Wipers on '07 Sonata

My '06 is the same way. Worst defroster I've ever seen -there's nearly no effect until the car is totally warmed up which takes forever, and the wipers are marginal at best on rain and useless on frost.

I thought I'd solved the problem by us> Is it just me, or are the wiper blades on the 07 Sonata the worst ever for

I'm not impressed with my 06 in this regard as I mentioned a year or so ago. I believe the main issue is a lousy defroster, but wiper pressure may be a consideration also, but mine leave a thin film of ice and I think this is because the windshield is too cold. No amount of wiper pressure will remove ice from the windshield!

And my Sonata will leave a band of fog across the inside of the windshield if I don't consciously breath downward until the car is fully warmed. And if I have four people in the car, the windshield top and side windows never clear. This is the worst defroster I've had since my original VW Beetles from the 70s.

Matt

Hello Edwin,

EP> Is it just me, or are the wiper blades on the 07 Sonata the worst EP> ever for winter driving? EP> EP> They seem just fine for rain, but once it turned cold, the wipers do EP> not do nearly as good a job as other cars I have driven. They leave EP> large areas missed when trying to wash off the road spray or water EP> when near the freezing point. It is as if there is not enough EP> pressure across the entire blade for a good wipe.

Ed, it sounds like you have the regular wiper blades on the car -- the ones with the open profile.

Winter blades have a rubber boot totally enclosing the wiper blade mechanism, and this prevents moisture from getting to the levers and pins which contitute that mechanism. Result -- excellent flexure of the business end of the wiper and hence a better wipe. When moisture and water get to the pins and levers of the open profile regular blades they can freeze up and cause reduced flexibility to the blade element, hence the problem.

Here is a good writeup --

I never bothered with them in the past, but certainly will for next winter. Only a few more weeks and it will be done for this year. Checking on line, Auto Zone and Advanced do not list blades for the Sonata. NAPA though, sell them individually and has both regular and winter blades.

So far, inside has been OK but I've not had four people in the right conditions. As for the worst, my '64 Karmann Ghia. I carried an ice scraper for the inside.

You will be amazed at their efficacy. The beauty about this, like winter tires, is that at the end of the winter you take them off and place the regular ones back on and that way they last for years.

So go ahead an buy them now -- no sense in getting crappy wipes for the balance of the current winter.

Best Regards, Wayne Moses | Houston, Texas

I also am a firm believer in Winter blades for Winter driving. They do work and if you face Winter weather even just a little bit, they are worth the money.

But I don't know which set of wipers you thought would last for years. Certainly the Winter ones don't. By the time Spring rolls around, the Winter blades on my vehicles are absolutely shot - the boot is often torn, and the wiping efficiency has deteriorated noticably.

In addition, because of the sealed unit, air can't blow through them, and when the Spring winds start up, there are days the Winter blades won't wipe at all, especially into the wind. Since you can't buy refills for these, they go into the garbage every Spring.

As for regular wipers, the rubber inserts last one season at the most. I will save the metal blade units, and just re-install wiper refills into them in the Spring, but I have never met the wiper that truly "lasts for years."

The good news is that wipers, no matter what you buy or how, are inexpensive. A small price to pay to keep good visibility.

Tom Wenndt

I'll echo Wayne's comment on how well they work, but I have never gotten more than one season out of them. Now I just leave them on after winter until I need new ones. That's usually late spring or early summer. Then I switch to regular wipers until the begining of winter again. Here in upstate NY winter wipers are almost a must. Insist on Anco wipers though - there is a difference.

Winter's almost over... isn't it?

MM> ... Now I just leave them on after winter until I need new ones.

I was always itching to replace mine with my more aerodynamic, wing- equipped summer blades. Plus I did not want to prolong any wear to the boot.

You hadda go and introduce that element into the conversation, didn't you? Now you've hit a longstanding curiosity point for me. Do you find the wing-equipped wipers to really work at holding the arms tighter to the windshield at speed? I've always wondered about that, and have had several cars that would have benefited from such a thing if they really work.

That can be a benefit. Today I was washing the windshield and the passenger side is missing a 4" wide path near the top of the blade. The last two inches make contact OK.

Oh so it is not only for me! I got the shock of my life 1 morning when I sprayed ice onto the windscreen while driving into sunlight... I guess it is part of Hyundai's cost cutting that they don't use anti freeze in the washer fluid.. I changed it that morning itself.. Though I guess our winters in DC are relatively milder than further to the north so I didn't have much trouble with the wiper blades. though maybe if I had used winter blades I would have noticed a difference. .........

Washer fluid has alchohol in it wich evaporates faster then water. Over the course of several months it reduces the anti-freezing ability and acts more like water. If your car was on the lot for 6 months before you bought it and then you didn't use up the fluid in the next months before it got cold, you were left with blue water. Bill

OK I guess that explains it. I don't know if it was in the lot for a long time however I know I rarely used the washer fluid till winter & we are looking at about 8 months....