Stock Wiper Blades Scratching Windsheild

[phidubble0]

Hey guys,
I just wanted to find out if anyone else encountered this problem:

I was at FX Auto getting my tints a few weeks back when Wayne noticed the wiper blades were scratching my windsheild. Now in no way should rubber wiper blades be scratching glass. Wayne hinted that sometimes the rubber on wipers is actually recycled rubber and may contain metal particles.

Stopped by Erin Mills Mazda today to have Jerry Liu (Service Mgr) take a look. Warning: I haven\'t washed my car in two weeks....which is the longest its ever gone (including winter) without a HAND wash. Jerry suggested that this was \"regular wear & tear [...] that sand & debris gets in b/w the wipers and windsheild over time and may scratch the windsheild\". This is a 2006 that I picked up in September! His opinion is Mazda Canada won\'t replace the scratched windsheild but \"he\'ll look into it\".

Please let me know what you guys think before I go postal on this guy!

========Phidubble0=========
3 GT/GFX 2006 - Black Mica
35% Formula One Tints all around
VG Shark Fin Antenna

[Jetlag]

I\'ve noticed scratches on my windshield as well and to be honest, my car is washed regularly. See how far you can take this however, unless the scratches are deep enough that they may impair you vision, I\'d leave it alone. Windshields are tricky to replace and can be a pain if it\'s not done properly.

[wtom]

When you wash the car, do you also wipe down the wiper blades with a wet towel? Wait til you find stone chips on the windshield. :(

[phidubble0]

When you wash the car, do you also wipe down the wiper blades with a wet towel? Wait til you find stone chips on the windshield. :(

When I wash my car, I leave the wiper blades in the upright pos\'n and give em a good rinse from a distance w/ the pressure washer hose....then I let them air dry. Yesterday I went to wash my car and gave em a wipe....not much on there if anything.

I do have 1 small tiny chip on the windsheild as well. I might tough it out until i get another chip or two to try to get the Windsheild replaced.

Also thinking of picking up a pair of Reflex (or Viewmax) wiper blades so it doesn\'t get any worst.

-Bryan

[billyfo]

although the stock Bosch has many complains from here, but never scratch the windshield as far as I remember. but for sure there might be some bad batch on the market.

[sir_bob]

I also have a scratched windshield, I noticed it withing the first year of ownership of my 3. What I have figured it to be is scraping ice off the windshield in the winter. A little strange I think as the 7 year old Toyota RAV4 I traded for the 3 did not have scrathces on the windshield. Cracks yes, scratches no.

I have come to the conclusion that with the 3 being an econo car, they had to cut costs somewhere, perhaps the windshield was one of them.

I had mentioned it to the dealer at the time I noticed them and was esentially told, \"tough luck\", it wouldn\'t be replaced.

[Redhouse]

I noticed some patterns on my windshield that occured in coincidence with the metal hinge points of the wiper blade that grip the rubber. It seemed like those areas were under higher pressure and would cause greater wear due to contamination from dust/debris. So I stopped using that style of wiper.

I also observed this on a 10yo car that a family member of mine drove. There were noticable scratches directly under those grip points.

Currently I\'m using Reflex blades from Canadian Tire, which I hope are distributing the load of the blade a little better than the traditional blades thus being less likely to scratch. I also have rain-x applied, and I\'m using the summer pink rain-x washer fluid. The only problems I notice with this setup is the wipers jump/stutter on the downstroke (toward their resting position) on the front, and that there are some tiny bubbles/trails of water left along with minor haze after a wipe stroke. Gotta fix that stuttering thing.

[pack3twhore]

I just noticed my stock wiper blades did scratch my windshield. I just replaced with the reflex ones from crappy tire. Does anyone know of any temporary solution to rub on the windshield to make the scratches disappear?

[vortex-5]

I replaced mine with the viewmax blades since the first week of ownership. I\'ve had no scratches thus far and I regularily detail every month so they would become obvious.

However I do have a stone chip :-( it was filled at an autoglass place and is fine now. (But we all know hardly visible is not invisible to us auto-enthusiasts)

[3GFX]

I\'ve got a few scratches and a lot of \'sandblasting\' on my windshield from the previous own. I\'m going to a tint shop today who are going to take a look at the windshield and try and buff some of the scratches out if possible using \'Jewelers rouge\'. Try asking a tint shop about it, maybe they can help you out!