Windscreen Wiper Issues

[Brew69]

VW Australia tell me the new arms have been available for 2 months now. Called my dealer and they have ordered the replacement.

[Mountainman]

My first VW too.. but I've had a brace of BMWs dating back to 1988, each one of which had their own (small) problems. I've also owned a Ducati and an Alfa Romeo, which make our 'issues' almost invisible.... At this stage Mk7 problems are teething issues...

My Mk7 Golf is the most perfect car I've ever owned. The stop / start and the auto hold and electric park brake work perfectly and no wastegate rattles or squeaky clutch pedal or smearing wiper blades. I've had a run of ultra reliable Jap cars over the last 30 years but this Golf beats them all for excellent build quality and trouble free driving characteristics. At 18,000km I have no complaints about anything. Oh yeah, one - wish the headlights were brighter.

[bru20vt]

At 18,000km I have no complaints about anything. Oh yeah, one - wish the headlights were brighter.

I agree about the headlights. Fitted some Osram Night Breaker Unlimited yesterday which are much whiter and brighter - a worthwhile improvement over the standard bulbs. Drivers side was easy to replace, the passenger side is a pain with limited access.

[Brew69]

Went in today and they said vw customer service were full of it. Still no fix according the head office spare parts.

[ganstar]

So the flex blades don't fit?

I just picked a MK7 last week and it appears to have the flex blades. Though I dont know for certain as I have no idea what was originally installed. Lifting them they definitely flex, much more so than regular wipers on previous cars I've had. I tested them this morning and there appears to be no smear, but shocking shuddering. I mean really bad.

[Brew69]

Had mine fixed and they still smear. How hard can it be?

[DV52]

I just picked a MK7 last week and it appears to have the flex blades. Though I dont know for certain as I have no idea what was originally installed. Lifting them they definitely flex, much more so than regular wipers on previous cars I've had. I tested them this morning and there appears to be no smear, but shocking shuddering. I mean really bad.

ganstar: Had the same problem with my Mk7 when I got it (in June this year). I believe that the wipers are called Bosch aero wipers (no idea why the tag "aero" is used - probably because they are meant to be aerodynamic). Any way, I found that the suddering problem was highly sensitive to the amount of water on the windscreen and also dependent on the new-ness of the wipers. After about a month of intermittent use, the shuddering was greatly reduced. Now I simply adjust the sensitivity slider on the wiper switch to stop the suddering (intermittent mode). I've read on one of the European forums that Bosch are looking at a modified version of aero-wipe becasue of the dreaded smudge complaint. Not sure if these are commercailly available as yet.

[ganstar]

ganstar: Had the same problem with my Mk7 when I got it (in June this year). I believe that the wipers are called Bosch aero wipers (no idea why the tag "aero" is used - probably because they are meant to be aerodynamic). Any way, I found that the suddering problem was highly sensitive to the amount of water on the windscreen and also dependent on the new-ness of the wipers. After about a month of intermittent use, the shuddering was greatly reduced. Now I simply adjust the sensitivity slider on the wiper switch to stop the suddering (intermittent mode). I've read on one of the European forums that Bosch are looking at a modified version of aero-wipe becasue of the dreaded smudge complaint. Not sure if these are commercailly available as yet.

Thanks for that. I didn't test them scientifically, i had someone hose the windscreen with me inside operating things. But if it's still shuddering for you that doesn't really sound ideal. Booked a warranty service to fix the rattle and this, I'll wait and see what happens. Called the service dept about 8am, sounded like the female customer service personnel had already had enough of customers for the day. Hope this isn't a taste of things to follow.

[flight]

Yep, had my wipers replaced 2 times so far and even on the 3rd set they still smear on the drivers side. Initially the replacements were good for the first couple of weeks, then the smearing came back. Annoying, but I can't be bothered going to get them replaced again. Going to wait till they wear out and then get the bosch wipers.

I am wondering if the driver's side wiper smear problem happens with every Mk7 Golf, or are many of them quite OK.

Any views please?

[Idle]

I've had no problem with mine (TDI110.)

The Mk6 TDI103 Comfortline I had before it had smeary wipers from day one.

It might be positioning on the ship coming out — prolonged exposure to black (heavy) diesel exhaust can make an awful mess of glass, and Germany's a long way from Australia.

Many years ago we took a car on the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth — the truck it was on was directly behind the loco's from Adelaide on, when I picked up the car it was well coated with oil which I never did manage to completely get rid of and had to change the wipers a couple of times over the next few months.