Cold winter mornings often bring with them one of the most annoying chores for every driver - scraping ice from the windshield and fighting frozen wiper blades. Most drivers resort to forced peeling, pouring warm water on them or leaving them in the raised position overnight. However, many modern cars have a built-in, but little-known feature called wiper service mode.
On many modern vehicles, the wiper blades are hidden under the hood line in order to improve aerodynamics and reduce noise at high speeds. This means that they physically cannot be raised manually when in the down position, because they rest directly on the edge of the hood. Attempting to lift them by force often results in scratching the paintwork or damaging the mechanism itself.
Here comes the service mode, which moves the blades to a vertical position on the glass and stops them there. To activate this function on most brands, it is enough to press the wiper lever down once after turning off the engine (but before opening the door) or hold it for a few seconds. The intelligent system immediately sends the blades to the upper position, where they remain stationary.
This position brings a double benefit to the driver. On the one hand, it allows the wipers to be easily lifted away from the glass so that they do not freeze to it at night. On the other hand, in this area the glass warms up the fastest from the air blowing through the passenger compartment, which makes it easier to defrost them in the morning. In addition, replacing worn blades takes seconds, without the risk of damaging the arms or glass.
Not knowing this easy trick leads many owners to break the drive mechanisms or prematurely wear out the wiper rubber, trying to run them on frozen glass. Using the service mode is an elegant engineering solution that saves unnecessary costs and makes winter operation of the car significantly more comfortable.