A truck went by, plastered my windshield with dirt, and the last of my wind-  

To not run out, you must top if off or add more to it often, smart Gentleman that you are.

I thought she was going to tell us that a rock or some gravel had broken her windshield. I am so glad that was not the case. Mud washes off, thank goodness.

Yes, It's been a few years since a rock broke my windshield and I hope it never happens again. My husband had a rock break his, his windshield changed and another rock broke it again. He was going to trade it in anyway and then a tree branch fell on it (huge branch, you wouldn't see the car), cracked it all the way down one side and smashed a headlight. So that hastened his trade-in date. He loved that car, but it seemed to get itself damaged a lot.

My suggestion to you is this. Do not buy just inserts. When you are ready to get wipers replaced, buy the whole blade. If you do this at Wal-Mart they will put them on for you, if you ask. Wal-Mart policy is to put them on for you if you get them there.

I have done all of those. Not at Walmart because we don't have one that does here. But, ya, I have just gotten the blades, got the entire wiper, had a tech put it on. I just have no luck with them.

Jiffy Lube asked me if I wanted cheap, middle, or expensive windshield wipers for summer in the spring. So I bought middle ones. They lasted fine throughout the summer. Then in the fall, they asked me the same thing for winter blades. They worked fine for an entire winter, but I got the most expensive ones. I drive so many miles in such harsh weather, that I don't expect them to last more than May through Sept. in good weather and October through April in bad. At that point in time, I was driving 25 miles into work and 25 miles back 6 days a week with snow, sleet, hail, you name it.

The only thing I find is that you HAVE to switch the winter ones out or use tons of fluid because they do not work well with rain. They were tramendous with snow. The important thing is to always make sure that the snow and ice are out from under the wipers and the wipers are fine before you start the car up on a bad day.

I'm thinking about learning how to put my own on. That way, you know they're on right. There is a bid difference in wiper blades. The expensive winter ones were huge! Three layers of rubber and they cleaned snow off in record time. It was like three windshield wiper bades on each side with each swipe. Amazing. When other people's windshields were reclogging up with snow, mine were great!

I think I need to upgrade and buy more expensive ones. I don't know.

Consumer's Digest must have something about windshield wipers? They rate lots of stuff.

I would think! I will have to check with my mechanic too. He has always been reputable.

He should be the best authority on them. Thanks and take care.

I take care of my own car or else I'd run out of more things and more often. He runs his truck on fumes.

It makes it from oil change to oil change? Not here. I often drive 25 miles in and 25 miles back with at least 3 mud splashes and often 5 or even 10 coatings of mud on my windshield.

well, I do live in a big city - about the only time you find mud is where they are working on the roads or under them (water leaks ya know)

Country living, esp. on turnpikes and main roads where you meet trucks all the time does take its tole. toll? thanks and take care.

We get a lot of mud when trucks fly by on major routes. I drive 25 to 50 miles at a time and 3 to 5 truckers usually meet me. So we go through bottles of it in 3,000 miles. The roads are usually covered with mud for months at a time, so 3 or 4 botttles a winter, it takes us. When I lived right on top of my work and the weather was mild, like during the summer, I can go from one oil change to another, but not during mud season.

I'm on the Canadian Border. Live in a town near the Champlain, NY crossing. We get tons of stuff on our windshield.

I can't imagine a hole in my washer fluid tank. That would be awful. I'd probably have to park my car on the side of Route 11 and have the darn thing towed or run the risk of getting hit and killed by a Semi.