How do I find wiper refills for my 2008 Nissan Frontier?

Question

I never had any trouble finding wiper blade refills for my 1998 Honda Accord or 2000 Toyota Echo. They were inexpensive because all you bought was the rubber part of the blade. The steel strips to reinforce them were retained from the original wipers.

When my 2008 Nissan Frontier passenger wiper blade edge separated from the rest of the wiper I started looking for a replacement. Refills I found claiming to be for my Frontier were usually refills for an after-market replacement arm assembly and did not fit my stock wipers. I did finally find a Trico refill for my passenger side (18-240, narrow profile) but their recommended driver's side refill (24-240) is the same profile but needs to be wider (9mm vs 7mm??)

Local auto parts stores all say they stopped carrying OEM refills. I could get a new wiper arm but years ago when I did that I regretted the poor quality of the replacement and the way it never quite fit the window as well.

Answer 1

I ran into the same problem recently. It does appear that all the autoparts places have stopped carrying inserts. They'd rather sell you a $10-20 blade than a $1-2 insert it seems. :-) The good news is that my car dealer DOES still carry inserts, and they're only $1.20 a piece... Try your dealer, could end up saving you a good deal of money down the road!

Answer 2

The aftermarket industry is moving away from refills so it is only going to get harder to find them.

I would suggest using beam blades instead. In my experience they preform better and look nicer since they take up less space.

Here is an image showing a Neo Form blade next to a traditional blade:

Answer 3

Check out tirerack.com - Valeo wipers

I've been using them for several years now and really like them. They're the frameless type like JZD posted above. Buy one, get one free.