[Mik]

I have not understood who is in charge of the feature sorting hat in these car companies.
Case in point: Late 2019 I was almost certain the Duster AWD was to be my next car. Strangely enough, the top end duster 2WD had rear wipers but the one which actually needed it the most, the Duster AWD had it missing (previous gen had it is what I was told). I asked the service engineers if it could be retrofit and explained in vain to the customer care why I needed someone technical to address my concern.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

[Way2Jimny]

The rear wiper is very useful and an absolute must. Especially during the monsoon, the hatch accumulates a lot of dust and mud, and it needs to be cleaned for rear visibility.
In the Jimny, rear wash and wipe is standard across all variants.

[HillMan]

Never bought a car without a rear defogger and wiper.
I have the habit to watch my back while driving. Even while reversing I am more inclined to look into the IRVM and ORVMs. Even with the rear view camera, I love to keep this skill going. So to me the rear wiper with defogger is a must on a rainy day.

This is good for small car and hatch back. When it comes to SUVs, not the sub 4 meter ones, a rear view camera with turning guidelines is a must to me. The IRVM in my XUV700 wont help with reversing, but needed to keep an eye on traffic

[the_joker]

Rear defogger and rear wash/wipe is a must have feature for me along with safety features. In fact, it is a safety feature for me. I feel half blind if the rear windscreen is blocked due to dirt/rain. I also don't allow any of my passengers to block the rear view mirror with stuff placed on the parcel shelf.

[swiftvxi06]

Rear wiper, washer, defogger & fog lamps should be made mandatory. These car makers gives them as standard feature in the same models which are exported to other countries, however they remove them from base & mid models once they sell them in India.

Nissan India for instance, till Jan 2024 used to give defogger, rear washer and wiper in even the base model of Magnite ie XE. However they have followed the Maruti way of cutting costs and therefore removed it from XE model (manual transmission). And now they have again started offering it in only EZ-Shift (AMT)option of base XE model.

[Suifuto]

Rear Wiper & Wash was one of the reasons why I chose Swift ZXi. In the initial days, Maruti was (and still is) providing only on ZXi variants. LXi used to have none, and VXi had only Rear Defogger. Nowadays, with the introduction of ZXi+ variants, both ZXi and ZXi+ and Delta, Alpha have this option.

In my ownership experience, while using the car in Mumbai monsoons, this helped me a lot wading through heavy rains. However, my rear washer motor used to conk off multiple times, and MS service couldn't figure out why it happened. They used to replace it every time, and within 2-3 months, it used to happen again. Nowadays, I am using Rear Defogger + Wiper when it rains, and clean my rear windscreen with water before starting a trip.

Base Variants should have Rear Defogger by default, and mid variants upwards should have Rear Wiper + Washer standard along with Defogger.

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Rear wash and wipe should be mandatory by law. It is a crucial bit of equipment from hatchback, crossovers and SUVs and it is shameful that manufacturers insist on treating it as a luxury feature. Hyundai in particular deserves to be named and shamed here.

Exactly. I have even seen many i20 Asta variants without Rear Wiper. I was surprised because Hyundai is known to provide Rear Wiper & Wash only on top variants.

[man_of_steel]

Have a question that always bugged me. Why is it that rear wiper is usually available only for hatchbacks and SUVs? Why are sedans not getting the rear wiper? IMHO rear glass of sedans retain more water due to less slope compared to hatches or SUVs. Always wondered this when I had the Fiesta.

[bmuser]

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

Have a question that always bugged me. Why is it that rear wiper is usually available only for hatchbacks and SUVs? Why are sedans not getting the rear wiper? IMHO rear glass of sedans retain more water due to less slope compared to hatches or SUVs. Always wondered this when I had the Fiesta.

There is a thread dedicated to this: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ot-sedans.html (Rear Wiper & Washer ? Why only on hatch backs and NOT on sedans?)

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by bmuser

Is rear wiper and washer is not as important?

Absolutely! Once you get used to it, there is no going back. You only start realizing the importance of rear wiper when you are doing long drives during monsoon. The way the dirt covers the rear glass, without the wiper, it is just impossible to drive after some time. And stopping every now and then to clean the glass is not practical either.

Check this image, this was after one such drive from Goa:



I understand that for majority of the owners, they hardly even use these rear wipers. I personally know people who have never used them even though they have owned the cars for over a decade.

Drive Safe,
R-Six

[Kar_Om]

Rear wash - wiper and defogger must be provided right from base variant of a car. Having rear wipers is as critical as having front wipers from safety point of view of driving as well as it helps immediate trailing cars to look through your car windshields during rainy season and hence should not be provided only with mid or top variants of a car.

[arunphilip]

I voted "Important - But ... I would not go for higher end model just for this feature."

Some years ago, I'd have chosen "Very Important - I would even opt for higher end model mainly for this feature.".

And the difference in my vote is thanks to the government enforcing the availability of other safety features like airbags and ABS. Previously, you could only get this full safety package (ABS, airbags, rear wiper) by going in for the top-end version.

Today, I wouldn't want to reward any manufacturer by going in for the top-end version only because of their idiotic feature segmentation.

Where I drive, the absence of a rear-wiper is a pain in the rear (pun intended), but not bad enough to be a safety concern. Hence my vote. I respect those who live in rain belts and their viewing this as an essential feature.

I'd be thrilled if the government could also treat this like the safety feature it is, such that it becomes mandatory on all variants. Let manufacturers segment their variants by features that aren't safety related (e.g. sunroof, ICE, powertrain).

[ALTIMAed]

Voted - VERY IMPORTANT

My MG Comet does not even have a rear defogger. The defogger type design that exists is the radio antenna. A big miss by MG.

It should be made mandatory by law, irrespective of the 'drier' or 'wetter' weather conditions. I just cannot do without a rear defogger. Wash n wipe is a sweetner!! Citing my peeves, i get pretty irritated if my front and rear windshield are dirty, hence my day starts with topping up the wiper wash tank every alternate day!! Just hate to use the wipers on a dry glass!!



Radio antenna on the rear windshield glass

[John P Daniel]

I've voted for very important simply because it enhances the rear view of the car during monsoons/dusty drives. We have a Altroz top variant and it gets rear defogger with wipe and wash. It's extremely useful during long drives when the rear glass becomes dusty. Monsoon is a different ball game where the wiper is quintessential.

My previous car(Hyundai Eon)did not have this feature and it was a pain to drive in the rain. Rear visibility was extremely limited and had to rely most on the ORVMs. In case of Altroz, one wipe and the visibility is restored.

[PrideRed]

For folks who stay/belong to a place where rainfall isn't much, this might not be mandatory. For others who experience torrential rain, this is a mandatory feature. I am not comfortable driving a hatchback without rear wiper in western ghat region during monsoon.

[abhii176]

Rear washer, wiper and defogger are absolute must haves when buying a hatchback or SUV. A sedan doesn't need them. I have never bought a car without these as I always buy the top end model. Once you have driven in the rains with the rear wiper, you will probably never go back to driving a car without one! It is absolutely essential!