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Old 18th June 2015, 16:41   #61
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Originally Posted by JohnyBoy View Post
Water may not stick to the window because of the design. And mud/dirt may not hit because of the boot. But when it rains isn't it needed just like the front wipers?
Yes it is needed and IMO mandatory for safety reasons too.

Cost cutting and redesigning of the boot is required in sedans plus protection to the motor from luggage being put and removed. I also feel there will be slight reduction in space
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Old 18th June 2015, 16:59   #62
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Re: Rear Wiper & Washer ? Why only on hatch backs and NOT on sedans?

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Originally Posted by Gannu_1 View Post
The LHD Octavia which was spotted testing here had a rear wiper which did not make it to the production versions though.
The Octavia is required to have the rear wiper in certain European markets by law because its got a boot that opens like that of a hatchback and is classified as such, i.e., 5 door hatchback. In India there is no such law and such it thus dropped from the list. The LHD model may have been from their Euro home market.

Same reason why the old Accent notchback in our market had a rear wiper one. It was an export model sold here.
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Old 21st November 2016, 17:12   #63
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Re: Rear Wiper & Washer ? Why only on hatch backs and NOT on sedans?

Recently bought a compact sedan (Aspire) and the thought of the missing rear wiper crossed my mind.
I agree that the airflow and turbulence play a role in not including a rear wiper/washer in a sedan. But how about the compact sedans in India? The boot isn't long enough to avoid mud being splashed to the rear windscreen. After all, most compact sedans don't have a sharply raked windscreen as that of a mid size sedan. The roof design is also almost similar to that of their hatchback siblings. So, there is no sloping roof either to push away the water droplets from the rear windscreen when the car is in motion.
Then what is the reason they don't incorporate rear wipers in compact sedans?
  • We simply can't say that it is because of cost cutting because the corresponding hatchback siblings, which are substantially cheaper than the compact sedans, have it (at least in the top end variants).
  • We cannot say that it will interfere with the boot opening mechanism. If the designers think, they can surely come up with a design where the rear wiper can be fitted in the rear windscreen itself (like swift, punto, polo, etc) rather than placing it on the metal area.
  • We cannot say it will increase the cost of the vehicle since the design needs to be changed to accommodate the rear wiper in a compact sedan. Many compact sedan models have the rear end of the hatchback starting from the C pillar redesigned to accommodate a boot. If some money and time is invested in making this design change, how much would it take to include a simple wiper/washer?
It makes me think that the designers are either so dumb or so lethargic.
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Old 22nd November 2016, 09:46   #64
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Re: Rear Wiper & Washer ? Why only on hatch backs and NOT on sedans?

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Originally Posted by samcan123 View Post
It makes me think that the designers are either so dumb or so lethargic.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that designs of cars are increasingly, becoming impractical and less convenient as the time passes.

According to me, rear wiper and wash facility is a very useful feature in cars. Lets ignore sedans for a second given that as you've stated, they have sloping rear glass and the manufacturers don't put them in for "aerodynamic" reasons, but surely all hatchbacks and compact sedans can have them, its one of the little pleasures in life to see a rear-wiper working during rains so that we can see a bit more than lights "broken up into pieces" by the several droplets of water deflecting the real picture. I'd go so far as to call it a useful safety feature during monsoons.

But no, companies are too busy reducing the size of glass area for aesthetic reasons, putting alloy wheels, touch-screen etc and cutting out rear-wash-wipe. Next we'd all be seated in partial metal boxes (because glass and mechanisms for power windows are heavier than standard sheet metal) and forced to see the outside word partly through cameras and sensors.

Designers are neither dumb, nor lethargic, they appeal to the finance managers of the company and package stuff so as to give the marketing department leverage. They bridge the absolute gap between costs and quality essentially.
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Old 22nd November 2016, 13:25   #65
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Re: Rear Wiper & Washer ? Why only on hatch backs and NOT on sedans?

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Originally Posted by dark.knight View Post
Designers are neither dumb, nor lethargic, they appeal to the finance managers of the company and package stuff so as to give the marketing department leverage. They bridge the absolute gap between costs and quality essentially.
When I happened to speak to the General Manager of the Ford dealership where I bought my Aspire, he recommended me to install the rear parking sensor as an accessory. The reason he cited was that Aspire is a sedan and it will be difficult to reverse/park . I think this mentality of considering a CS as a sedan is predominant among car buyers. Maybe the manufacturers ride on this wave of treating a CS as a sedan and hence purposely miss out rear wiper/washer .
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