Wipers and Visibility: The Five-Minute Check Before the Rains

The first heavy rain of the season always reveals the same things: wipers that smear, an empty washer bottle, and a windscreen whose fine scratches only appear at night in the wet. By then it is too late to do anything about it.

This check takes five minutes and belongs before the season.

Why blades die in the sun, not the rain

Blades older than you think

56% of the vehicles for sale on MotoNaMarket are in Douala, the wettest city in the country, and the median car is a 2014. On a vehicle that age the original blades were replaced long ago — often with the cheapest available, fitted one rainy season too early. Run the check below before the first heavy rains, not during them.

Figures taken on 26 August 2026 from 347 active MotoNaMarket listings.

This is the point almost nobody anticipates. A wiper blade is a rubber strip. Through the dry months it sits motionless on a windscreen that gets extremely hot, exposed to UV and dust. The rubber hardens, cracks and loses its flexibility — without having been used once.

The result: "almost new" blades that smear at the first shower. In our climate, a blade's useful life is measured in months of sun, not hours of rain.

The five-minute check

1. Run a finger along the blade. It should be supple and smooth. Hard, cracked or torn means replace.
2. Test with water, never dry — wiping dry scratches the glass and destroys the blade. A smear, a squeal or juddering means the blade is finished.
3. Check the washer fluid level and that the jets spray properly, in the right place. A blocked jet clears with a fine needle.
4. Inspect the windscreen at an angle, in raking light: fine scratches and hazing are invisible head-on but dazzle at night in the rain. See also repairing or replacing a cracked windscreen.
5. Test the demister front and rear, and the air conditioning: it is the AC that dries the air and genuinely clears the screen. If yours is fading, read diagnosing AC without replacing the compressor.

What makes them last

• Never wipe dry. It is the leading cause of scratches and ruined blades.
• Clean the blade with a damp cloth occasionally: accumulated dust acts like sandpaper.
• Lift the blades or slide card underneath if the car stands in full sun for long periods.
• Clean the inside of the windscreen too: the greasy film that builds up there is what causes night-time dazzle.
• Replace in pairs: two blades of the same age age together.

What poor visibility really costs

On wet roads, braking distances lengthen and reaction time becomes the decisive factor. A smear across your field of vision, at night, facing headlights — that is exactly the situation in which a pedestrian or an unlit two-wheeler goes unseen. Blades are the cheapest safety equipment on a car; compare references on the auto parts marketplace.

The rainy season also loads the rest of the vehicle: tyres, braking and suspension. See our guide to suspension care, and have everything checked before the season — find a mechanic.

When buying used

Test the wipers with water during the test drive, switch on the demister, and look at the windscreen at an angle. These are inexpensive details, but their condition tells you about the vehicle's general upkeep: an owner who let the blades die probably neglected the rest. Add these to the 12-point checklist, price it with the price estimator and browse cars for sale.

Visibility is among the safety requirements covered by international vehicle safety programmes.