Thread: NEW WIPER BLADES, AM I GETTING FLEECED?

Thanks, have just ordered through Get Car Bitz, hope it doesn't rain in the next 3-5 days delivery time, who am I kidding I'm in Melb of course it'll rain soon.

Originally Posted by Andy46

When my Disc 4 had its first service in September 13 they told me there where no wiper blades available for it and they could only replace the whole wiper blade assembly at $140 each and that was after they did it when I quiried the cost of over $300 !!! Very disappointed as yesterday it also had it 52 000 k service and they now tell me the rear brake pads need replacing and that it is at a cost of $740 which includes Rotors as well as pads as Landrover does not allow new pads with out new rotors !!! I also have a Toyota that is 30 years old and has never had the front rotors replaced or machined and has had 4 or 5 sets of pads - I am seriously thinking of making a complaint to the ACA as it sounds like just loading up to rip off or very inadequate product from new !

Reason from dealer - they are such high quality they wear out faster !!!

Andy

Think you may find that all new rotors are made from softer material as they replace the rotors on just about every make / model now.

The rotors were less or the same price as the pads when I replaced them on my D3.

Just out of interest, I looked at a set for my 67 XR falcon, $780, think my D3 was about $80 each.

Cheers Ean

Originally Posted by Redback

X3

Baz.

Ripped off!

Bosch BA550 on eBay were about $35 each when I looked last week, and then they had the hide to charge $11 per blade for delivery!

Originally Posted by Andy46

When my Disc 4 had its first service in September 13 they told me there where no wiper blades available for it and they could only replace the whole wiper blade assembly at $140 each and that was after they did it when I quiried the cost of over $300 !!! Very disappointed as yesterday it also had it 52 000 k service and they now tell me the rear brake pads need replacing and that it is at a cost of $740 which includes Rotors as well as pads as Landrover does not allow new pads with out new rotors !!! I also have a Toyota that is 30 years old and has never had the front rotors replaced or machined and has had 4 or 5 sets of pads - I am seriously thinking of making a complaint to the ACA as it sounds like just loading up to rip off or very inadequate product from new !

Reason from dealer - they are such high quality they wear out faster !!!

Andy

I think you are being told a few furphys. Try and get a hold of a set your self via eBay or supercheap as per the info above. They are easy to replace:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd0rBQ4mB8w]Changing the wiper blades on the modern range of Land Rover vehicles - YouTube[/ame]

Regarding the brakes, work shop manual says replace the pads if you replace the rotors - not the other way around. My car is at 112000km and on its original rotors with one change of pads at 80000km.

From the manual:

WARNING: If installing a new brake disc, install new brake pads.
CAUTION: Brake discs must be renewed in pairs.

get a second opinion if you can.

I agree on super cheap - I replaced the oem BMW wipers with supercheap ones and they are 1000% better

The thing that annoyed me the most, I purchased a set of blades from the same dealer in Pt Melb for my D3 a few years ago and they were about $70 which I thought was steep then, but now same blades are $130 which is clearly a rip off. I told them the same, but didn't seem to register.

I hope that just because it is now a RRS there isn't a premium attached for the same parts as opposed to a D3

Originally Posted by Andy46

When my Disc 4 had its first service in September 13 they told me there where no wiper blades available for it and they could only replace the whole wiper blade assembly at $140 each and that was after they did it when I quiried the cost of over $300 !!! Very disappointed as yesterday it also had it 52 000 k service and they now tell me the rear brake pads need replacing and that it is at a cost of $740 which includes Rotors as well as pads as Landrover does not allow new pads with out new rotors !!! I also have a Toyota that is 30 years old and has never had the front rotors replaced or machined and has had 4 or 5 sets of pads - I am seriously thinking of making a complaint to the ACA as it sounds like just loading up to rip off or very inadequate product from new !

Reason from dealer - they are such high quality they wear out faster !!!

Andy

Perhaps a bit of calm thought required before firing off about all and sundry. The modern brake pads are generally metal compounds apart from the newer ceramics, and will wear the rotors quite aggressively. The dust you see on the wheel rims is in part metal dust from the rotors, not just pad residue. The modern rotors are also produced with very little margin for wear, and in most cases no margin for machining. It is quite common for the 'new' thickness and the minimum, to be 2mm apart. In short, rotors and pads are a consumable in the true sense of the word.

If you want a bit more life out of your pads and rotors try the Akebono ceramics. A few people have tried them on this forum. Do a search. You can get them for both ends of the 2.7 D3/4, and I think the rear of the 3.0 is the same. The front end is currently not catered for.

As an aside, I use the Bosch Falcon wiper assy's, and while they wipe ok, the blade is not as glued to the screen in gusty conditions, or higher speeds as the OE. IMO. There is a difference. Your call if you wish to pay for it.

Originally Posted by kingo

they were about $70 which I thought was steep then

$70 for some strips of rubber is exceedingly expensive, let alone $130.

A pair of front wiper blade replacement rubber inserts for a 200 Series Cruiser from a Toyota dealer is $41, and I thought that this was already a bit of a rip. Sorry to say, but at the new price of $130 for blade inserts, I think this is exhorbitant. Or is that extortion?

One thing that I did find is that the genuine (Toyota) rubber blades last a lot longer than the Repco rubber blades, so even though they are more expensive, they do last longer, which goes some way to reducing the pain on the wallet.