[pico]

Do you really need it, Phong? I live in the tropics of Minnesota and use Winter washer fluid. It has never frozen.

...or do you mean the windshield deicer as they have in Canada?

 

[Phong]

Pico, because I saw that is an option for the RAV4 that's why I am thinking of getting. I live in Minnesota too and this will be my first winter with the rav4.

 

[Mikey D.]

I had the windshield wiper defroster on my '12 Highlander SE, truthfully the regular defrost mode on the HVAC system worked better. If ice did build up on my wipers the wiper defroster wasn't very effective at removing it, or keeping it off.

Save your money and put it into deicer fluid! ?

 

[Phong]

Mikey, thanks for the advice! Greatly appreciated.

 

[Hyperlight]

I am in Canada with an XLE with the defroster. What it is is heating elements in the forward windshield similar to the ones on the rear of the vech for defrosting, only where the wiper blades are. I assume if you want to "upgrade" to it, you would be replacing the entire forward windshield.

 

[Willow]

I am in Canada with an XLE with the defroster. What it is is heating elements in the forward windshield similar to the ones on the rear of the vech for defrosting, only where the wiper blades are. I assume if you want to "upgrade" to it, you would be replacing the entire forward windshield.

That is the only way to get this option, heat coils are built right into the glass.

 

[vanib]

.. And you don't really need it .

 

[pico]

Pico, because I saw that is an option for the RAV4 that's why I am thinking of getting. I live in Minnesota too and this will be my first winter with the rav4.

Good thought, however it is not really necessary. It is a minor annoyance to free the wipers of ice, and the heated windshield takes longer to do the job than simply doing it by hand. FWIW, I replace the wipers every year. My favorites are Bosch wiper blades.

Best of luck in our beautiful state of MinneSnowta.

 

[Rickl]

I have the heating elements at the base of the windshield. They are at the very base of the windshield, and are designed to free up the wiper blades if they have become frozen in place. They are too low to have any effect on clearing ice on the part of the windshield that you actually look through. I don't recall ever using this feature at all in 8 years of ownership. If you have ice on your windshield you are going to need to scrape the upper part anyway in order to see, so it is only one more stroke of the scraper to clean the small area behind the wipers.

There is another DIY system that you might be interested in. It involves cutting the rubber windshield washer hose, and splicing in a small box/tank which contains a heater. When the windshield washer is activated, the water inside is heated to 150F in less than 30 seconds. Here is one version of this product.

I installed one of these in a past vehicle, and when it worked it was nice. The problem is that the heater is activated by a flow switch which was very unreliable. I had it replaced twice under warranty before uninstalling it. They have probably improved on the design by now.

 

[pico]

There is another DIY system that you might be interested in. It involves cutting the rubber windshield washer hose, and splicing in a small box/tank which contains a heater. When the windshield washer is activated, the water inside is heated to 150F in less than 30 seconds. Here is one version of this product.

I guess they figured the product was difficult to maintain. From their web site, "We regret that this item is no longer available." :frown

 

[Phong]

Good thought, however it is not really necessary. It is a minor annoyance to free the wipers of ice, and the heated windshield takes longer to do the job than simply doing it by hand. FWIW, I replace the wipers every year. My favorites are Bosch wiper blades.

Best of luck in our beautiful state of MinneSnowta.

Sound like you live in Minnesota too. Bosch is awesome wiper blades especially it is lifetime warranty.

 

[vanib]

lifetime warranty on wiper blades???? Very interesting.

 

[Phong]

Yea, $20 per a wiper blade and it is limited lifetime warranty on manufactures defect. Got my replace because the clip on the blade bent and Oreilly autoparts replace them with the new one.

 

[Rickl]

I guess they figured the product was difficult to maintain. From their web site, "We regret that this item is no longer available." :frown

Wow, I had not noticed that. I wonder if it is because the item is so popular that they are out of stock, or is it because the problems I experienced 10 years ago have never been resolved.? Never mind, I think I know the answer.