Sonata wipers are different length.

I bought wiper refills for my 06 Sonata today after stopping at the
dealer and finding that they wanted "$12-14 a piece" (he didn't look it
up to get an exact price) for wiper blades and they don't sell refills.
I then notice that the look-up computer at Wally-World lists two
different sizes for the Sonata, 24" for the driver side and 20" for the
passenger side. Thinking this must be an error, I buy one set of 24"
refills. Guess what? This isn't an error. The geniuses at Hyundai
that designed the Sonata used two different size wiper blades! I
haven't seen this in 30+ years of car ownership. What a stupid idea.

I've always in the past carried a spare blade in my cars in case one
came apart when not near a store. Now I have to carry two blades as spares!


Matt

 

Get used to it Matt. Lots of manufacturers are doing the same thing and
have for several years now. Does not make any difference in how you see out
the windshield, but obviously some engineers somewhere think it does.

 

Had the same problem with my wifes Sonata, Solved the problem by buying a
set of 20" !!!! A loss of 2" at top and 2" at bottom is not noticable all
and does not impare vision at all !!!!

']['unez

 

Which manufacturers? This is the first car I've ever seen with
different sized wipers side to side. Sure, lots of rear wipers are
different size from the front.

Matt

 

GM has been doing it across some of their product lines for almost 10 years
that I'm aware of. I've owned two GM products now that use different size
wipers, dating back to a 1998 model. I've seen it on other manufacturer's
cars also, but couldn't tell you who they were. It's just that like you,
when I first encountered it I thought it was pretty silly, and then I
started noticing more and more of them on cars. Kinda like the way you
notice all of the cars of the same model you just bought - right after you
buy it.

 

Funny, I haven't owned a car in about 15 years that had the same size on
both sides, except for my '88 Chevy P/U. I am pretty sure that is the norm
now, Matt, but I am sure there are a few manufacturers out there that use
the same size. I know for a fact that Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru, GM and at
least Ford P/U trucks all have different sizes on each side. And no, it
doesn't make sense to me either, but it also is no big deal. All of the
replacements I have purchased are sold individually anyway.

Eric

 

Add Chrysler products to the list also. I have a 2002 Intrepid with
different lengths.

 

Our Ford Taurus and Toyota Camry have different length wiper blades. This
is common.

 

Neons since the beginning.

 

Ford, on my old (!!) 2000 Windstar, 24" driver's side, 22" passenger's side,
and 16"" backglass.

Shaman

 

The first one I can remember was my wife 81' Ford, from that year on, at
least one of the family cars had different size ones, right now all 4
have different ones, only 3 wipers are same length out of 10 total.
Cars are 1 BMW, 1 Honda, 2 Hyundai, so as of now NORMAL is: 'different
length'.

 

Blades, yes, refills, no. At least the Pylons I bought this week still
came two in a package. This may explain why refills are getting harder
to find.

Matt

 

Yes, blades, sorry I should have qualified that. I've never had the rubber
wear out before the blade anyway. I clean my rubber regularly and they
seemingly last forever.

Eric

 

Funny, I've never had a blade wear out. I've had a couple get pretty
rusty and ratty looking, but they help the refills just fine. I find
the rubber lasts one year at best. I just replaced my OEM Sonata rubber
at 9 months and 13,000 miles. It was streaking very badly on the back
stroke. It would remove the water fine coming up, but then leave a film
on the way back down. When I got the rubber off, it was polished shiny
and smooth near the locations where it was supported by the wiper blade.

Life of the refill probably depends on where you live. How have your
blades worn out?

Matt

 

My Chrysler minivans have both had the same size on each side. They are
long, something like 28" if memory serves, but equal on both sides.
Yes, the rear is shorter but that makes sense as the window is much
smaller than the windshield.

Score one for Chrysler engineering.


Matt

 

Matt,
Living out here in the desert, wipers last about 4 -5 months at MOST in
the summer heat they just dry out and dont work worth a crap. I have a 2005
XG350L that I bought in August 2005 and Im working on my 4 th set of wipers
since then. I usually go to Wally World cause thier about the cheapest in
Vegas. Since Im not into spending the big bucks for something I dont use and
Im gonna throw away I wish the $$Stores sold wiper blades then I wouldnt
feel bad about changeing them once a month.

']['unes

 

I've got a '99 Honda Accord EXL-V6 that has different size blades on each
side. Good to find out about this on the wife's Sonata LX as it's time to
replace them.

KW

 

Pretty much as a result of the tons of salt they put on the roads around
here in the Winter. They rust, rot and pit. OTOH, I've never seen the
rubber get shiny like you mentioned. I'll have to watch for that on my
Sonata too, but I've already past 1 year and just around 17,000 miles with
the originals.

Eric

 

The only wiper blade that got bad enough that I had to replace it was
the rear wiper on my minivans. The road salt just accumulates there.
My 1994 Chevy pickup still has its original blades after 13 years of
PA/NY winters and road salt.

My Sonata wipers were wierd. The rubber looked pretty good generally,
but it was clear that the one side of the wiper was rolling over too far
and thus losing the squeegie (sp?) action of the blade. It would clear
the windshield nicely on the upstroke and then smear it miserably on the
way back down! It may be that the wiper arm is bent a little such that
the blade isn't perpendicular to the surface. I'll check that if the
refill does the same. I sooner think it is just from the wipers parking
on the downstroke and thus always having the blade bent the same
direction which tends to make the rubber take a "set" that direction.


Matt

 

My finance' purchased a 2007 Sonata Limited V6 las week and I noticed
the difference in wipper lengths. I have a 2006 Honda Ridgeline Truck
and it has different length blades as well. This is not an unusual
thing these days.

One of the best things you can do for your blades is buy the Protectall
blade treatment wipes (this is from the company that makes Protectant
303). Once a month or so a quick wipe down and they stay nice and soft,
increasing their effectiveness and their life span two or three times.

MARTY