Valeo Silencio X.TRM Flat wiper blades- switch from right to left driver side vehicle

... or how to save few bucks on buying flat wiper blades for your car in Sweden...

Well, that was quite a surprise. I used to buy a pair of windshield wipers that cost 80 SEK for my old car (Volvo 460) and now all of a sudden I needed to pay at least 450 SEK for unknown brand or 650 SEK for BOSH that fits my new car (Renault, Clio III)... This was not something I was prepared for...

So, I spent quite some time to find a good alternative to buy something decent that still will not ruin my budget ... so... I found something that I should swallow somehow, since it was the cheapest reasonable blades I could possibly find to buy - Valeo Silencio X.TRM Flat from Wiper Blades Ltd (WB) for 320 SEK including international delivery. So far so good!




Just one problem!
WB says: "... ALL SPECIFIC FIT BLADES WE SELL ARE FOR UK RIGHT HAND DRIVE VEHICLES...".











Well I thought this will not be a problem, but I was wrong. On the back of the pack, it is quite well explained that is wrong to fit it on a vehicle with LEFT HAND DRIVE VEHICLE - which was the case.








I got them delivered and I was staring at them - what could I possibly do? I found the the solution in this YouTube video

The video is about how to replace the rubber, but most importantly - it shows how to disassemble the wipers.














So, if you are interested how to change the "drivers side" of your wipers - it should be obvious from the video - you only need to remove and refit, in the opposite direction, the frame holder (this is the middle section) of the wipers. No need to remove rubber or disassemble anything! And yes! It is really in the middle, so it will be just fine to flip the direction. Here are pictures of my "re-designed" wiper blades. To be honest, 69 SEK "profit" probably does not worth it /see below for the price offered by Mekonomen/, but I will still preffer this option instead of BOLK for 278 SEK.




Here are some references with retailers in Sweden that sell wipers (price - 20/01/2013):

http://wipers.se/
Bosch A116S - 549 SEK + free delivery
Valeo VM323 - 499 SEK + free delivery (these are the same I bought from WB. Interestingly enough this also suggests that these are the wrong side driver, since the correct is VM322)

http://www.mekonomen.se/
Bosch A116S - 614 SEK
Trico NF6014+NF4014 - 469 SEK
Valeo VM322 - 389 SEK

http://www.mister-auto.se/sv/ - it seems that the online shop have some negative reviews on the net ...
BOLK BOL-33977Z - 278 SEK (179SEK + 99 SEK for delivery)

Upplands Motor
Unknown brand (made in Hungary) - 450 SEK