LHD Wipers Fitted to RHD Car

Faults and Technical chat for the Volkswagen ID.3
rikimaru
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Post by rikimaru »

Not sure how wipers work but say VW did want to do something about it, how would they fix this?
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Big277wave
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Post by Big277wave »

It's probably unlikely to be fixed on existing cars, but could be redesigned to reverse the motor/ gearing and moulding for the wipers for Right hand drive cars. Really it should have been done in the early design stage then they could ensure that there is enough space allocated and mounting points etc are provided for both configurations.
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Post by G43FAN »

Doesn't look like they have done it on the Born even though they moved the Light Switch panel. I suspect given the amount of retooling it would require on the production line that is an update for a long way ahead in the future, if at all. As I said prevuiosly MB and BMW have cars where it hasn't been reversed for the UK market and if the cars are getting approval for sale in UK why would they bother, I think it's something we'll see more of.
ItshardtobuyId3
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Post by ItshardtobuyId3 »

If anyone finds out a way of reporting this somewhere that will have any sort of impact I’ll join in. They are seriously dangerous and if they have been accepted in a test somewhere the test is wrong.

I was driving down the M5 in a storm yesterday night and could hardly see a thing in my direct line of sight because of all the water being splashed directly into it by the wipers going the wrong direction. I could only see where I was going by leaning into the middle of the car or near the door.

If there was a stone chip in that region of the windscreen it would fail an MOT. Last night it was like that region had been hit by a shotgun!!! It looks to me like the pivot points of the wipers are in the same place so it isn’t impossible to fix with existing cars. Reverse the wiper design and which motor is activated first. Even if it isn’t possible then at least VW can be forced to stop the Frenchification of there cars and trying to save money by not properly implementing RHD.
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ItshardtobuyId3
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Post by ItshardtobuyId3 »

G43FAN wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 7:59 am
Philapousis wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 12:15 pm If it been approved then it must be safe!! Why aren't they taking us seriously!!!
They have taken it seriously, they have replied which means they took time over your enquiry.
The wipers have been approved for use in the UK, if your not happy with that then you should be approaching the Vehicle certification agency not VW. I've never understood people's issue with it, both sides of the screen are swept,

I believe a number of other marques do the same and have for a few years certainly BMW and MB, albeit they are also German.
I’ve sent them this message:

Hello,

I would like to report a serious safety flaw in the ID.3 that only affects RHD models that are sold in countries like the U.K. and Ireland.

It would appear that in an effort to save money, the wipers on all ID.3 models work in the same direction. Under most rain conditions this is unpleasant with RHD drive cars as the wipers draw a line into the drivers line of sight. However, under certain circumstances it extremely dangerous. If there is heavy rain the wipers throw water directly into the line of sight of the driver. The only way to see where you are going is to lean into the middle or out side of the car.

If there was a stone chip in that zone on any car in the U.K. then that car would fail an MOT. Last night in a storm it was more like that zone had been hit by a shotgun!!

I hope you will be able to fix this issue as soon as possible?

If you do not consider this a serious safety issue then please direct me to appropriate regulatory contact in the U.K. that considered this safe. Then I can alert them to the danger directly.
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sidehaas
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Post by sidehaas »

I think the regulator for type approvals in the UK is the vehicle certification agency.
enquiries@vca.gov.uk

https://www.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/

There is a complaints link. It may be worth seeing if they have published anything relevant on their website, for example they may publish guidance on what is expected in terms of windscreen wipers. If there is nothing in of interest already published, you could try FOIing documents related to their approval of the ID3, or their guidance on windscreen wipers. If doing an FOI request you need to be specific about what you want to see. Might be of interest but I doubt it would lead to anything.

Have to say it hasn't really bothered me so far, but I probably haven't driven in a real deluge yet.
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ItshardtobuyId3
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Post by ItshardtobuyId3 »

sidehaas wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 8:58 pm I think the regulator for type approvals in the UK is the vehicle certification agency.
enquiries@vca.gov.uk

https://www.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/

There is a complaints link. It may be worth seeing if they have published anything relevant on their website, for example they may publish guidance on what is expected in terms of windscreen wipers. If there is nothing in of interest already published, you could try FOIing documents related to their approval of the ID3, or their guidance on windscreen wipers. If doing an FOI request you need to be specific about what you want to see. Might be of interest but I doubt it would lead to anything.

Have to say it hasn't really bothered me so far, but I probably haven't driven in a real deluge yet.
Thanks, I’ll see what they say first. At night when it’s raining heavily it really is dangerous. The main part of the windscreen in-front of you might as well be a frosted window.
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monkeyhanger
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Post by monkeyhanger »

I suppose it's difficult to differentiate between visibility on the ID3 and a car with RHD optimised wiper linkage during a storm with a deluge of rain water - in that weather, its going to ge hard to see much either way, with the RHS optimised wipers likely only marginally better. Worst rain I was ever in was "Thunder Thursday" in Newcastle in 2012, where 6" of rain fell in 2 hours, couldn't see a thing, had to get off the road and wait it out. Wipers aren't meant to deal with rainfall like that.
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Post by G43FAN »

monkeyhanger wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 5:39 am I suppose it's difficult to differentiate between visibility on the ID3 and a car with RHD optimised wiper linkage during a storm with a deluge of rain water - in that weather, its going to ge hard to see much either way, with the RHS optimised wipers likely only marginally better. Worst rain I was ever in was "Thunder Thursday" in Newcastle in 2012, where 6" of rain fell in 2 hours, couldn't see a thing, had to get off the road and wait it out. Wipers aren't meant to deal with rainfall like that.
Maybe I am willfully interpretting your reply as a more polite version of "Drive to the conditions, if it's raining that hard slow down, the issue is not your windscreen wipers".

Summer thunderstorms in the Black Forest.. Wow that rain is something else, I was on the '5' Autobahn just South of Baden-Baden one year and we were doing 15mph it was like a hosepipe was aimed at the screen, then the following year dropping down into the town we stay in we ended up pulling into a farm entrance as it was just too ridiculous to continue driving, we were quickly joined by two motorcyclists trying to find cover.
the.kes
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Post by the.kes »

Rainex?
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Jamie1c
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Post by Jamie1c »

Reading this thread is concerning. As someone who lives in central Scotland we get rain 500 days of the year 😁. It doesn't make good reading at all.
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MotMot
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Post by MotMot »

It’s not as good as it could be - but I’ve not had any problems in 11 months of ownership and 15k miles.

I’d prefer they were the other way around - but For me they’ve been fine. (live in Manchester - commute across Pennines - see some sh*te weather etc…)
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Post by Scratch »

Why would they bother taking any notice after Brexit? They can sell all they can make to mainland Europe.
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Post by Jamie1c »

MotMot wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 8:42 am It’s not as good as it could be - but I’ve not had any problems in 11 months of ownership and 15k miles.

I’d prefer they were the other way around - but For me they’ve been fine. (live in Manchester - commute across Pennines - see some sh*te weather etc…)
I have family in Bolton and been through the Pennines countless times passing through, it always seems to be raining there in my experience.
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Post by Deleted User 1733 »

I really don't know what people think having the OS wiper raise first is going to achieve,

When the wipers go up there is water left during excessive rain on the left hand side of the screen, so flip them to your so called " RHD " setup you will just have the apparent problem flipped to being there on the upward motion of the wipe sequence.

id.3 wipe up .jpg

For comparison here is an ID.4 with LHD tradition wipe * they have less height in the screen so don't require the butterfly style wipe system * all the water from the passenger side is shoved right across the drivers view in heavy rain.

id.4 wipe up 2.jpg

ItshardtobuyId3
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Post by ItshardtobuyId3 »

Big_GT wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 9:09 am I really don't know what people think having the OS wiper raise first is going to achieve,

When the wipers go up there is water left during excessive rain on the left hand side of the screen, so flip them to your so called " RHD " setup you will just have the apparent problem flipped to being there on the upward motion of the wipe sequence.
id.3 wipe up .jpg

For comparison here is an ID.4 with LHD tradition wipe * they have less height in the screen so don't require the butterfly style wipe system * all the water from the passenger side is shoved right across the drivers view in heavy rain. id.4 wipe up 2.jpg
I’ve never had a car where this is an issue before and I’ve have driven many other cars. When the wiper goes up normally it pushes it up in front of you and off to the side then down and away from you. I’ve never had, until now, a car were water simultaneously get water thrown in from the wiper on the other side as the wiper your side is clearing the screen.

I like the car but I’m not going to pretend something about it isn’t crap when it is. I find not being able to see out the window properly dangerous. Go anything but dangerously slow wouldn’t have solved the problem and instead had to put my head over to the middle of the car were water wasn’t being splashed.

It’s also find it irritating in normal rain conditions having a line of water drawn and splashes thrown into my line of sight.

Edit: just been out and it’s was raining so thought I’d look at what the passenger would get. It’s basically un-fixable, the left side get water splashed in on the up stroke and the right side on the down stoke. I can see now why that wiper layout isn’t very common. It’s crap! Oh well :roll:
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gailjon
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Post by gailjon »

They are the worst wipers we have had on any car. There is no two ways about this. Just getting into my Sorento in the rain shows up the silly design of the ID3's wipers. Normally I don't even think about wipers - they just work. On the ID3 I am constantly annoyed by the water thrown across the driver's side of the screen.
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N21
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Post by N21 »

Are there videos of the wipers in use anywhere?
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Post by Newfie »

Thiss shows them in action

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Post by ItshardtobuyId3 »

Newfie wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 8:07 pm Thiss shows them in action

Clearly he was driving too fast. If he was going slower or backwards then there wouldn’t be an issue! :roll:
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