Windscreen wipers

[Rolfe]

I haven't seen any discussion about the lack of a rear wiper in the MG4. I was out in some heavy showers this afternoon and found myself repeatedly reaching for something that wasn't there. There were raindrops on the rear windscreen but having said that I could still see out. How are people who have had the car through the winter finding this? Is it causing problems?

I was also a bit disappointed to find there was no automatic setting on the front wipers. The cars I've had for the past 25 years have had wipers that come on and go off on their own in response to how wet the windscreen is - within limits. I'm not sure whether this is any more of an issue beyond getting used to doing it all myself again, but I was surprised to find that it wasn't a standard thing in 2023.

 

[Alb]

Most owners report this isn't a big issue.

 

[Rolfe]

That was the impression I was getting. Reviewers who had the car for a short test period tended to say "WUT???" but people who had lived with the car for longer periods didn't even mention it.

The rear wiper on my Golf squeaked something rotten. It annoyed even me, and I had a rear-seat passenger with a baby who asked me to turn it off on an extremely wet day, which was problematic. But I remember when cars didn't have these things at all. (My father had a Ford Anglia with a rear windscreen that sloped the other way, and didn't even get wet!) If the car does OK without it, maybe it's better that way.

 

[tsedge]

Not been a problem at all for me. The dirt doesn't get up there at all and the rain quickly dries at speed. You can always apply a product to get the rain to bead off, although the fact that I haven't bothered tells me it isn't really needed.

The front wipers do automatically adjust with speed, sweeping faster as you go faster. There is no rain sensor, but then I have yet to find a car with a rain sensor that gets it just right, usually they go too fast or slow.

 

[Rolfe]

Getting the rain beads off. I wondered about that. What product?

 

[tsedge]

RainX is the classic example but there are many out there.

 

[Rolfe]

Thanks.

 

[AndyL61]

I hated the rain sensing wipers on my last car. They either didn't start when I thought they should or they went at full speed when they didn't need to (I don't like wipers going fast, I find it distracting). And I don't think the MG4 needs a rear wiper as the window is shielded by the light bar / spoiler and does not get dirty. So no I don't miss rain sensing wipers or not having a rear wiper.

 

[jerrylooney]

I bought glaco product as I had concerns about this. detailers apply this as a 1-level up to rain-x.

Ultra Glaco, liquid wiper, 70 ml

Absolute number 1 among hydrophobic coatings for glass and a must-have for every car owner! Ultra Glaco surprises with the simplicity of application and durability of up to 12 months. Get Ultra Glaco and ensure your driving safety all year round! As the most durable invisible wiper in the Glaco...

soft99store.co.uk

 

[Eber]

I hated the rain sensing wipers on my last car.

Yes. Very VERY few work well. I do prefer to set my own interval like in the MG4. Most systems with a rain sensor don't allow you to do this.

 

[Rolfe]

I didn't know you could set the interval. Where is that located?

I got used to the sensors in my Peugeot and then my Golf although I admit they did go a bit banjax now and again - especially if there was ice on the windscreen. It's probably just a question of getting used to remembering to switch them on and not sitting there like a lemon waiting for them to do it themselves!

At least the controls are the right way up. In the Renault I had as a courtesy car, you had to push the stalk DOWN to turn them on and get higher speeds.

Oh, and thanks for the tips about the products.

 

[tsedge]

I didn't know you could set the interval. Where is that located?

I got used to the sensors in my Peugeot and then my Golf although I admit they did go a bit banjax now and again - especially if there was ice on the windscreen. It's probably just a question of getting used to remembering to switch them on and not sitting there like a lemon waiting for them to do it themselves!

At least the controls are the right way up. In the Renault I had as a courtesy car, you had to push the stalk DOWN to turn them on and get higher speeds.

Oh, and thanks for the tips about the products.

On the wiper stalk, at the intermittent setting there's an inner selector switch to set the speed

 

[Rolfe]

Thank you so much! This is my first full day with the car so I'm still learning. Vastly aided by Sloucher's excellent hard-copy manuals I have to say.

 

[Bacarelle]

Hi All;

Sorry if this has already been asked.
However, thanks to the local poor road conditions in North Yorkshire, I have today been the not-so-grateful recipient of a chipped windscreen which already shows sign of cracking !
I recall somewhere that when doing anything to the windscreen area you have to be careful that the wipers are properly parked or else there is a danger of damaging the bonnet nearest the windscreen.
Anyone any advice ?

 

[siteguru]

Read the Tips thread - this is covered in there (as in there is a link to a thread about this topic from there.

 

[turntoport]

i too was bemused by the lack of rear wiper, but 4000 winter miles later, fair cop, it doesn't need one.
Auto wipeys would be nice, but i previously often found they would come on when i didn't want them to, or not when i did.

 

[Bacarelle]

Thanks Siteguru.
Sorry to be dense but how do I navigate to the "Tips thread" ?

 

[AndyL61]

Thanks Siteguru.
Sorry to be dense but how do I navigate to the "Tips thread" ?

"Got a question etc" first thread on the list in MG4 section.

 

[Buster72]

Not been a problem at all for me. The dirt doesn't get up there at all and the rain quickly dries at speed. You can always apply a product to get the rain to bead off, although the fact that I haven't bothered tells me it isn't really needed.

The front wipers do automatically adjust with speed, sweeping faster as you go faster. There is no rain sensor, but then I have yet to find a car with a rain sensor that gets it just right, usually they go too fast or slow.

Spot on.
The front wipers are perfectly ok. And as you have said the rear window doesn't get dirty due to the design of the rear of the boot lid.

 

[jasonh]

Once you get used to not having auto wipers its probably more simple than keep having to adjust the auto wipers I have had in numerous cars.

I do have an issue in the pressure of the wash wipe though, mine is a really poor dribble . I cannot seem to adjust to a better position on the screen, this just gets affected when the car is moving.

This together with the smear the wipers givein the field of view is not good, the wipers have been changed once at the dealers.
In my opinion this would be an MOT failure.