Not to get into a semantics issue, but what do you mean by 'pulled up'? You grab the passenger wiper and manually move it in the same direction as it moves when powered by the wiper motor. Do not lift it off the windshield.

 

Yes, that's how it works. Also, the only damage that could occur when opening the hood, is if the wipers are in their "away from the windshield" mode. You know, pulled away from the glass.

 

I got it to reposition this morning when I tried again, just had to pull harder. Thanks for the tip!

This is my 2nd ES 350. Never knew about this in my prior one. That's what I get for not reading the manual from front to back.

 

Well I'm happy to report to all of you worrying about taking the paint off the rear edge of the hood when the wipers are in the "winter position", that the hood clears the wipers easily. Went out there this morning - 8" of snow - cleared the car and opened the hood. All OK. I didn't really think that Lexus would blow that procedure.

 

Plenty of clearance, no problem opening the hood with the wipers in winter position.

 

Thanks. That is good to know.

 

Summer Position tucks wiper arms in under the hood:
PRO - looks cleaner and creates less wind noise at 80 MPH
CON - blades can not be lifted off the glass for scraping snow.

Winter Position by pulling pass. side wiper arm firmly up toward the roof
PRO - blades can be lifted up for snow, short and/or long term, ie. overnight
CON - why are you doing 80 MPH in the snow!?!

Most 2013 - 14's now have wiper bed heaters as mentioned above.
PRO - really loosens the ice grip without leaning on the snowy fender and bashing away
CON - why don't they wire it thermostatically? Or an easy to use hard button as in the Non-Nav CT200h?

 

We just had our first snowstorm last night here in Ohio, and this morning I noticed my windshield wiper was sitting in a higher position than usual..then I found this thread which helped clear my concern. However, does the whispers get back to the summer position once it stops snowing or do I have to adjust it myself? Thanks all!

 

We got your snow later last night here in SE Pennsylvania. After the last snow and bad weather of winter, you must press down on the "knuckle" of the wipers to reset them to the lower position. The wipers DO NOT set themselves in either winter or summer positions. This is only done by hand. Pull up for winter and push down for summer.