Noticed Tesco now do Flat Wiper Blades on a bogoff, I think £8 for the pair for a 147. Made in China, anyone tried them? I guess if they are rubbish you can get your money back?
Saw them myself last night and was going to do a similar post. Might be worth posting on the existing Flat blade thread where the debate so far is centred on Valeo vs Bosch.
Think I might try them myself tonight as, worst case, the experiment will cost less than the cost of a single standard blade!
Did think the connector block looks fairly chunky though. I think the other brands have a better design for this plastic block.
The Bosch set for a 147 is £26.25 before delivery. Even if you opt for the 'Trupart' flat blades they are still £8.54 and £6.74 before delivery and a total of £17.88 incl P+P.
That's a tenner more than the Tescos option and you still don't get Bosch or Valeo parts!
The Tesco blades are buy one get one free for £8, regardless of size.
Looks like your the only one that thinks that though.
I had Bosch Retrofit on my old 147 and I'm going to put the same on the GTA, they were awesome :thumbs: for £8 I might try the tesco ones first though, having had bosch ones i'd be qualified to compare.
Having seem those pics, I have to agree. One of the big criteria for buying the car I have is it's fantastic looks. There's no way I'd fit something which looks like that to it.
The attachment block is chuffing huge! And it's weirdly squared off too. It's like there are shoe boxes attached to the wipers.
Yes, but if I can use the mounting blocks off my current squeeky ebay flat blades then they may look OK. Granted the Tesco mount looks absolutely awful, must be why I did not get them last night( it was 10.45pm)!
If your worried about looks get the Bosch, it's a very nicely designed attachment system. But you pay for it, best price I could find was a while back from someone on ebay for about £30 for a set, mind you that was just after they came out so price might have settled now.
My experience of Tesco is that they offer cheap and it's cheap because it's rubbish.
Knowing what they like to pay for things means that the wipers will be around £2 at cost and £2 does not buy quality.
A friend bought a pair and promptly threw them away after a week, didn't wipe properly and juddered. He's back with Bosch and all is well.
The difference is the direction of the slope on the upper surface.
So the spoiler effect on the blades will not happen at speed, they may even start lifting off of the screen.
Yep. I've noticed that too. In which case they are selling unsuitable goods because there is nothing on the pack to state LH or RD drive fit!
Anyway, inspite of it all, I've had a go. When fitted they don't look any worse than the other options so it's going to come down to whether they function OK or not.
I spent £750 on service, shocks, upper arms, plugs............last week and can't be arsed to spend £25+ at the moment. If they don't work then the old Bosch blades are still in good condition - they just don't clear the screen very well.
traditional blades work perfectly and last for ages and cost less, plus they look better. so i have to wonder, what is the point of the new style flat blades?
With the Bosch Aerotwins, you have half a chance of getting the washer fluid onto the screen rather than just hitting the blades :lol:
I got the model number from Wiperblades.co.uk then went onto an ebay link someone provided and did a "make me an offer" of £16. He accepted and posted for £3.99.
I get mine from Fiat Parts and Alfa Romeo Parts from Shop4Parts They do parts for Alfa's and Fiat's. A set of original wipers with VAT & postage £21.20. And you don't even have to leave your house. How's that for service?!
I get mine from Fiat Parts and Alfa Romeo Parts from Shop4Parts They do parts for Alfa's and Fiat's. A set of original wipers with VAT & postage £21.20. And you don't even have to leave your house. How's that for service?!
Rained on the way home so got to road test the new blades and so far I'm very impressed with lack of noise and their ability to effectively clear the windscreen on both directions of the wipe, at any speed. The normal blades don't cope well at motorway speeds but these are fine inspite of the fact that the spoiler profile seems to be on back to front a la LHD (as David C suggested).
I occasionally use Autoglym glass cleaner on my windows and blades but, as it is only 2 months old, the windscreen is still fairly clean anyway.
In fact that's mainly why I was getting so p155ed off with the old blades because they couldn't clear the screen on either stroke even though it was new. They were in good condition but were probably due a change.
Only regret with the Tesco blades is (as anticipated) that they look really really crap! At least they do from inside the car. I'm yet to judge the full external impact of the naff universal connector block!!!
I ust admit, that when i first put my aerotwins on (AR551S for those of you playing at home) I was very impressed with the silent sweep and clearing ability. In my opinion they look much better than the originals and they certainly worked really well when at first.
I've not polished the windscreen, indeed not cleaned it at all (the whole car!).. will try that on the weekend
who makes the best wiper wash.. I'm using halfords (light blue container) at the moment, but it's ****e and stinks. I quite like the smell of whatever is used in new VW's.. no doubt a very expensive consumable from VW however.
who makes the best wiper wash.. I'm using halfords (light blue container) at the moment, but it's ****e and stinks. I quite like the smell of whatever is used in new VW's.. no doubt a very expensive consumable from VW however.
The Tesco blades are not handed at all as the blocks just unclip and clip back on either way so its a 5 second job to change them so the spoilers face the correct way, also in the pack is a smaller connecting block which looks better but you do have to modify the ends of the arms to use this one, cheap as chips and work fine on my 156
Aren't the shop4parts ones branded Champion, whereas EBspares have the genuine Alfa replacements?
I'm looking to change mine amd considered the flat blade options but am now heading back towards the ones with 'alfa romeo' written on the blade holder....
I've had my Valeo UM660 / UM665 flat blades since October 2006, they still work as new, don't squeak (never have), don't lift and I'm not going to look elsewhere when I need to change - would you?
p.s Ignore the "warning stickers" they changed to yellow within 6 months.
Update on the Tesco blades they nearly killed me last week i was in the fast lane overtaking a lorry in the pouring rain with the wipers on full speed the drivers side one decided to part company and fly past the drivers side window leaving me with no vis going at 70 mph, after a quick emergency swerve to the hard shoulder i managed to stop and swap the blade from the passenger side and leave that arm sticking up so i could drive to the nearest Halfrouds and purchase the normal type blade..........scary but when it was attached it cleared the screen perfectly and was silent in operation unlike the new ones i purchased so if anyone else has these tesco ones BEWARE..
I've got bog ordinary Tesco blades on my 156. Absolutely no issues with them. I've experimented with aerofoil blades on other cars and below 150mph, I can't tell the difference.:lol:
I bought the Tesco flat blades as my drivers side had split, my advise don't bother they are cheap cos they are CHEAP! left smearing directly in my eyeline and they look awful not being taken in By Tesco's evil mind games again.
I got a pair of Ebay for about a tenner. Work brilliantly so far. The other thing which has been a big success is a Lidl product called Nano Technology screen coating (or something similar).
No need to use the wipers at all over 50mph as the water just wooshes off the glass.
The other thing which has been a big success is a Lidl product called Nano Technology screen coating (or something similar).
No need to use the wipers at all over 50mph as the water just wooshes off the glass.
Similar in effect to Rainex but kit comes with cleaning block to ensure screen is as clean as possible before you apply it.
Well happy, especially as it was cheap.
Their other W5 gear is PANTS though.
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