BTW, I only tried the Bosch Icons on my wife’s Maxima and they were nice but not perfect. They started streaking after a couple of months even after cleaning the blades and the windshield regularly. For that price they really should last longer than 2 months. I read a recent article in Consumer Reports and they tested wiper blades from all major manufacturers and after 6 months they couldn’t find any huge difference in wear and tear. They all seem to show similar signs of deterioration after 6 months of use.

We went skiing this past weekend and took my wife’s car, it had just snowed so the roads were kicking up a muddy mess, I noticed the passenger side wiper on her car was streaking horribly, I thought it may have been coated with oil so I took some washer fluid and a rag and went to wipe them down. I notice on the wiper blade it self that there was raised lettering molded into the wiper blade. Then I set it back down on the windshield and noticed that the incredibly streaky area was exactly where the raised lettering was. Why in gods name would you put raised lettering on something that is supposed to ride flush to the windshield? With every stroke these blades are riding up on the raised lettering, in turn not wiping the windshield. Noticed the same thing on her driver side wiper, but not as bad.

A lot of people blame the streaking on the protective cover that the wiper is shipped with. I could see how some people might leave this on… But this brings up another good point. Why would a wiper blade need a protective cover when it is packaged in a nice, dry hard plastic case? Makes you think, if it can’t handle being in a package without a cover on the blade, how the heck is it going to handle being out in the elements, Rain, Snow, Ice, Hot Sun, Dirt and Grime. How is this wiper going to handle these elements when it needs to be packaged so delicately?

So, upset about this oversight on rain-x’s part. I was going to write them an email when I got to work today. On my way in to work, I was clearing my dirty windshield with fluid as I traveled 55 mph down the road…. The next thing I know, my passenger side rain-x latitude wiper has broken off at the mount (the mount is still attached to the wiper arm, just the beam and blade had broken off their mount), danced around my windshield a couple of times and flew off.

WTF man! These rain-x wiper blades are the worst things I have ever bought, DO NOT BUY!!!!!!! Not only are they crap, but this could have become dangerous if the circumstances were different.

Please feel free to ask questions. I know what I’m talking about and installed these exactly the way the instructions told me to. No covers were left on the wipers (which is a stupid thing anyway), everything was the way Rain-x intended. They just are the worst set of wipers I’ve ever owned.

On a positive Amazon note (as always). Amazon offered me a refund for these wipers. Amazon has always taken care of me and I have total confidence buying anything from them. Thanks Amazon!