EX35 wiper blade refills discontinued.

Discussion of Infiniti's amazing (and underrated) sport-luxury crossovers, the EX35 and EX37. For 2014, the EX series will be renamed QX50, in line with Ininfiit's new naming conventions.
madkiwi
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So I went to buy new wiper refills for my 2012 EX35 before snow really starts messing with me.

I placed an order with infinitipartsdeal.com for 1 passenger side refill- 28895-JK65A and 1 driver side refill 28895-CD55B. I got an email the next day telling me that 28895-CD55B is discontinued. So I cancelled the order, used my VIN to dial in the correct part numbers and placed another order- passenger side 28895-JK67A, driver side 28895-3EV5A. Sure enough, I got another email saying 28895-3EV5A was replaced by 28895-CD55B but it has been discontinued.

Infinitipartsdeal.com is useless for parts help.

Nearest Infiniti dealer is 600 miles away, so I went to the local Nissan dealer. Parts guy told me that Nissan has been moving away from refill assemblies, and moving to modular one piece wipers- no more refills. He was unable to find anything in his system for me.

Am I SOL? Do I have to go aftermarket or Nissan whole blade assembly?


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Rogue One
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madkiwi wrote:
Mon Nov 19, 2018 10:19 pm

Am I SOL? Do I have to go aftermarket or Nissan whole blade assembly?
The wiper blade manufacturers moved away from providing refills ages ago. They make less money selling the refill, so they've pretty much been phased out. I'm pretty sure your wiper assembly is available through any automotive parts store.

madkiwi
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:20 pm
Car: 1993 300zx TT Cherry Red Pearl!

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I called an Infiniti dealer, they allegedly have them for $17.87 and $17.44, plus $12.48 shipping. $48 for 2 pieces of rubber.

Costco is selling Michelin wipers so I look up on the Michelin website, tells me they don't have a wiper to fit the EX35. Tried phoning them, they have a special adapter (the car's wiper arm is a side mount) they are sending me free of charge. So I can buy the $8.99 blades at Costco, but wait for the adapter before I can install them.

What a waste of time this experience has been.

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NJGuy
Posts: 557
Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 10:05 am
Car: 2008 Infiniti EX35 Journey AWD

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Rogue One wrote:
Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:44 am
The wiper blade manufacturers moved away from providing refills ages ago. They make less money selling the refill, so they've pretty much been phased out. I'm pretty sure your wiper assembly is available through any automotive parts store.
The issue (not huge, but somewhat annoying) is that pretty much all aftermarket wiper blades, at least from what I've found, put their J-hook mounts on top of the wiper. Infiniti I believe puts theirs to the side of the wiper. Again, not a huge deal, but I think it does make a difference. It might affect performance a bit, but I think makes things look awkward with the wiper arms sticking out.

When I first got my EX35, it had a set of aftermarket wiper blades installed on it. So every time I needed to change them, I just ended up replacing them with aftermarket again. They all wiped ok, but not great.

One time the dealership was offering free wiper blades if you spent a certain amount on service. Since I was already paying out of pocket for a repair and the cost was above the threshold, I took advantage of the offer. And of course, the OEM blades cleaned the windshield noticeably better than the aftermarket ones. They definitely looked better too.

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NJGuy
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Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 10:05 am
Car: 2008 Infiniti EX35 Journey AWD

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madkiwi wrote:
Tue Nov 20, 2018 11:20 am
I called an Infiniti dealer, they allegedly have them for $17.87 and $17.44, plus $12.48 shipping. $48 for 2 pieces of rubber.

Costco is selling Michelin wipers so I look up on the Michelin website, tells me they don't have a wiper to fit the EX35. Tried phoning them, they have a special adapter (the car's wiper arm is a side mount) they are sending me free of charge. So I can buy the $8.99 blades at Costco, but wait for the adapter before I can install them.

What a waste of time this experience has been.
There are a few aftermarket blade refills available. However, I've only seen them in the 24 inch size. I haven't seen any in the 17 inch size though, which still makes it an issue.

Yeah, I have noticed that Infiniti parts prices (at least on the EX, not sure about the other models) can be quite high sometimes. I don't really know how most other upscale brands compare, but I know that Acura's pricing for consumable items like this is usually less. While their vehicles in recent history haven't been as interesting as Infiniti's, I think they're a tad better when it comes to items like this. It isn't hard at all to find a set of wiper blade rubber inserts for a 7 year old Acura.

I understand something simple like this has ended up being frustrating for you; but I'm interested in hearing how the Michelin wipers and adapters end up working out for you. If you don't mind please post a follow-up after you've had some time with them.


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