Cabin Filter

[Sportznut]

I have always felt cabin filters were a Manufacturer scam, like Valentine's Day Is to greeting card companies.

Cars/Trucks are not air tight, people roll the windows down & open the doors all the time. My HVAC systems seem to run fine. Am I missing something?
I have never changed a cabin filter in all my vehicles and have noticed no difference from new, other than that nice leather smell is almost gone.

What is the purpose of a cabin filter and why should I change it?

Asking for a friend



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[Goldsy]

It mainly keeps leaves, pine needles, pollen, dust out of the HVAC system, fans, duct work, etc. The truck comes with one, and they do get clogged up.

 

[bigdodge]

I have always felt cabin filters were a Manufacturer scam, like Valentine's Day Is to greeting card companies.

Cars/Trucks are not air tight, people roll the windows down & open the doors all the time. My HVAC systems seem to run fine. Am I missing something?
I have never changed a cabin filter in all my vehicles and have noticed no difference from new, other than that nice leather smell is almost gone.

What is the purpose of a cabin filter and why should I change it?

Asking for a friend



Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

maybe you should pull one out and look at it

you might be surprised

 

[moosem]

They get very gross. I’ve changed mine twice already. Definitely change it. They cost like $30.

 

[Dewey]

Here’s mine from my last truck at 120,000 miles.

Good to go again. I banged it on my hand to clear the loose dust and threw it back in.

 

[SD Rebel]

You can save some money with by buying aftermarket, they sell them also carbon infused and even Fabreeze infused. But usually at a big discount compared to OEM.

But as mentioned, it's really to keep the intake dust, pollen and even leaves out of your HVAC system.

I recently pulled one out of my Crossfire, the original owner hadn't done it in 20,000 miles and it looked like a floor of a forest. Dirt, twigs, leaves, all kinds of things that also fell out that was just lying on top of the filter. The factor filter was $30, I got a US made Purolator for $15 on Amazon.

 

[Goldsy]

Here’s mine from my last truck at 120,000 miles.
View attachment 132120
Good to go again. I banged it on my hand to clear the loose dust and threw it back in.

That's pretty good. A lot depends on where you live too. There are a lot of trees where I am. Mine fills up with pine needles quickly.

 

[Dmalonecentral]

My 2016 didn’t even have a cabin filter. I had to do a hack to add one.

Also, I recently swapped mine out for the K&N reusable cabin filter and it was a night and day difference in terms of airflow. Would highly recommend.

 

[Terrible_One]

I just replaced my cabin air filter today. The original was still in it at 32,000 miles and it was FILTHY. Debris fell out of the damn filter as I was pulling it out.

 

[Sportznut]

So why did older cars do fine without cabin filters?

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[Terrible_One]

So why did older cars do fine without cabin filters?

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"Fine" is very subjective. There just wasn't as much research and care put into creature comforts like cleaner air coming through the vents. No one cared or even thought of it decades ago, including the consumer. It wasn't something anyone thought they needed until they did it and a lot of us come to realize we like having less stuff spitting through our vents at us. For people with allergies, you now have something that will filter some of that pollen from the outside air. I mean, heck, they also didn't think we needed 12" screens and dual pano sunroofs in trucks just 5 years ago, but I sure like all that stuff, too!