[Quiet Lunatic]

While going through the car wash yesterday, those dangling cloth brushers snagged my rear wiper arm and literally broke it off close to the base of the arm where it's connected to the wiper motor. The black cap that covers the wiper arm nut was also dislodged and got lost.

It's not my first time through this car wash but these wiper arms are made of plastic and are very easy to break. They should have a put a wiper arm cover like they do in the Durango. This is what cost cutting does to consumers.

 

[warriorbob]

i have never and will never run any of my vehicles through a car wash with brushes or any cloth brushes that touch the vehicle

i know to many people that have had their cars or trucks damaged by going through a car wash

as much as possible i hand wash my car (have a heated garage)

but if for some reason i cant hand wash i go to a touchless car wash

black vehicles show scratches to easy and a touchless car wash is the only way to go

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

i have never and will never run any of my vehicles through a car wash with brushes or any cloth brushes that touch the vehicle

i know to many people that have had their cars or trucks damaged by going through a car wash

as much as possible i hand wash my car (have a heated garage)

but if for some reason i cant hand wash i go to a touchless car wash

black vehicles show scratches to easy and a touchless car wash is the only way to go

You're right! There should be a warning sticker...
BLACK VEHICLE HAND WASH ONLY

 

[NitroWill]

You're right! There should be a warning sticker...
BLACK VEHICLE HAND WASH ONLY

Wrong, Any nice vehicle you want to keep nice - hand wash only.

 

[danpfay99]

Will is right those things are not safe for any car or truck you care about.

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

Will is right those things are not safe for any car or truck you care about.

Are you saying that everybody who drives through a touch car wash doesn't care about their car? If they didn't care about their car, they wouldn't even wash it in the 1st place. I go for convenience. The touch car wash is 2 miles away and the touchless one is 15 miles away. I live in Michigan, where in the winter time, salt is poured all over the roads. I wash my car almost every other day because I hate seeing the salt grime on my brand new Nitro. I've driven my Durango, Pacifica, Liberty and Commander through that same car wash many, many times and not once did a rear wiper get broken. If you have heated garages and nearby touchless car washes, then I envy you guys.

 

[bch]

While going through the car wash yesterday, those dangling cloth brushers snagged my rear wiper arm and literally broke it off close to the base of the arm where it's connected to the wiper motor. The black cap that covers the wiper arm nut was also dislodged and got lost.

Ack! Sorry to hear about that. You don't happen to have pics, do you? Do you think that a piece of duct tape over the wiper would have prevented it, as the car washes around here like to do? I hope the repair isn't too expensive.

 

[cr8pc]

Sorry to hear of your problem dcxguy

I was surprised to discover when washing the Nitro that the rear window wiper was plastic. And not a hard plastic either. The wiper arm also doesn't leave much room to get your hand under it to clean the window. Hopefully they modify this for future models, my voyager has a metal wiper arm and i've been lucky a couple of times that it didn't break.

 

[nitroman577]

Are you saying that everybody who drives through a touch car wash doesn't care about their car? If they didn't care about their car, they wouldn't even wash it in the 1st place. I go for convenience. The touch car wash is 2 miles away and the touchless one is 15 miles away. I live in Michigan, where in the winter time, salt is poured all over the roads. I wash my car almost every other day because I hate seeing the salt grime on my brand new Nitro. I've driven my Durango, Pacifica, Liberty and Commander through that same car wash many, many times and not once did a rear wiper get broken. If you have heated garages and nearby touchless car washes, then I envy you guys.

where in Mi do you reside dcxguy

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

I reported my rear wiper incident and an engineer called me. He said their car wash tests did not result in any broken rear wiper incidents. He also said that they decided to go with the plastic arm for the Nitro. I was able to get the broken wiper arm from the car wash. It broke at a joint close to the base of the wiper arm. The engineer asked me for the wiper arm so they can study it. Luckily, my wiper arm will be replaced for free since I have an evaluation vehicle. BTW, my Liberty has a rear metal wiper arm.

 

[drvette]

First off I ALWAYS hand wash my vehicles. If the car gets really dirty in the winter when its cold it will either stay like that for a week or so or I will drive it to one of those touchless hand wash places.

Secondly, I agree dcxguy. Washed the Nitro couple days ago and examined the rear windshield wiper and all I can say is, very poor design. Why wouldn't they make it like the front windshield wipers where you could pull it off the window. I almost broke it off just trying to get a sponge in there to clean the back window!!!

Good like on the fix!!!

 

[BONJOE16]

The place where I go for car washes put tape over the wiper arm. Perhaps you can relay to your car wash and continue to use thier services with confidence. Joe from California