This might seem absolutely mad, but when you’re picking which new or used car to buy next; you’d be well advised to have a look at the Wiper blades. They can make a serious difference to your non-fuel running expenditure.

Lots of the new cars that have been introduced in Europe over the last few years are coming equipped with the new type of Flat Wiper Blades. These look fantastic, and have inherently much better wiping performance than traditional Wiper blades.

Flat Wiper Blades are also said to be much more aerodynamically efficient than traditional Wiper blades, and this gives 2 benefits.

Firstly, Flat Wiper Blades have much better contact with the windscreen , especially at high speeds.

Secondly, Flat wiper blades have a much lower coefficient of drag when compared to traditional Wiper blades. However, when you consider what a miniscule part of the overall drag of the car the Wiper blades account for; you’ll see that even cutting wiper blade drag by 80% won’t make any noticeable difference to your car’s economy.

On the other hand, if you aren’t wary, you could wind up spending up to £160 a year just on replacement Wiper blades!

This annoying situation has happened because the car makers and the makers of the Original Fit Wiper blades have managed to use their introduction as a means of limiting the unsuspecting owner into a very restricted number of suppliers for the replacements; namely the franchised dealer and the wiper blade manufacturer’s own local distributors.

This scarcity of competition has led to some extremely high prices being demanded for Flat Wiper Blades.

A friend of mine is fortunate enough to drive a very costly Supercar. Nevertheless even he was very annoyed to be quoted £80 for A wiper blade when his car was just over 6 months old. He looked around for a different supply, and after the car main dealer, he could only find the wiper blade manufacturer’s local distributor, and guess what? The prices were within a few pence of each other.

He was particularly outraged by this, because previously, he’s always fitted Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades to his cars as soon as the original rubber ones wore out. Despite keeping all his cars for at least three years; he’s never needed to replace any of his Silicone wiper blades.

What further outraged my friend was the salt that the rubber wiper blade manufacturers rubbed into his wounds. On the packet of the £80 wiper blade is a warning that he should look forward to replace these Wiper blades within 6 months to a year.

Unfortunately, manufacturers of Silicone wiper blades have not yet found ways to get around the patents on the connection systems for these original equipment Flat Wiper Blades, but you can find Silicone Retrofit Flat Wiper Blades, which combine the looks & aerodynamic efficiency of Flat Wiper Blades with the performance, life and warranty of Silicone wiper blades.

So, when you’re picking your next car, take a look at the wiper blade arms. If they have the well known hook type fittings, you can fit either traditional or Flat Silicone wiper blades to fit. If they’ve got the fancy new patented connections, remember you might have to change them twice a year, and check out the cost. It may well be as much as you spend on servicing!