Audi VW Windshield Wiper Blade - Valeo 4B1955425C

These Valeo blades are the correct length and with the naked eye do look identical to the genuine factory blades.... however, the locking mechanism of these blades will not close on the car's wiper arm attachment point. Speaking as a product engineer with 30-years of experience, I'm guessing there's either a tooling design issue, sloppy tooling tolerance, the tool is worn out, or there is an injection molding or material defect that is producing out-of-tolerance/specification parts. Unlike later models, the B7 A4 uses a bespoke sliding locking mechanism to affix the blade to the arm. The receiving slot on the the locking mechanism of these Valeo blades is just too shallow to fully accept the car's wiper arm and the arm then sits proud of the slot. As a result, the sliding portion of the lock strikes the wiper arm and cannot be closed. Looking at the genuine old blade vs. these "OEM" Valeo blade under magnification I can see some small differences in the design. I appreciate that spending less on a non genuine Audi part includes a risk that it may not perform at the same level. But most times, a non-genuine "OEM" part will be identical to the genuine part but with the 4 Audi ring logo missing or scratched out. Best I can tell, these are a cost reduced version from Valeo that mimic the outward appearance of the genuine parts but with inferior results. I question listing these parts as "OEM"... sure, calling these OEM parts is technically accurate since they do indeed come from the original equipment manufacturer. But from a consumer's perspective, using the term OEM also implies similar if not identical fitment and quality. Finally, FCP sells the single Valeo blade for $19.29 and a set of Valeo blades for $53.99. Based on the provided descriptions for each, I assumed these two purchase options used the parts and I didn't question why one option worked out to be cheaper. Looking at the listing after the fact, I see the $53.99 option is made in France and my $35.58 (i.e. $19.29 x 2) versus are made in Mexico. I wish FCP would have used adjusted description language and/or labeled these as an "economy" option on their page.