NHTSA Complaint #10721832 — 2007 NISSAN MAXIMA

TO NTSB: I PURCHASED AND INSTALLED REPLACEMENT WIPER BLADES FOR THIS VEHICLE, THEY WERE INSTALLED PER THE ENCLOSED INSTRUCTIONS... ONCE THE WIPERS WERE USED DURING A RECENT RAIN EVENT, IT WAS EVIDENT THAT A PROBLEM WITH THE NEW WIPER BLADES WAS OCCURRING. I HAD THE WIPERS INSPECTED BY THE AUTO PARTS STORE SALES PERSON AND HE CONFIRMED MY FINDINGS... THERE WAS A DESIGN PROBLEM WITH THE WIPER BLADE ASSEMBLY, A 1/2" OFFSET IN THE MOUNTING THAT CAUSE THE WIPER BLADE ON THE DRIVER SIDE TO STRIKE THE WINDSHIELD TRIM WITH FULL FORCE, ACTUALLY BENDING THE METAL TRIM, SO ANOTHER SET OF WIPER BLADES WERE NEEDED, DUE TO THE INTERFERENCE ISSUES. HERE IS MOST OF MY LETTER TO TRICO, PLEASE READ... TO TRICO PRODUCTS: I WANT TO EXPRESS MY CONCERNS OVER THE TRICO SENTRY REPLACEMENT WIPER BLADES THAT I PURCHASED AT MY LOCAL O'REILLY AUTO PARTS STORE LAST YEAR. THE SPECIFIED PART NUMBER FOR THE DRIVERS SIDE OF MY GIRLFRIENDS 2007 NISSAN MAXIMA ( #32-260 ) DID NOT PERFORM AS IT SHOULD... THE PASSENGER SIDE WAS NOT AN ISSUE, HERE IS THE ISSUE: WHEN THE WIPERS WERE RUNNING, THE DRIVER SIDE WIPER WAS HITTING THE WIDOW POST, AND THERE WAS A VERY LOUD BANGING NOISE THAT WAS SO LOUD THAT WAS JUST CRAZY! THIS NOISE WAS ONLY HEARD ONCE THE WIPERS WERE RUNNING... AND OF COURSE WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MAJOR DROUGHT, BECAUSE IT HASN'T RAINED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN LIKE FOREVER... THE TRICO SENTRY WIPER ON THE DRIVERS SIDE ACTUALLY PUT SCRATCHES AND DENTS ON THE WINDOW TRIM. THIS PROBLEM / ISSUE HAPPENS BECAUSE OF A .500 INCH OFFSET IN THE WIPER BLADE MOUNTING... THIS 1/2" OFFSET, IS WHAT I WOULD CALL A DESIGN FLAW IN THIS CASE. IT'S ALL ABOUT SAFETY ! AND THIS PROBLEM MAY / WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO A WIPER FAILURE... REGARDS [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'*JB