I've just replaced all the wiper blades on my car, bought Bosch, thought they would be close to OEM spec. Having a problem with the rear wiper loosing contact with the top of the rear screen. Looks like the blade supports don't have sufficient 'articulation' to allow blade to move as it sweeps the compound curve which is quite noticeable at the top of the rear screen. Anyone else had this problem or got any info on a blade that might work better.

Paul

i'm having a similar problem with the rear wipe on my estate ,it just judders across the glass .a change of manufacturer might help

Mine does the same thing, however I find if I place the blade assembly betwix my forefingers and thumbs on both hands and apply some mild pressure I can tweak it to follow the glass.

Cheers

When I replaced the blades on my car I found the Bosch catalogue (in Halfords) did not list a rear fitment for the estate so I replaced like-for-like :oops: Mistake, I didn't check that the one that was fitted was the correct length in the first place. Guided by another catalogue (in Halfords) for their own brand blades I did find the rear listed and it turned out to be just a bit smaller than the one on the car. So buying the catalogue specified blade - a Halfords W10 it works :lol: :lol: :lol: The blade makes good contact through out it's sweep.

Am I missing a trick here? What's the hangup about buying the correct part from the dealer? :?

No not missing any tricks and yes I do have hang ups with dealers. To start with it all depends on where the dealer is located relative to where one lives. I'm not going to travel 15 miles to a dealer to pay an OTT price for a straightforward part such as a wiper blade. I'm not suggesting that Halfords are appropriate for everything I might need but when there are two Halfords stores close to where I live (one 2 miles and another 4miles away) and their opening hours are somewhat more convenient, then the dealer doesn't stand much chance of getting my business for the wiper blades.

My own experience with the 'gentlemen' of the motor trade is such that I really wish I could survive without them. I'm going to find it very difficult to justify main dealer service costs for my car. Over the years that I've had dealings with the motor trade I regret to report that I have suffered too much aggravation from them. I don't mean to tar them all with same brush; they do a good enough job of that themselves. If anybody in the motor trade reads this post and is offended then my apologies, but I have a weight of evidence to support my own experiences.

Neither my present car nor any of my previous cars has been a new car, which may explain some of my experiences. However I'm surprised at the content of posts to this site from folks who clearly have much newer cars than mine and still seem to have problems with their dealers.

I'm now getting dizzy stood on top of this soapbox so I'll step down in case someone else wants to use it.

Paul

Going back to when I bought a rear wiper for my 98 Octy estate, I remember that the wiper blade fitment was to large for the arm, so it moved about to a degree, and that was a wiper out of my Skoda dealership.

I also remeber that when I owned a VW Vento a few years back I changed the front wipers on that and foolishly bought the wipers from a VW dealership as they were both different. The bill for 2 wipers came to somewhere between

The bill for 2 wipers came to somewhere between

I know this sounds simple, but try horners?

I did not buy my car from them but they have been great for servicing \ warranty etc.

Can't reccomend them enough, may restore your faith in "big dealers"

I know this sounds simple, but try horners?

I did not buy my car from them but they have been great for servicing \ warranty etc.

Can't reccomend them enough, may restore your faith in "big dealers"[/quote:1ff8a824af]

Thanks, to be fair you are the second person to mention Horners (Rob has also mentioned them) I'm south of Manchester in Cheadle Hulme so probably about 10-12 miles from Horners, so perhaps I should give them a chance, maybe for next service. Though for simple parts it'll still be Halfords at 2 miles.

I have a minor pull on my steering, want to get alignment checked-adjusted. I'd prefer to use some where with while-you-wait service any ideas?

Thanks

Paul

I sympathise with people who have had bad experiences with dealers [b:24cb4e0333]but[/b:24cb4e0333] it is a fact of life that a majority of parts for any car are only available from a dealer. If you buy a part from a dealer and it doesn't fit, you take it right back. But if a part from Halfords or wherever doesn't fit, that's because it isn't an original part. I would guess that Bosch and Halfords etc wipers are made to fit a range of cars and, in many cases, the quoted blade will be a compromise designed to fit a number of different makes. All that said, when replacing wipers I normally look for a quality make which may or may not be branded by the OEM.

In the case of the rear wiper for the Octavia, if I have to pay the dealer's price for a blade that fits, then I will. From what has been said already, it doesn't look like a suitable non-OEM one is available on the street.

DGW, can't disagree with what you say but there is another element to this matter which perhaps lurks under the surface of my position. Cost...I am well aware that many of the owners who post on this site run new or nearly new cars, if one is in a position to own and run a new car then that's great. However there may be others, perhaps like myself, who are not in a position to run new cars. That said it is likely that finding safe, affordable options to often-expensive dealer parts and service is necessarily a part of the ownership agenda. I would hope that an ownership forum such as Briskoda.net is able to help owners of all circumstances. My car is a second-hand 3 1/2 year old model; it cost

SPC, I agree totally, I tried breaching this before and took criticism for it.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=493734

If the dealer charged the same \ within

Ian,

Apparently the 200% mark up on parts is pretty common.

It's an interesting point raised on that vwvortex thread that most people

seem to object to dealerships making money - and I completely disagree!

I think if someone is going to do work on something important such

as a car, for which negligence can very easily prove fatal, then they

should be honest with people. If they charged the cost of parts, the cost

of labour, and an additional "overheads" fee, and only did the work they

need to, I wouldn't have a problem if it was all realistic figures.

However, I object to being told that I need a new set of shocks "as the

car bounces loads when you push it down" :? and that it will set me

back about 200 quid for the lot.

Rob.

I have no axe to grind on companies making money because that is what we all work for to do, however blatant overcharging is out of order.

When it comes to original parts, what constitutes original parts? The part from the maker that comes in a cardboard box and is reaonable, or the part from the manufacturer/dealer that comes in the flash packet, is madefor them by the original company and has a hefty markup just to keep an image up?

Cheers

I thought cars were pretty much designed as much as possible around

existing companents - for example, the light bulbs in the Skoda are just

Bosch bulbs, the speakers are Blaupunkt, etc.

So the only difference between all the components *is* the packaging?

Oh, and the price...

Rob.

Yep,

So those of us with an eye for value buy our VW parts packaged as a Skoda

Regards some of the earlier replies, I have no objection to businesses making money, as Kentish said that's what keeps us all in our jobs. BUT there is making money and there is ripping people off. The rip off merchant tends not to get much repeat business, especially with groups like this around to spread both the good, and the bad word. :thumb: