I used to spend a lot of time on the Audi Forum but finally gave up on Audi's. Since I made a lot of friends here I thought that I would share my recent experience so they don’t have the same problem.

Here is a copy of a letter I sent to ITW Global Products (Rain-X) about their windshield wipers.


Dear Sir:

I am very disappointed in the quality of your Latitude wiper blades and believe that they are a safety problem because they do not stay on the vehicle.

I purchased six of them from Amazon in November of 2010. Three were for my wife's mini van (two front and one rear) and three for my Mercury Sable wagon. I wanted to make sure my wife had good wiper blades on her minivan for the winter.

The reviews on Amazon said that your Rain-X Latitude blades worked great and the pictures showed that they had a closed design - like winter blades - so they would not get clogged with snow. I wish I had seen the comments about other folks having trouble with them staying on before I spent $75 for 6 blades – order form enclosed.

When I installed them I found that one of the front blades on the wagon slipped out of the wiper arm easily so I added some electrical tape. There were no attachment problems with the van so I assumed that the wiper arm on the car was faulty. They seemed to do a good job with rain on the front windows but the old ones were better on the rear of both the van and the wagon.

The front wipers on the van seemed to be OK until last night in a pouring rain when we were 100 miles from home. The passenger side came off at the connector - not the wiper arm. I was able to snap it back together and set the lock but it came off again after a few miles. We were in the boonies so I found a street light and re-attached it after I found it on the road. Needless to say I was soaked by the time I was finished.

We were lucky - and we were able to get to a gas station to get a replacement by using the wipers sparingly. The attendant said that the Rain-X attachment design was the worse he had ever seen. I agree with him - it doesn’t work and it is dangerous.

If this had happened when my wife was alone it could have been very bad because it was almost impossible to see without the wipers even though we use Rain-X wiper fluid.

Regards,

 

Sorry to read about your misfortune and I wish you luck w/rectification. I have no personal experience w/Rain-X wiper blades but I'm always leary when it comes to wipers & non-OE suppliers. I've found that Bosch, Valeo, and PIAA aftermarket replacement blades fit most Audis pretty well. Anco blades, on the other hand...

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