Windshield Wiper Fluid and Recommendation

[fafrost]

Hello everybody here. Hoping that you are having a great weekend, just wondering, where the Tesla M3, shows when the windshield wiper fluid is empty AND taking this opportunity, any recommended fluid for this purpose?

Tysm for answering my above questions. You all have a great Sunday.

I use peek or rain X -30° to make sure there’s no possibility of freezing as I live in Ohio and travel in the Midwest. This has worked fine without any trouble.

 

[Occhis]

From owners manual

 

[gsl120]

I use the generic blue stuff and add one of these;

303® Instant Windshield Washer Tablets

Super-concentrated with 3 times the cleaning power of ordinary wash Each tablet makes 1 gallon of top quality cleaner Easy to use, simply add 1 tablet to 1 gallon of water or drop in reservoir of clean water Dissolves completely to remove bugs, road film, dirt, and grime Leaves windshiel

www.goldeagle.com

I was at TESLA Service yesterday, this is what they are using at TESLA Service.

 

[Gasaraki]

I was considering what washer fluid to buy. I previously had some blue O'Reilly washer fluid left and it worked fine, but I no longer have enough to top off completely after the car warned as low. Was going to just buy a bottle of whatever was at Home Depot, but it seems they only have the 32+F type and the Rain-X.

I previously used Rain-X (not the washer fluid, but the coating and glass cleaner). It was neat and worked well during driving (where the wind blows off the water beads), but with the car parked, it made fogging/visibility worse for my security cameras (regular Windex worked a whole lot better to prevent fogging), so I stopped using Rain-X and would avoid their washer fluid (from review above it seems it doesn't work quite as well as the blue anyways).

Looking at this thread, I think I'll just stick with O'Reilly. It's interesting Tesla uses tablets, but I don't really see what is the advantage of using them (I guess it takes up less storage space if you have a shop, but that's not really a concern for me given at most I will just have a bottle on hand).

You are missing out on not using the Rain-X orange stuff. I've used that stuff across multiple cars and I won't use anything else.

 

[afadeev]

I was at TESLA Service yesterday, this is what they are using at TESLA Service.

What a dealership service center uses may have nothing to do with what is best. Or best for you.
They could have gotten a good deal from one supplier, or may find tablet form-factor convenient for inventory management and storage.
Dealers prefer to use concentrate or tablet fluid products since they takes less space, and are easier to meter and dispense across a large fleet of vehicles that go through the service center. They also don't mind mixing in methanol to prevent freeze-up when temps drop below freezing (if that applies in your area).

There are a few independent sources that tested windshield fluids:

• TheDrive: The Best Windshield Washer Fluids: See Clearly, Now
• BestReviews: 10 Best Windshield Washer Fluids 2024 in the US | There's One Clear Winner | BestReviews.guide
• AutoBlog: The Best Windshield Washer Fluids of 2024 - Autoblog

Personally, I use whatever I bought last at a gas station, Walmart, or Autozone.
Right now, it's a couple of bottles of orange Rain-X fluid. Which works just fine. In the winter, it will be something with de-icing properties that not only doesn't freeze, but helps to melt ice off the windshield (down to -30F).

YMMV,
a

 

[M3DZ]

I was at TESLA Service yesterday, this is what they are using at TESLA Service.

This stuff used to leave a heavy film or stains all over the rubber trim of my 2016 VW GTI that needed scrubbing with a magic eraser to remove. It also started staining the piano black A pillar triangle on my 3, so I tossed it. Changed to Kristall Klar concentrate and diluted to more than the standard amount, which seems to work well enough for me in California.