In wet weather, you depend on your windshield wipers for clear visibility. It’s hazardous if they suddenly stick, smear, bend, or break. Here are some early indications that you need wiper service and replacements at your local Buick dealership.
5 Signs It’s Time for a Buick Wiper Blade Replacement
Cracking or Fraying 
The rubber in windshield wipers gradually stiffens and dries out as it ages, which causes cracks and damage. If your wiper rubber looks cracked, frayed, or split from the frame, it’s time for replacements.
Inspect your wipers regularly for this kind of damage, especially before and after winter; you’ll need strong wipers for winter when intense cold, frost, and snow can harm wipers considerably. UV rays during summer can also damage wiper rubber.
Bent Wiper Frame
Buick windshield wipers are tailored precisely to the size, shape, and curve of each model’s windshield to flow smoothly over the glass. If an aging wiper’s frame warps or bends out of shape even fractionally, the rubber no longer hugs the glass snugly. This renders the wiper ineffective and no longer safe to use.
Streaking or Smearing
When wipers are damaged or wearing out from age, they typically fail to wipe water from as much of the windshield as they should. This means they leave wet streaks or smears across the glass, which hinders driver visibility. Any kind of streaking or smearing means you need new wipers at once.
Chattering and Jumping
Both extreme heat and cold can stiffen wiper rubber, which can eventually cause wipers to chatter across the glass rather than wipe smoothly. This chattering means the wiper is making lots of little jumps, leaving unwiped vertical stripes on the windshield.
To minimize this phenomenon, it’s a good idea to buy special winter wipers at the end of fall. Winter wipers have special cold-resistant rubber that remains pliant even in freezing temperatures.
Squeaking or Slapping
Your wipers should do their job quietly. As with most car parts, an increase in noise probably means trouble; one or both of your noisier wipers is wearing out. Aging wipers may start to squeak loudly. If the rubber element has pulled away from the frame, they can make slapping noises.
Schedule Wiper Service at Our Buick Dealership Today
Let our experienced professionals inspect and replace your windshield wipers. Given how affordable wipers are compared to some other vehicle components, it’s never worth delaying wiper replacements; remember, even slightly reduced visibility on a rainy day raises your risk of a collision. Faulty wipers sometimes also emit rattling sounds.
Visit Vachon Buick GMC in Old Saybrook, CT, today for new windshield wipers. We’re an award-winning local dealership that places great emphasis on customer satisfaction in all that we do.
