Is anybody happy with Rain Sensing?

dick w

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2015
Threads
11
Messages
1,985
Reaction score
877
Location
Kapaʻa, HI
Vehicle(s)
'16 Civic Sedan Touring, '18 CR-V Touring AWD
Country flag
We bought a '16 Touring, in part, because of prior good ('99 BMW 135i) and fair ('12 Ford Focus Ti HB) experience with this feature on other cars. And we live somewhere that can be rainy. So it seemed like a good idea.

When we first got our Civic, the rain sensing wipers couldn't sense a downpour. After I took it in with my own squirt bottle filled with water and sprayed the windshield over the sensor and nothing happened, the dealer replaced the silicone bonding sheet between the sensor and the glass. Now they sense rain. But they still work like crap, no matter the sensitivity setting--which I usually keep at its minimum setting. They will always sense when rain starts but seem incapable of sensing when it slows to very light or changes in quantity/obscuration. Sometimes they even seem incapable of sensing when it stops--maybe it would eventually turn them off but I get tired of it wiping a more or less dry windshield and turn them off and start using Mist myself. I've also watched the rain slow to what I'd use traditional Honda Intermittent wipers in one of the lowest frequency settings--and all of a sudden the Civic "rain sensing" wipers go to full-on or highest speed. VERY annoying. The biggest problem is that these behaviors are not readily repeatable for the dealer.

Is anybody happy with 10th Gen Civic Rain Sensing wipers? Has anybody gotten any satisfaction complaining to the dealer? Are there any software TSBs? Do they work better on '17s or '18s than '16s?
Sponsored

 

canalrun

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2016
Threads
9
Messages
64
Reaction score
22
Location
NY
Vehicle(s)
2017 Civic Sedan Touring
Country flag
I have a 2017 sedan touring. While the wipers are far from perfect, I'm generally happy with them.

Mine usually sense the start of rain and sense when rain stops, but they sometimes burst into ape-crazy-full speed mode for no apparent reason.

I turn them off and back on – annoying, but the positive outweighs the negative.
 

iDerek2

Senior Member
First Name
Derek
Joined
May 11, 2016
Threads
17
Messages
211
Reaction score
64
Location
New York, NY
Vehicle(s)
2019 Civic Type R
Vehicle Showcase
2
Country flag
Mine barely works.. 2017 Sport Touring and there's absolutely no response what so ever
 

JasonHaskell

Member
First Name
Jason
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Threads
0
Messages
7
Reaction score
4
Location
Salem, OR
Vehicle(s)
2017 Civic Hatch Sport Touring
Mine do a good job sensing the start of rain and then it seems when the rain stops the wipers keep going. I think they are sensing the streaks of water left when there is barely any liquid on the windshield and interpreting that as a fully obscured window.
 

turbo lover

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2016
Threads
17
Messages
645
Reaction score
348
Location
Canada
Vehicle(s)
Civic Hatchback Sport Touring
Country flag
Same here. They work normally for a while, then eventually just go full speed even if the rain is almost stopped. I'd rather go back to plain intermittent wipers.

If anyone is bored enough to watch a two minute video of my wipers. They work fine for the first minute, then go with no delay even though the rain is almost stopped.
 


mzubb

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2017
Threads
7
Messages
51
Reaction score
42
Location
Minnesota
Vehicle(s)
2017 Honda Civic Si, 2019 Honda Pilot, 2006 Acura MDX, 2007 Toyota Camry
Country flag
I don't have it on my Civic, but I have it on my 2006 Acura MDX. I have to fiddle with it more than just regular intermittent wipers. It sounds like it hasn't improved in 11 years.
 

bembol

SHIFT_
First Name
Rafael
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Threads
61
Messages
1,303
Reaction score
670
Location
GTA
Vehicle(s)
17 FK7 Sport Touring, 20 Audi Q3 Progressiv
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
Not hating on the feature but generally hate using the wipers. At least I try not to, I let Rain-X/Wax combo do the job.

Even when I'm sitting at a light and I see other cars have them on full speed, it just seems more detracting. LOL
 

BobM_Jr

Senior Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Threads
4
Messages
109
Reaction score
74
Location
Raleigh, NC
Vehicle(s)
2016 Civic EX-T
Country flag
Agreed, I hate using the wipers. Rain-X is the best. Been using that stuff for thirty years.

Not hating on the feature but generally hate using the wipers. At least I try not to, I let Rain-X/Wax combo do the job.

Even when I'm sitting at a light and I see other cars have them on full speed, it just seems more detracting. LOL
 

Rayve

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2016
Threads
6
Messages
85
Reaction score
45
Location
Australia
Vehicle(s)
2016 white Civic VTI-LX (Touring equivalent)
Country flag
I find my rain-sensing works quite well. The only time I manually adjust the wipers is after a vehicle sprays water up from the road onto the windscreen unevenly. I do use rainx as well.
 

Billy4202

Banned
Banned
First Name
Will
Joined
Dec 19, 2015
Threads
22
Messages
3,137
Reaction score
2,652
Location
Winchester, VA
Vehicle(s)
'16 BNP Touring, '07 Mercury Milan
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
Majority of the time they work well.

They were more bonkers near the beginning of onwership. Almost feels like they've "learned" over time.
 


TheCodifier

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
Threads
1
Messages
104
Reaction score
61
Location
Quebec, Canada
Vehicle(s)
2017 Civic Touring Sedan
Country flag
Majority of the time they work well.

They were more bonkers near the beginning of onwership. Almost feels like they've "learned" over time.
Exactly this. I bought mine in Spring. Sometimes, they went in high speed mode also.

But now 5 months later, they work great.
 

dannyo67

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
Threads
5
Messages
65
Reaction score
36
Location
MA
Vehicle(s)
08 Civic LX 5MT
Honest question.. why would anyone even want this feature?

turn on my wiper blades for me when it rains? I would disable this if my car had it.
 

Rayve

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2016
Threads
6
Messages
85
Reaction score
45
Location
Australia
Vehicle(s)
2016 white Civic VTI-LX (Touring equivalent)
Country flag
Honest question.. why would anyone even want this feature?

turn on my wiper blades for me when it rains? I would disable this if my car had it.
Why? I'm sure people said the same thing about windscreen wipers themselves back in the early 20th century- 'Just give me a rag to clean the glass'! Rain-sensing wipers are a proven technology and have been in use for nearly 50 years. Anything that simplifies the process leaves more time to focus on actually driving makes the process safer.
 
OP
OP

dick w

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2015
Threads
11
Messages
1,985
Reaction score
877
Location
Kapaʻa, HI
Vehicle(s)
'16 Civic Sedan Touring, '18 CR-V Touring AWD
Country flag
Honest question.. why would anyone even want this feature?

turn on my wiper blades for me when it rains? I would disable this if my car had it.
Do you ever change the speed of your wipers for Lo to Hi or back to Lo? If you have standard intermittent, do you ever use the intermittent setting? When using the intermittent, do you ever change the frequency setting? If you answered yes to any of these questions, that's why you might want a properly operating rain sensing wiper. The ones on the 10th Gen Civic, at least in my experience, don't qualify as properly operating.
Sponsored

 


 


Top