Anco wiper blades called a CR best buy

Even the OEM ones don't seem to last as long these days.


http://www.freep.com/article/20081007/BUSINESS01/810070338/1014

For a streak-free windshield, Consumer Reports recommends a wiper made
by Southfield-based Federal-Mogul Corp.

The magazine tested and ranked 15 models of wiper blades for its
November issue, and Federal-Mogul's Anco 31 Series model offered one
of the best values.

The Anco ranked third in overall performance, with wipers from Valeo
and RainX taking the first two spots.

But Anco was one of two wipers to be named a Consumer Reports Best
Buy. The Anco model costs $7 a piece for an 18-inch wiper and $10 for
a 24-inch wiper, compared with $9 and $15 for the top-ranking Valeo
model.

Consumer Reports, which had its staffers test the wipers on their
vehicles, suggests drivers change their vehicle's windshield wipers
every six months, when even many of the best models started to leave
streaks.

Jewel Gopwani

 

Honda OEM blades have always, ALWAYS been the best you can ever buy.

 

Prove it.

 

And yet I get better results every time with Tryco. Go figure.

 

They prove themselves.

 

A question here. Everyone seems to enforce that Honda makes the
greatest everything for their cars....so I what would like to know is
if Honda actually makes all of these fluids (oil, ATF, brake fluid,
antifreeze) and ancillary components (such as the wiper blades
mentioned above) themselves, or do they contract it out?

I've used Ancos before, and there was no discernable difference in the
performance of the wiper blade.

 

Last I knew, Mobil makes the oil and ATF. Not sure about the rest.

dan

 

My Tripledge silicone rubber wipers are 15 years old and are as good
as new, meaning they don't wipe very well. But that's OK because I
live in sunny Phoenix

 

Where, IIRC, I10 has 30 ft high pillars with signs pointing to them
that say something like "flood escape route". You know, for the
biennial "Phoenix Creek becomes Phoenix River torrent".

 

I'm closer to I-17.

There are typically 30-40 days of rain here each year, but about 28 of
them are storm days, and we don't have anything close to the drainage
capacity that a place like Chicago does. The last big floods here
occurred in the 1980s, when 100-year floods occurred two years in a
row and wiped out all the bridges across the Salt River, except for
one in Tempe built in the 1930s as a New Deal make-work project.

 

So it would seem that since Honda does not make these items, there is
no true good reason to prefer Honda ATF or oil over another
manufacturer if produced to the same standards.

 

The problem is verifying that they are produced to the same standards.
By purchasing Honda oil, you are basically paying extra for Honda's quality
control. Is this worth it? I don't think it is any longer, since the
API folks do a pretty good job of things. But for more exotic fluids it
might well be.
--scott

 

Haha, are you talking about wiper blades or wiper blade refills? Replacing
the blade every six months is a waste of money.

 

They dont make oil, they specify it and it is nothing special or
better than what other cars use. Paying a dealer his markup is a
waste.

 

Scott, I don't believe that Honda or any other car manufacturer does
quality control testing on anything produced outside of their own
factories. It would be prohibitively expensive for Honda to generate
a spec on motor oil and then buy and package oil that would meet their
specs. They have a minimum API spec and any oil brand that meets
their minimum can bid on supplying them with oil. They buy the
cheapest that meets their specs. They don't even bottle it, the
supplier bottles it and brands it per the customer's wants.

My neighbor works for Johnson Controls building car batteries. They
don't sell anything under their own brand but their entire production
goes out under OEM or after-market branding. I don't know who they
currently brand for but at one time they produced OEM batteries for
Chrysler, Ford and Honda plus after market for Interstate, Sears and
Monkey Ward.

Jack

 

Sure they do.

They spec power steering fluid and auto trans fluid, and if you bypass
their stuff, you see problems.

Engine oil, probably not.

 

Scott, I don't believe that Honda or any other car manufacturer does

Honda motor oil is made by Mobil. Do you think it's the same as Mobil 5000
which meets the API spec?

 

It probably is. But I bet their limited slip differential lube isn't
the same as the off-the-shelf Mobil product, even if it's made by Mobil.

Oil is pretty generic, some other fluids aren't.
--scott

 

concur - i've tried all kinds of blades and the ones sold as oem honda
are by far the best i've used. both for initial quality and durability.

 

It depends on what specification the fluids are made to. If Honda
fluids are made to the same specification as those for other vehicles,
then it should not make a difference which brand is used.