FLAPS no longer sell wiper blade refills, just whole wipers

[masraum]

WTF? I checked a year or two ago, and couldn't find wiper blade refills in either of the two bigger parts places near me (O'Reilly and Autozone). They only had new blades. I tried some of the "beam" blades, and they worked fine, but the bit where the blade attaches to the arm sticks up really high and is visible as 2 warts. I don't like it, so I want to refill the 2 original blades (I kept the frames). Trico makes some universal cut/break-to-fit refills that should fit, but that's it. There are 4 stores with the closest being 50 miles and an hour away that stock them. Then there are another 5 stores within 100 miles. Of course, none of those stores are in areas that we frequently find ourselves, like near downtown or near the kids/g-kids.

Damn clouds!! Get off my lawn!

Oh, and those particular Tricos are not available from Amazon. Wankers!

I can order them for $9.49 from O'reilly (ship to store is not available), and the shipping is $15+.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Is this for the Boxster? I always order wipers for my euro cars online. The universal adaptor type blades never fit or work quite right compared to the OEM Bosch ones. I’ve never seen the actual OEM style ones in a FLAPS, at least not for my Mercedes stuff.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Is this for the Boxster? I always order wipers for my euro cars online. The universal adaptor type blades never fit or work quite right compared to the OEM Bosch ones. I’ve never seen the actual OEM style ones in a FLAPS, at least not for my Mercedes stuff.

Yeah, for the boxster. The metal frames don't really go bad. Are you saying that you're able to order just refills for the frames online? Or do you just order the whole blade?

OK, I found the generic Bosch part number for the OEM style blades. They are available on PP for $24 + 17 shipping. Or, they are on the big-A for $42.99 w/free prime shipping. I'd love to go with PP instead of the big A, but since I don't live on the west coast PP is usually either more expensive or takes a lot longer to receive the parts.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by masraum

Yeah, for the boxster. The metal frames don't really go bad. Are you saying that you're able to order just refills for the frames online? Or do you just order the whole blade?

OK, I found the generic Bosch part number for the OEM style blades. They are available on PP for $24 + 17 shipping. Or, they are on the big-A for $42.99 w/free prime shipping. I'd love to go with PP instead of the big A, but since I don't live on the west coast PP is usually either more expensive or takes a lot longer to receive the parts.

That sounds right. At least for MB stuff the OEMs are made by Bosch and they have the MB pin style connector on them. I think Porsche is similar but it’s been a few years. They aren’t universal and the curvature seems to better fit the windshield. I’ve actually put on universal blades and returned them because they left so many streaks.

[wdfifteen]

No NAPA in your area? I like NAPA because (at least around here) they have professionals working the counters. The minimum wage kids at the amateur stores are just annoying.
“I need a group 27 battery please.”
“What is it for?”
“What’s the difference? It’s a group 27 battery.”
“I need to look it up.”
“OK, it’s for a 1956 Porsche that’s been converted to 12 volts.”
“ oh…..”

Go to NAPA and it’s, “We have a 36 month and a 48 month in stock. If you want the 60 month I can have it this afternoon.”

[JackDidley]

Try this/
https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Windshield-Wiper-Blades-Refills/dp/B0B2L7BC8W/ref=rvi_d_sccl_2/141-3361043-2025150

[TimT]

https://www.e c.s.tuning.com/Porsche-2007-Cayman-987-Base-Hatchback-H6_2.7L/Search/SiteSearch/wiper_refills/

Make the link ECStuning

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

No NAPA in your area? I like NAPA because (at least around here) they have professionals working the counters. The minimum wage kids at the amateur stores are just annoying.
“I need a group 27 battery please.”
“What is it for?”
“What’s the difference? It’s a group 27 battery.”
“I need to look it up.”
“OK, it’s for a 1956 Porsche that’s been converted to 12 volts.”
“ oh…..”

Go to NAPA and it’s, “We have a 36 month and a 48 month in stock. If you want the 60 month I can have it this afternoon.”

I have a wholesale account with AZ and it’s still painful. At this point I am sometimes explaining to them how to do stuff on their computer system. Sadly the closest NAPA is 30+ minutes away.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

No NAPA in your area? I like NAPA because (at least around here) they have professionals working the counters. The minimum wage kids at the amateur stores are just annoying.
“I need a group 27 battery please.”
“What is it for?”
“What’s the difference? It’s a group 27 battery.”
“I need to look it up.”
“OK, it’s for a 1956 Porsche that’s been converted to 12 volts.”
“ oh…..”

Go to NAPA and it’s, “We have a 36 month and a 48 month in stock. If you want the 60 month I can have it this afternoon.”

I get it about the kids that work at the stores. I worked at FLAPS when I was a kid, and was eventually a store manager. I was a gear head, and most of the kids working for me were either gear heads or were eager to learn and/or happy to ask the more knowledgeable guys for help. We had computers, but I was also able to use the catalog books, and even had most of a set at home (would keep the old books when we got shipped new books). Hell, I still remember some of the old part numbers (not many, mind you).

Something that really bugs me is that they no longer have a catalog for oil/air filters hanging on a chain by the filters, or a catalog for wiper blades in the wiper section. The filters and wipers are out in the store so the customer can get them themselves, but there's nothing out there to enable the customer to look up the part number.

Actually, I absolutely know why they don't have catalogs out in the store. We used to have customers that would come in that would say "I need a starter for a 1981 Ford". And when you asked them "what kind of Ford" they may or may not know. Or if they knew it was an LTD II, they wouldn't know if it was a 4cyl or 6cyl.
I had a guy once come in asking for a part for a Ford van. I tried to get more info and his answer was "it's blue". And he wasn't trying to be funny. Obviously, those folks were at the extreme end. And we had folks that were at the other extreme end. But most folks know the bare minimum about their car. If it's not written on the fender, there's a good chance they have no idea. Our cashier's dad got a cool old camaro from his brother. He came in once. "I need an oil pressure sending unit for a '69 camaro with a V-8. It's old. It's cracked, and it leaks." So I asked him "does it have an idiot light or a gauge?" He repeated the same request back to me. I tried several times to explain it to him and to get more info out of him. I never got anything but the same exact words back "it's old. it's cracked, and it leaks." I finally handed him a sending unit that would "plug the hole and not leak".

I almost always do all of my checking online, and then go and know what part number they should be handing me.

[TimT]

Something that really bugs me is that they no longer have a catalog for oil/air filters hanging on a chain by the filters, or a catalog for wiper blades in the wiper section. The filters and wipers are out in the store so the customer can get them themselves, but there's nothing out there to enable the customer to look up the part number.

I was in Autozone yesterday, and they had the catalogs...But they only went back to 2006

I needed reverse bulbs for my 2003 Ford F250 Superduty 6.0 diesel...

I had to walk the counterperson through the models and sub-models of the truck... I gave up and walked out.. a few minutes on Amazon and the bulbs were delivered this morning..

[ryans65]

None of these big parts places pay enough to live on let alone for the employees to give a ****. Don't take it out on the employees its the corporations you should be voicing your opinions to. (They won't care either)