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I see this come up occasionally on auto forums. People say that dealers will install free wiper inserts. I don't know the particulars. Does this happen?
Perhaps on a car that you bought there. It would basically be their way of getting you into the dealership, so that they can tell you all the stuff that's wrong with your car and you need to pay them to fix.
I'm sure if a dealer offers it, it is just a way to get you into the dealership like was said. I know on my Pontiac (Toyota) Vibes, the Toyota wiper insert is IMO a better product than the aftermarket wipers, and often cheaper too. Plus you get to keep the nice stock wiper frames. The aftermarket frames are usually just cheap plastic or metal and don't look as nice.
Years ago you could always find just the rubber parts of the wipers at the auto parts stores. You just replaced the old rubber part, keeping the same metal wiper frame, and it was cheaper. But I'm sure people did not like the hassle of replacing the blades and just bought the whole new wiper with the frames, so now that is predominately what they sell.
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Most auto parts will install them free, but you have to buy them first, and it's normally the whole blade, not just the insert. I replaced mine on two cars last week, and it only takes 1-2 minutes.
Most auto parts will install them free, but you have to buy them first, and it's normally the whole blade, not just the insert. I replaced mine on two cars last week, and it only takes 1-2 minutes.
You're thinking of something different. You're talking about the entire wiper blade, which part stores install for free. Some stores also sell the rubber inserts alone but they're not on the shelf last time I checked, they're in the back because not many people want to deal with the hassle of changing inserts. Personally, I don't think it's worth the hassle. 10 seconds to change the entire blade vs. messing with the inserts?
I'm not so sure they'd change out the inserts for you as it would take more time.
When I worked at Kragen and AutoZone, we didn't "officially" install anything, but most of the time we didn't mind throwing on new blades or refills. I had one manager who would only install them if you bought the new blade since a) she didn't want to mess with refills and b) the blades cost more. She was a real piece of work, but the rest of us would do either. The only problem is I'd spend my entire evening in a parking lot going from car to car putting them on when it rained since everyone would buy them all at once.
I think refills have become increasingly unpopular because some of the frame styles on vehicles aren't really meant to have the rubber replaced and also because they're a pain to install if you haven't done it before. I can't tell you how many times I'd have people buy the refills, try to install them, and end up bringing them back in pieces after failing miserably. The trick was to NOT remove the little plastic pieces that held the whole thing together. Just slide the refill in and keep moving the plastic guys down until you reach a point where they have to come off, then just slide them off and drive it home.
A lot has to do with your warranty coverage.
The Subaru "Bumper-to-Bumper" warranty covers everything on the car for 3 yrs/36k miles, including items that are not normally covered, such as wipers and brake pads.
Knowing this, when I took the car in for service at ~35k miles, I mentioned that the wipers were no longer doing a good job (even though they were still in fairly decent condition ), and that I would like to have the blades replaced.
It was done as I requested, gratis.
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), and that I would like to have the blades replaced. 
