Last time you changed the cabin air filter in your vehicle?

[kerplode]

I don't actually remember the last time I changed the cabin air filter in my Tacoma, so it's probably been quite a few years. I should get it done sometime soon.

[megasupermagnum]

The only car I owned that had one for sure was a 2002 Mercury Cougar. It didn't seem to blow air that hard, so I checked the filter. Sure enough, it was full of dirt. I took it out, threw it away, and that was that. That car is horrible by the way, do not ever buy one.

I do now have a 2012 Ford Focus, and it is likely that has a filter. Maybe one day I'll pull that one out too.

Unless you have allergy problems, there is no reason for an air filter in your car. 90% of the summer I drive with the windows down anyway.

[marlin39a]

I just changed mine for the first time in my 2019 Tundra, at 22,00 miles. Bought a Fram at Walmart. It was just as good as the factory, probably the same. I had to check with YouTube for instructions.

[higgins]

Hossfly was right about the difficulty of changing the cabin filter on a Nissan Murano. It's one of the most hateful "simple" jobs I've ever done.

I never paid any attention to either until my wife complained of a smell in the Highlander when the AC was running. I found that a mouse had nested on the filter (fortunately very easy to change in the Highlander) and probably got killed by the fan. Ripe mice do have a distinct smell.

[MstrEddy]

First time I learned about them was when I was looking for air filters for my wife's 2009 Saturn Vue, it listed a cabin air filter as well. Hmm? OK, so I found it, found the info on where it is; have to take out the glove compartment to get to it. Man, it was filthy, around 60K miles on it. Replaced it. I've changed it a couple more times now. And my 2016 Nissan Frontier has one as well, it's been changed too.
Funny story, a couple of months ago, we were getting a funky smell when we'd get in her car and start up the air. OK, time to change the filter. Get to it, not really dirty. No smell. Hmm... OK, we had some water get in and pool around the spare tire in the cargo area in the past. Let me check that. Hmm... it's dry. Not there. OK, let me look and sniff some more -- Ah ha! Under the back seats, in the trough where the seats attach/hook/lock (they tilt/fold forward) was a wet-filmy mess -- dark brown in color and, wait, is that curdling? Oh, no... It was a half bottle of chocolate milk spilled by the kids a couple of weeks before.
Of course, the famous "not-me" from both, let's blame the neighbor's kids... And of course, they don't tell us anything when they had spilled the milk. It took some cleaning, scrubbing, and finally got the smell out. We were also due for a rug cleaning in the house, so the following week we rented the machine from Home Depot, and after we took care of the house, we took care of the cars. Much Better!

[Alstep]

Thanks for the reminder. Been long overdue here.

[samari46]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't even know I had one in my '07 GMC Sierra. Now to check the manual. Frank

[jonp]

Change them every spring after pollen season on all vehicles we own. Buy them and oil/air filters, windshield wipers etc bulk at Rock Auto. Much cheaper than the auto stores

[jimlj]

In my 63 years of sucking air on this earth, I have changed one cabin air filter. I never knew that a car had one. I have also only had one vehicle that I've ever paid someone to change the oil in. The tech told me the cabin air filter was dirty and needed changed and quoted a price too high for me to pay him to do it. After removing the glove compartment and standing on my head, using one hand in a contorted manner to get to the thing, I removed a mostly clean filter and installed a new one. There is no way anyone looked at the filter to see if it was dirty, and after the pain in the hinder it was to get to, there was no way he would have left a dirty one in place.

[CastingFool]

I changed the one in our Traverse yesterday. A couple of hours after I read the original post. Lol

[Gofaaast]

I remove and blowout or replace ours annually. The Suburban we currently have doesn’t have one.

[gwpercle]

Show me where the "Cabin Filter " is on my 1968 Chevelle Malibu 2 door Sports Coupe ...
... and I'll change it .
Every time I took my Dad for a ride in my Chevelle , set up for speed and having no a/c ... My Dad would tell me " I see you've got 2-40 air ... roll down two windows and drive 40 miles an hour ! "

Dad was a Lineman at Gulf States Utility Company ... but I think he might have wanted to be a stand up comedian ...
It was like living with Henny Youngman ! ... Take my Dad .... Please !
Gary

[RedlegEd]

Hi all,
I just got a new to me 2018 GMC Canyon, and I promptly changed the cabin air filter as well as the engine air filter. I'll probably go ahead and pay the extra to buy K&N washable filters. The cabin filter is a pain to get to, but at least I know it's clean. BTW, all you guys who pull them out and don't replace them...that filter is designed to keep all the dust, mold, pollen and other crap from outside air out of your AC evaporator coils. So you get to decide which is worse, replacing/cleaning a plugged filter, or replacing/cleaning plugged evaporator coils (just imagine not replacing your house HVAC filters?!?) If your vehicle has a cabin filter, you really should replace it when needed. My dos centavos.
Ed

[Finster101]

As a factory tech I do not like K&N filters. They are seldom maintained by the owner and when they are, they are usually way over oiled which can cause a ton of drivability problems on it's own. There are multiple TSBs related to them.

[RedlegEd]

As a factory tech I do not like K&N filters. They are seldom maintained by the owner and when they are, they are usually way over oiled which can cause a ton of drivability problems on it's own. There are multiple TSBs related to them.

Hi,
Thanks for the input. What do you recommend? I do my PMs and follow instructions, so regular and proper maintenance isn’t a problem, but if you’re in the business, I’d appreciate your guidance & advice.
Ed

[Idaho45guy]

The K&N cabin air filters are not oiled filters, I imagine. That would be ridiculously stupid.

I have used their oiled air filters for decades with no issues. But you do need an IQ above room temp when servicing them to avoid issues, which is apparently becoming increasingly rare these days.

[Idaho45guy]

Oh, and I mentioned to my dad tonight that I had replaced the cabin air filter due to the HVAC system barely putting out air and he said that's part of the reason he gave it to me; the AC couldn't keep him cool enough anymore. He was upset that it was a 1-minute job and a $12 air filter to fix it.

[Froogal]

If the cabin air filter in your vehicle is extremely difficult to access and change, consider the fact that the engineers did not design that vehicle to even have a cabin air filter. No, it was an afterthought and they stuffed it in wherever they could make it fit with no regard as to how restrictive it might be.

[fecmech]

Seems that once a year we get the smell of death from one of our vehicles. The air filters are pricey and can be a pain to change but well worth the effort.

I have to change the one in my wife's Rav in the spring. She does not drive it much and mice get into it over the winter in the garage. I usually notice the smell of mouse urine at some point. Rock Auto is the best deal on filters for me. A two pack with shipping comes in about half what my local parts store charges.

[bkbville]

Geez... around here if you go to any quick oil change place they're always "recommending" you change your cabin air-filter - it's a standard up-lift on the oil change.

Actually - now that I think about it, my dealer pitched on replacing it ... I'm sure I can do it myself for a bout 1/5th of the cost they will charge... (hope it's in the manual)