Clearing snow and ice with your windscreen wipers could leave you with a £400 repair bill

DRIVERS risk damaging their windscreen wipers when trying to clear snow and ice this winter. And the innocent mistake could leave you with a repair bill of as much as £400. Car part specialists Halfords has warned drivers to properly remove ice before setting off, rather than relying on their windscreen wipers. Regardless of the […]

DRIVERS risk damaging their windscreen wipers when trying to clear snow and ice this winter.

And the innocent mistake could leave you with a repair bill of as much as £400.

Reuters

Car part specialists Halfords has warned drivers to properly remove ice before setting off, rather than relying on their windscreen wipers.

Regardless of the amount of snow or ice, the strain placed on the wipers can cause them to snap and may even cause damage to the windscreen.

Wiper blades can cost up to £40 depending on your car, while replacing a windscreen costs between £150 to £200.

Not only will you have to replace the wiper blades, the heavy strain can overload the wipers’ transmission.

PA:Press Association

Depending on your vehicle, wiper transmissions can cost up to £400 to be replaced.

Faye Doolittle, Halfords windscreen wiper expert, said: “Using your wipers to clean your windscreen of heavy layers of ice, snow or frost can sometimes cause tears in your wipers and if it is heavy can cause additional strain on the wiper transmission.

“Road salt can also scratch and dry out your wiper blades so we recommend wiping your blades whenever there’s grit on the roads, moistened with warm water to remove any salt or sand.

“Wiper blades aren’t too expensive to replace, but if the transmission is damaged this could cost more – in some cases up to £400.”

Using a car-specific scrapper to remove the frost can help reduce the wear and tear on your wiper blades, while soaking an old towel in a salt water solution and placing it on the windscreen can prevent ice building up.

If you’re caught driving with snow on your windscreen, you can be slapped with a £60 fine and three points on your licence.

And if your vehicle condition is classified as “dangerous”, you could be fined as much as £2,500 in court and even banned from driving.