, all of a sudden the auto wipers decide for a random wipe.

Scares me half to death!

Done it plenty times myself at the car wash with the foam brush! They give the polish guys a suprise at the hand wash too.

Auto wipers while not perfect are still a good piece of kit. Especially handy when a truck goes past splashing a puddle over the windscreen.

I always forget to switch them off.

They will happily wipe on a totally dry day. Worst for me is when here is just a little damp on the roads and i suddenly find a smeared mess on my windscreen. But when they work well they are just wonderful. For the future it would be great if they could auto switch off whenever the car ignition is switched off, that would solve most niggles for me. Or i could move my right hand about 4 inches