Why is it that we never replace our windshield wipers on nice days? We tend to ignore it for as long as possible until we are out in the rain with the wiper flopping around, scraping the windshield, just trying to make it to the parts store, not being able to see, until the blade just falls off, making you drive around with your head sticking out the window in the cold rain? Why is it ALWAYS the drivers side wiper that falls apart first? If it was the other way around, you could still ignore it for at least a month!
That's about how I was this morning. I didn't quite have my head sticking out the window, but I was getting ready to! So I pulled in and bought two blades. They were well staffed and offered to go out in the rain to assist. Now I'm no mechanic, I despise working on cars, but I've done wipers before, so I declined their offer.
Fifteen minutes later, I'm back in the store begging for help. They couldn't get it either. The next set wouldn't fit. Then the next set wouldn't fit either. Now, in the hour or so I was there, I had four people helping me, plus myself, and we all had trouble.
We aren't talking about some rare vehicle either. This is an old Chevrolet pickup! I've had this truck since 98 and I don't remember ever having this problem. I was about to give up and just put my almost wore out blade on the drivers side, but these guys just wouldn't give up! Finally, he found a Bosch set that fit, and I was all fixed up.
Apparently, their computer systems don't tell you which blades will fit your car, it only tells you what size they are. Each brand fits a little different, but most brands work on most cars. They told me its rare to have this problem, but its a Chevy for crying out loud!
5 stars for the guys working there. These are not mechanics, but they were helping lots of other people and doing lots of other wipers while I was there. If they wanted to be lazy, they could have told me to go elsewhere. They didn't even seem to mind opening four sets to sell me one that would work.
3 stars for auto zone and their computer system that's just about useless. We could have used a tape measure to find that they were 18"! If their system actually worked, I wouldn't have had to waste an hour getting soaking wet! read more