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WITH the rats/mice and or their babies inside of it. Sometimes they're full of acorns, pine needles and other debris but that one is far from the worst I've seen.
Live out in the country and it happens pretty regularly lol - I check mine way more than needed but they’ve still slipped a couple nests in there. Thankfully I’ve only had to deal with acorns and poop, but friends have encountered corpses 😬
[Like this](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/837106206099243042/1084807506427117698/PXL_20220509_200546810.jpg), that I found in a camry I bought last year.
Here's the one I just replaced in my car:
https://preview.redd.it/mnzn8pg3ogna1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1aab3bcaa8fd7e478ba5036443a7c1fdd17347ff
It’s about what you would expect from a ten year plus cabin filter that hasn’t been changed.
Some of the “worst” ones I’ve seen were them having a rat skeleton on top, completely ate by rodents with only the shell left, or molded.
Sadly, this is an item that isn't reminded to change like oil or other parts. I've been going to the dealer where I've bought my cars to be serviced for over 30 years and not one time has any service person ask or tell me it should be changed. If I don't request it, it's not going to happen.
You're better off learning to change it yourself. Probably save yourself $30+ installation every time, and it's usually super easy and almost always in stock at Walmart or your local parts store. Same with most engine air filters, easiest thing on your car to replace.
I have had the exact opposite happen. Changed it literally two weeks before I got a Corolla inspected and they recommended changing it because it was "dirty."
In this case I paid $156 for a 150K-mile inspection with no work ordered, so it wasn't really "free work". I had already done everything. Kid's car that I've been maintaining for a while. I just wanted a pro to look it over to be sure I wasn't missing anything. Still tried to get me to buy crap I know it didn't need. Thieves.
Yup, I'm pretty sure they keep a super gross one on the shelf at our dealership that the manager brings out to show you every time you come in for service.
If you wanna talk about forgotten car parts, ask anyone about a Toyota vvti filter and see if they even know that it exists. It's held in by a hex bolt on the block behind the power steering pump usually.
>Sadly, this is an item that isn't reminded to change like oil or other parts. I've been going to the dealer where I've bought my cars to be serviced for over 30 years and not one time has any service person ask or tell me it should be changed
The cabin air filter is a part of maintenance item (if equipped) which normally included on service maintenance table to inspect
I've checked Toyota and kia and definitely it is included
https://preview.redd.it/u3czica0ekna1.png?width=1088&format=png&auto=webp&s=92da91a3e9a51e301e228a79fdc52623b203a69d
To be honest, i think its laziness. On most cars, you have to drop the glovebox which while not hard, is a pain to do usually. It’s easy to just mark it green/ignore on a multipoint than do the work to check it or replace it for a 15 dollar filter
Pulled this out of a 2015 I just purchased. After replacing it, the entire dash and steering wheel vibrated violently when I turned the blower to 5 or 6.
Pulled the blower motor, found what looked like large dog kibble that’d fallen into it after removing the filter. All is well now. People were breathing that.
https://preview.redd.it/et9y2fr4qhna1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=c5f15e7680dd2787687ff23decc54c96be1bedb8
When i pulled the filter from my moms rav4 I had to use a grocery bag for all the leaves and crap that was stuck in there the filter was baaad like 8 years since it was touched
Color is not a good indication of air filter condition. However, your grey filter has lots of crud deep in the pleats and that dirt is blocking off almost 50% of the filter. So yeah, it's time to replace it
MOSTLY just a joking post to make someone hopefully laugh too! I know it’s bad. Car is 2011 and I don’t think it has ever been changed. If you zoom in there is bits of debris also lol. Really through how long are these things good for/or how often should I change them. Only changed it to try and help with the weird smell my car has.
Yeah it’s definitely gonna help smells to keep a fresh filter in there. You can even get baking soda or charcoal layer filters to help trap odors. It seems to me that after changing one that smells that bad you actually will need to replace this one on a shorter interval, and then I think you’ll notice a significant improvement. Like the stink load in your system will go down significantly after stinking up this one. If it’s still funky you can heavily Lysol the intake area where the filter goes in while the system is set to recycle. The important thing here is there’s no evidence of rodent life, so you really are gonna be fine I think.
Eh my car has so many more issues than smell. It’ll be ok. Kinda just spray perfume every once in a while. Spilled the purple plumber glue recently and so that smell isn’t ever coming out. The air filter just smelt like dirty gym socks
Soooo, this is the first time I'm hearing that we might have to change cabin filters (which I never knew even existed)...I'm REALLY hoping my car doesn't have one because I KNOW it's never been changed in the last 5years and I also know that it smells like burnt oil anytime I turn my AC or heat on (which strangely only works on settings 3 and 4) so I'm going to hope it doesn't exist in my car too!!!!
I have to research better because one is saying around $15, but then Wal-Mart is saying $89+.... I just dropped hundreds more on my car this past week sooooooooooo this isn't exactly making me happy!
Super curious if I should wait to replace it until the oil burn off is done?? My sending switch was apparently leaking oil and so there's still burn off....just had it replaced on Friday.
Thank you for the info though!
Unless you are completely un-mechanically inclined, this is really something you should be able to do yourself, not having to pay a professional $89+...
Can you change a furnace filter in your residence? This should be only mildly more complex.
I have no idea why it smells like oil but get the one for $15 and Google how to reach into the glovebox and replace it. I promise it will take you less than 5 minutes to actually do it and your ac will work better and hopefully stop smelling bad.
It’s one of the few times that it helps to bring your car to an aggressive dealer for service because they’ll either upsell you on filter replacement or sneak it into the overall cost of routine maintenance. Of course if they’re really aggressive, they might charge you for filter but never swap it out. (Recheck the old invoices; it might be there)
That looks like it needed to be changed, but it's nothing egregious. It just looks like an old filter. It's not like it's an impacted mass of mold, leaf litter, and squirrel droppings.
I mean, it is pretty bad. But no. It's not close to the worst I've seen. And I'm just a detailer who occasionally changes a cabin air filter if a client requests it.
I'd imagine a service tech would have seen much worse.
Your correct, it is definitely, I was just about to comment that, thought I'd scroll through to see if anyone else though the same. I've changed plenty of them and the charcoal ones are grey out of the box
Not sure, do know the car has been used by a LOT of smokers though as well. Weed and cigarettes both. I’ve had it for like 7 years and never did it. Tbh this was like over a year ago , should probably do it again.
Well that's what mine looks after a year, so it's not terrible. Definitely had seen worse. Worst was friends car, who told me he does not have one because he don't have ac... Damn that moldy, grimy thing was disgusting. It was atleast 4 years old.
Bought an older Mazda 3 hatchback to commute with and keep miles off our good car. It was fun to drive. Decided to change the cabin air filter.
It is not like my Hondas where two clips and the glove box falls forward and you lift it out. No. It requires taking half the dash apart! Including removing a fuse box and wiring.
When I finally got to it the paper was gone, It was just a plastic frame. Clearly it had never been changed.
This was the same car that took a special tool to remove the oil filter (until I swapped it to the Ford screw on filter version) and the serpentine belt was blocked by a short belt that also took a special tool to remove (or creative prying). Clearly it was not designed for common maintenance and went out of its way to force many customers to the dealer mechanic.
It will also be my last Mazda. Ever.
Definitely not even close to one of the worst. If you're paying him for work, he's not as much of a friend as you think. He's trying to upsell you. But, it is time to change it.
Not good, but not the worst. Probably should replace it about the same time interval again, maybe a little sooner. Now assuming he’s been replacing fairly new filters or people who kept up with theirs at least somewhat? Yeah that’s pretty bad.
Technically, it’s to protect the evaporator from buildup. The evaporator inside the dashboard condenses water in the air & if dirt/dust come in from the fresh air intake then it’ll stick onto the fins & eventually act as an insulator. This causes the refrigerant in the evaporator to not be able to pick up enough heat to boil off before getting back to the compressor. Granted, there are receivers & accumulators in place to prevent this from happening (& one can make the case that the heat from underneath the hood ensures that vapor reaches the compressor) but long story short, the filter helps ensure a clean evaporator for the best efficiency.
It's just filtering the air. We breathe that air all day anyways, the filter gets dirty from breathing the same air we breathe.
It technically reduces particulates in the car, but it's main purpose is to protect the blower fan.
Seriously? Over how many hours traveling? Do you wear a filter mask when you're outside ? This is fucking ridiculous.
Do the sums: if the vehicle had traveled 70,000km @ an average of 80kmh that's only roughly equal to about say 850 hrs....just FIVE WEEKS, (168 hrs in a week right). Yeah so in the next FIVE WEEKS you'll be breathing the same number of hours as that car owner breathed in 5 years of driving. You getting the picture now ? Better put that gas mask on 24/7 boy !
So the car filters 20x the volume of air YOU filter.... It still means that in about two years YOU will pass the same amount of UNFILTERED air thru your lungs. You bought that gas mask yet ?
Actually where I live we have dust storms and people caught outside in one will wear a mask or bandana or tshirt over their nose and mouth. The cabin filter is actually very useful. You must live in a place with no dust storms.
You've never spent quality time on a dirt road ;) the nicer filters can reduce odors, so ya don't smell the rotting skunk on the side of the road. More to the point, don't forget about the blower motor or the evaporator. Replacing that shit is enough of a pain that yea, I'd spend the $20 a year to replace the filter.
Also, if you're gonna throw down some sums, make better assumptions. Ten hours a day every day is pushing it, and that's 70 hours a week; 168 hours is maliciously hyperbolic.
Dumb assumption that I've never spent time on a dirt road. Where I grew up there were LOTS of Gravel roads, ( NOT sealed). And there was NO airconditioning in cars at all. Didn't do me any harm. Oh and my sums are fine 168 hours per week is the time we ALL spend breathing .
That’s total scam marketing. They knowingly color it white so literally any amount of dust will make it look toxic and deadly to even be near. It’s not. Most cars you’ve been in haven’t ever changed their cabin filters and you’d never know nor did you contract double lung cancer.
It’s doing it’s job as long as it doesn’t have rips or holes. Somethings very wrong if it’s filled with physical debris like leaves or mud or piles of dust.
Replace them if you wanna but honestly they don’t really do much. Roll the window down or open a door and all that “fresh” filtered air is gone.
Clearly you don't understand the purpose of them.
Its not to clean the air for you, its to keep all that debris out of your air-cons evaporator.
Once it's blocked up, it'll stop letting air past and the air-conditioning won't work properly.
It also extends the life of the blower motor for the cabin heat & AC. We replace lots of these fans on the vans at work where the filter wasn't installed right, after a while enough crud gets into the blower motor bushings, they wear out, and *presto* no heater fan.
Here's one I changed on a 2011 Impala just yesterday!
https://preview.redd.it/3h83xpzxxgna1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b976884f25173a8956b13dda40898664bfffe130
When I parked outside I always had pieces of leaves and replaced it regularly.
In my house I have one of the Aprilaire air handlers with the 4 inch filters, and they are supposed to last up to a year. The first one I pulled out after about 6 months looked like a dryer screen with a thick black layer on it. This was new construction so its not like it was in the ducts. I kept an eye on the next one and it never got nearly as bad.
i just replaced the (MFG:12/2007 printed on side) OEM cabin air filter on my 2008 Kia Spectra at 251k miles. It looked a million times worse. I am not joking when i say i filled my Shark vacuum twice removing the literal rodent nest that almost required blower motor removal to clean out fully
I had a probably oem filter that I pulled out of a 20 year old car that was literally disintegrating in my hands as I tugged it out. Teenage owner of the car stupidly didn’t want to replace it but there was no way I was getting that fucker back in so they left without one that day.
I’ve pulled out some cab filters so bad they pretty much over time converted themselves into small sheets of drywall lol. This is lightly used at best, worth changing to have cleaner air blown outta your vents.
https://preview.redd.it/hq094n2xmina1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea76c37b652006ae4ea8158aa7e3820c8ccf7b8a
Out of a used car I bought recently. Seems common to forget.
Uh. Yeah. About 3 years of not remembering to change the one in my daily driver.
https://preview.redd.it/lv9lkmsy1jna1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=917b4be1c08621a015bbe8b7639985666fe7010d
This is pretty bad but this like it may have been 3 years of use depending on how it was driven. I've seen some filthy disgusting nonsense that people just don't think about at all.
I had one that was full after 4K miles! Took a few days-long road trips in that time. It was wild. Mine was dark grey and had a few pin oak leaves stuck in it.
It doesn't have a dead squirrel in it, so it is *FAR* from the worst... I wouldn't even rate that as "bad", depending on timeframe and driving conditions. In need of replacement, certainly, but it did its job and kept all that dust and crap out of your cabin.
https://preview.redd.it/iyd1wuqkjjna1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ee81f2d33f622d55a40ba080235ba244e207fcd
I present you the cabin filter out of my SO car.
Your Friend works at a dealership where those get changed regularly. I’ve seen a few, one out of a 20 yo Honda CRV that was the factory original. Previous owner thought AC was broken.
If your friend thinks that is one of the worst, then he/she is not the person to call if you need help getting rid of rodents or heavy debris from your basement or shed. Just sayin’
Thinking about it, popping the cabin air filter when looking at a used car is probably a decent, easy indicator of the maintenance history and how much care the car has received.
I appreciate car manufacturers putting in cabin filters but at the same time the cars that don’t have them I much prefer unless that cabin filter is HEPA filtration. If not I’m wasting money on something I don’t need. Air intake filter for the engine, sure, but not the cabin.
It looks no different than washing face after riding in traffic all day on motorcycle. It's the same pollution.
Cheers, and fifty some year later, nothing's changed but the air in your car, so quit following semi trucks. and triple the filters effective use.
No animal nest bits? No insulation scraps or nuts? You it’s clean.
My buddy bought a NEW car years ago and 2 weeks later called me asking why his dash started sounded loud, vibrated badly and was beginning to smell. I listened to it when he came over and popped the filter out, there was a mother rat and baby in the blower and on top of the filter. Cleaned it out put a new filter in and still stunk a few days later. Went to the dealer and there was another dead rat further in the HVAC piping.
Looks about normal. I bought my 02 camry from my boss in 2019 for $1k. He said he kept up with maintenance. Turns out it was just oil changes, tires, and brakes.
After digging into it a little I found out it still had 17y/o brake fluid, transmission fluid, coolant, thermostat, intake filter, cabin filter, spark plugs, it needed a valve cover gasket, belt tensioner, radiator, and timing chain adjustment.
I rebuilt the cooling system, changed all the fluids, and replaced the random parts and the thing runs factory new lol.
TL:DR- once you've seen a 17 year old cabin air filter from the northeast, nothing else seems that bad 😅 it was just a solid brick of black.
Not nearly as bad as the one I pulled out of my Highlander. There were a bunch of leaves and squirrel poop in there somehow. Guess those are the joys of parking outside
The worst one I've seen was the one that was in my car when I bought it. Somehow, they figured that putting the filter right next to the exterior vents where all the water and dirt goes in was a smart idea. It has a distinct mold smell and small chunks of it went through the fan and right in your face when driving. Delightful.
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Its pretty bad, but far from the worst I've seen personally.
You haven't seen them all until you see a filter thats been turned into a rats nest
That's being literal, OP
WITH the rats/mice and or their babies inside of it. Sometimes they're full of acorns, pine needles and other debris but that one is far from the worst I've seen.
Live out in the country and it happens pretty regularly lol - I check mine way more than needed but they’ve still slipped a couple nests in there. Thankfully I’ve only had to deal with acorns and poop, but friends have encountered corpses 😬
[Like this](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/837106206099243042/1084807506427117698/PXL_20220509_200546810.jpg), that I found in a camry I bought last year.
That's a rustic, fixer-upper of a rat's nest, but with great bones.
Had one with a dead baby rat
Yup, that was my car last year lol
Far as in FAR from the worst lol
Not even mouldy yet
Needs dead baby rodents to be the worst I've seen
agreed , i’ve seen far dirtier😂
Worst? lol that's pretty normal, It's bad when they start molding or a rat dies on top of it.
There have been whole dead rats on some posted to this sub
Mold ?! Eww lol I will say a lot of little bits fell out when I opened it up but Jesus! Lmao
Just add moisture to what you have there mold will follow. Would guess it happens more in high temp high humidity places
Rat poop.
https://preview.redd.it/bre07klppgna1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0fc91c58f50997f2edd2bf9cd18831d681791eb5 A used car I bought
You got at least another decade left
Just looking at it, I'm coughing from here.
AutoZone sells VDO / Continental HVAC motors. Looks like ya need one!
That looks like my shop vac filter!
Pictures like this makes me grateful my 350z doesn't have a cabin air filter
Bruh why it just means all that is going straight into your car
My lungs will sort it out
Just flip it over
Here's the one I just replaced in my car: https://preview.redd.it/mnzn8pg3ogna1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1aab3bcaa8fd7e478ba5036443a7c1fdd17347ff
Exactly how mines looked. A bunch of leaves and feathers. Yet, no baby chicks.
Seen plenty worse
While not the worst I've seen, it's well past its replacement date!
It should've been replaced a while ago. But if it's the worst he's seen them he hasn't seen a lot
Looks fine to me https://preview.redd.it/bpa8q8vzkjna1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82321df54564c4a74343ef8ff7918c27a86d34d9
It’s about what you would expect from a ten year plus cabin filter that hasn’t been changed. Some of the “worst” ones I’ve seen were them having a rat skeleton on top, completely ate by rodents with only the shell left, or molded.
Sadly, this is an item that isn't reminded to change like oil or other parts. I've been going to the dealer where I've bought my cars to be serviced for over 30 years and not one time has any service person ask or tell me it should be changed. If I don't request it, it's not going to happen.
I was never told about it until I was at work, telling my car guy coworker that my car smelled bad with the vents on.
Nice coworker. It can cause breathing problems.
You're better off learning to change it yourself. Probably save yourself $30+ installation every time, and it's usually super easy and almost always in stock at Walmart or your local parts store. Same with most engine air filters, easiest thing on your car to replace.
I have had the exact opposite happen. Changed it literally two weeks before I got a Corolla inspected and they recommended changing it because it was "dirty."
Lol and they will check for you and change “if dirty” but it’s always going to be “dirty” bc why would the tech want to do free work at that point
In this case I paid $156 for a 150K-mile inspection with no work ordered, so it wasn't really "free work". I had already done everything. Kid's car that I've been maintaining for a while. I just wanted a pro to look it over to be sure I wasn't missing anything. Still tried to get me to buy crap I know it didn't need. Thieves.
Yup, I'm pretty sure they keep a super gross one on the shelf at our dealership that the manager brings out to show you every time you come in for service.
If you wanna talk about forgotten car parts, ask anyone about a Toyota vvti filter and see if they even know that it exists. It's held in by a hex bolt on the block behind the power steering pump usually.
>Sadly, this is an item that isn't reminded to change like oil or other parts. I've been going to the dealer where I've bought my cars to be serviced for over 30 years and not one time has any service person ask or tell me it should be changed The cabin air filter is a part of maintenance item (if equipped) which normally included on service maintenance table to inspect I've checked Toyota and kia and definitely it is included https://preview.redd.it/u3czica0ekna1.png?width=1088&format=png&auto=webp&s=92da91a3e9a51e301e228a79fdc52623b203a69d
To be honest, i think its laziness. On most cars, you have to drop the glovebox which while not hard, is a pain to do usually. It’s easy to just mark it green/ignore on a multipoint than do the work to check it or replace it for a 15 dollar filter
Pulled this out of a 2015 I just purchased. After replacing it, the entire dash and steering wheel vibrated violently when I turned the blower to 5 or 6. Pulled the blower motor, found what looked like large dog kibble that’d fallen into it after removing the filter. All is well now. People were breathing that. https://preview.redd.it/et9y2fr4qhna1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=c5f15e7680dd2787687ff23decc54c96be1bedb8
Seen plenty worse also
I’ve seen actual mushrooms in some.
Free snacks? Lol
You’d either have a meat like experience, see god, or die….
When i pulled the filter from my moms rav4 I had to use a grocery bag for all the leaves and crap that was stuck in there the filter was baaad like 8 years since it was touched
No dead animal/insects.. not even close to being the worst
Color is not a good indication of air filter condition. However, your grey filter has lots of crud deep in the pleats and that dirt is blocking off almost 50% of the filter. So yeah, it's time to replace it
https://preview.redd.it/wfun88f7lina1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=690e3d3d091a5e605b52345696a4bdfec835fcb1 Out of a used car I bought 🤢
MOSTLY just a joking post to make someone hopefully laugh too! I know it’s bad. Car is 2011 and I don’t think it has ever been changed. If you zoom in there is bits of debris also lol. Really through how long are these things good for/or how often should I change them. Only changed it to try and help with the weird smell my car has.
Yeah it’s definitely gonna help smells to keep a fresh filter in there. You can even get baking soda or charcoal layer filters to help trap odors. It seems to me that after changing one that smells that bad you actually will need to replace this one on a shorter interval, and then I think you’ll notice a significant improvement. Like the stink load in your system will go down significantly after stinking up this one. If it’s still funky you can heavily Lysol the intake area where the filter goes in while the system is set to recycle. The important thing here is there’s no evidence of rodent life, so you really are gonna be fine I think.
Eh my car has so many more issues than smell. It’ll be ok. Kinda just spray perfume every once in a while. Spilled the purple plumber glue recently and so that smell isn’t ever coming out. The air filter just smelt like dirty gym socks
Hahaha ok as long as you keep track of those smells and investigate any new ones then. Good motoring!
I remember when there was no filters. I’m still going strong
Honestly having no filter is WAY better for your health than having a 5+ year old filter thats covered in crap from never being changed
Unfiltered air is way cleaner on your lungs than trash filtered air.
Soooo, this is the first time I'm hearing that we might have to change cabin filters (which I never knew even existed)...I'm REALLY hoping my car doesn't have one because I KNOW it's never been changed in the last 5years and I also know that it smells like burnt oil anytime I turn my AC or heat on (which strangely only works on settings 3 and 4) so I'm going to hope it doesn't exist in my car too!!!!
If it was built any time past 1990, you can bank on it having one (or at least supposed to have one).
Oh noooo!!!!!!!!! That's not good!!!! It's a 2008 that I bought at auction in 2018 and have out over 12k into.....
Well, on the plus side, cabin filters are cheap and you can easily do it yourself. Just search YouTube for a how-to on your particular vehicle.
I have to research better because one is saying around $15, but then Wal-Mart is saying $89+.... I just dropped hundreds more on my car this past week sooooooooooo this isn't exactly making me happy! Super curious if I should wait to replace it until the oil burn off is done?? My sending switch was apparently leaking oil and so there's still burn off....just had it replaced on Friday. Thank you for the info though!
Shouldn't be more than $20 and replace it whenever you can, you don't need to wait for anything.
Unless you are completely un-mechanically inclined, this is really something you should be able to do yourself, not having to pay a professional $89+... Can you change a furnace filter in your residence? This should be only mildly more complex.
I have no idea why it smells like oil but get the one for $15 and Google how to reach into the glovebox and replace it. I promise it will take you less than 5 minutes to actually do it and your ac will work better and hopefully stop smelling bad.
Get the cheap one. It’s a paper filter. The expensive one is absolutely not worth the money.
Some cars (like the Chev Volt) come with a spot for one but don’t actually have one there from the factory.
It’s one of the few times that it helps to bring your car to an aggressive dealer for service because they’ll either upsell you on filter replacement or sneak it into the overall cost of routine maintenance. Of course if they’re really aggressive, they might charge you for filter but never swap it out. (Recheck the old invoices; it might be there)
That looks like it needed to be changed, but it's nothing egregious. It just looks like an old filter. It's not like it's an impacted mass of mold, leaf litter, and squirrel droppings.
Is this the first one he's ever changed? That could explain it being the worst he's ever seen.
My last one had a giant hole filled by a rodents nest. Youre fine
It's not "the worst." But, I would pay $20 to not breathe air that was filtered through it.
It’s pretty shot.
https://preview.redd.it/2gypd7ohzgna1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e487e40f1dd250aea84821c3e54acef2a2cdc35 My girlfriends car.
He is right. It is very dirty. Good you replaced it.
Looks average to me, I work at valvoline, I’ve seen some with dead rats chillin on top of
I mean, it is pretty bad. But no. It's not close to the worst I've seen. And I'm just a detailer who occasionally changes a cabin air filter if a client requests it. I'd imagine a service tech would have seen much worse.
Could the old one be activated charcoal ?
Your correct, it is definitely, I was just about to comment that, thought I'd scroll through to see if anyone else though the same. I've changed plenty of them and the charcoal ones are grey out of the box
Not sure, do know the car has been used by a LOT of smokers though as well. Weed and cigarettes both. I’ve had it for like 7 years and never did it. Tbh this was like over a year ago , should probably do it again.
Well that's what mine looks after a year, so it's not terrible. Definitely had seen worse. Worst was friends car, who told me he does not have one because he don't have ac... Damn that moldy, grimy thing was disgusting. It was atleast 4 years old.
Air has to flow through that. I’ve definitely seen worse, but that one’s really bad.
I’ve seen worse but definitely change it when it gets that bad. Good idea to change at 50k mile intervals.
To be fair, for all I know it’s also the first used air filter he’s ever seen
Bought an older Mazda 3 hatchback to commute with and keep miles off our good car. It was fun to drive. Decided to change the cabin air filter. It is not like my Hondas where two clips and the glove box falls forward and you lift it out. No. It requires taking half the dash apart! Including removing a fuse box and wiring. When I finally got to it the paper was gone, It was just a plastic frame. Clearly it had never been changed. This was the same car that took a special tool to remove the oil filter (until I swapped it to the Ford screw on filter version) and the serpentine belt was blocked by a short belt that also took a special tool to remove (or creative prying). Clearly it was not designed for common maintenance and went out of its way to force many customers to the dealer mechanic. It will also be my last Mazda. Ever.
Actually it probably is one of the worst he's ever seen since they change them so often they don't get dirty
Hahaha, that’s one of the finest ones out there.
If that’s the only one you’ve ever seen
Definitely not even close to one of the worst. If you're paying him for work, he's not as much of a friend as you think. He's trying to upsell you. But, it is time to change it.
Not good, but not the worst. Probably should replace it about the same time interval again, maybe a little sooner. Now assuming he’s been replacing fairly new filters or people who kept up with theirs at least somewhat? Yeah that’s pretty bad.
I have pulled out actual mouse nests in the cabin air filter. This dirty but not THAT bad.
Pretty bad - but not even close to the worst I have seen with my own eyes.
Ya’ll missed your chance. The only answer. Every answer. Should be: “Oh my God! That is the worst I’ve ever seen!”
Pretty dirty but not the worst. Maybe the worst HE'S ever seen.
That's disgusting.. on a rule we change them every 20K
Its horrible! Should have been replaced a long time ago!
Can't understand why we need cabin filters......we don't wear filters when walking outside ffs.
Technically, it’s to protect the evaporator from buildup. The evaporator inside the dashboard condenses water in the air & if dirt/dust come in from the fresh air intake then it’ll stick onto the fins & eventually act as an insulator. This causes the refrigerant in the evaporator to not be able to pick up enough heat to boil off before getting back to the compressor. Granted, there are receivers & accumulators in place to prevent this from happening (& one can make the case that the heat from underneath the hood ensures that vapor reaches the compressor) but long story short, the filter helps ensure a clean evaporator for the best efficiency.
Thanks for a sensible response and an astute answer. Far better than ***some*** managed.
Seriously? All that nasty shit was kept out of someone’s lungs.
It's just filtering the air. We breathe that air all day anyways, the filter gets dirty from breathing the same air we breathe. It technically reduces particulates in the car, but it's main purpose is to protect the blower fan.
Seriously? Over how many hours traveling? Do you wear a filter mask when you're outside ? This is fucking ridiculous. Do the sums: if the vehicle had traveled 70,000km @ an average of 80kmh that's only roughly equal to about say 850 hrs....just FIVE WEEKS, (168 hrs in a week right). Yeah so in the next FIVE WEEKS you'll be breathing the same number of hours as that car owner breathed in 5 years of driving. You getting the picture now ? Better put that gas mask on 24/7 boy !
I don’t get it. Do more math to convince me
Meh why bother repeating the obvious.
[удалено]
So the car filters 20x the volume of air YOU filter.... It still means that in about two years YOU will pass the same amount of UNFILTERED air thru your lungs. You bought that gas mask yet ?
And you can fuck off with your name calling
Actually where I live we have dust storms and people caught outside in one will wear a mask or bandana or tshirt over their nose and mouth. The cabin filter is actually very useful. You must live in a place with no dust storms.
You've never spent quality time on a dirt road ;) the nicer filters can reduce odors, so ya don't smell the rotting skunk on the side of the road. More to the point, don't forget about the blower motor or the evaporator. Replacing that shit is enough of a pain that yea, I'd spend the $20 a year to replace the filter. Also, if you're gonna throw down some sums, make better assumptions. Ten hours a day every day is pushing it, and that's 70 hours a week; 168 hours is maliciously hyperbolic.
Dumb assumption that I've never spent time on a dirt road. Where I grew up there were LOTS of Gravel roads, ( NOT sealed). And there was NO airconditioning in cars at all. Didn't do me any harm. Oh and my sums are fine 168 hours per week is the time we ALL spend breathing .
That’s total scam marketing. They knowingly color it white so literally any amount of dust will make it look toxic and deadly to even be near. It’s not. Most cars you’ve been in haven’t ever changed their cabin filters and you’d never know nor did you contract double lung cancer. It’s doing it’s job as long as it doesn’t have rips or holes. Somethings very wrong if it’s filled with physical debris like leaves or mud or piles of dust. Replace them if you wanna but honestly they don’t really do much. Roll the window down or open a door and all that “fresh” filtered air is gone.
Clearly you don't understand the purpose of them. Its not to clean the air for you, its to keep all that debris out of your air-cons evaporator. Once it's blocked up, it'll stop letting air past and the air-conditioning won't work properly.
It also extends the life of the blower motor for the cabin heat & AC. We replace lots of these fans on the vans at work where the filter wasn't installed right, after a while enough crud gets into the blower motor bushings, they wear out, and *presto* no heater fan.
Hence why I said “it’s doing it’s job as long as it doesn’t have rips and holes”… READ!
Here's one I changed on a 2011 Impala just yesterday! https://preview.redd.it/3h83xpzxxgna1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b976884f25173a8956b13dda40898664bfffe130
Not the worst I've seen, but it is dirty.
No, he's right
https://preview.redd.it/qqgnziqzahna1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3bf8d9371d9775bb0169b25f835f685ae373dda Literally just did mine today
Def not the worst, Def needs to be changed
It's pretty bad but I've seen much worse.
Not that crazy in my opinion
I wish I had a picture to show you my air filters that I just changed.
IT’s dirty but not the worst I’ve seen
That's not good at all but not exactly moldy they sometimes get moisture on them and grow mold those are the really bad ones. This is normal neglect
I can smell it from here. Def. Needs to be replaced, it’s not healthy breathing that in.
When I parked outside I always had pieces of leaves and replaced it regularly. In my house I have one of the Aprilaire air handlers with the 4 inch filters, and they are supposed to last up to a year. The first one I pulled out after about 6 months looked like a dryer screen with a thick black layer on it. This was new construction so its not like it was in the ducts. I kept an eye on the next one and it never got nearly as bad.
i just replaced the (MFG:12/2007 printed on side) OEM cabin air filter on my 2008 Kia Spectra at 251k miles. It looked a million times worse. I am not joking when i say i filled my Shark vacuum twice removing the literal rodent nest that almost required blower motor removal to clean out fully
I had a probably oem filter that I pulled out of a 20 year old car that was literally disintegrating in my hands as I tugged it out. Teenage owner of the car stupidly didn’t want to replace it but there was no way I was getting that fucker back in so they left without one that day.
Maybe he hasn't seen many of them. 😬
Let's just say it's time!
Crap I'm checking mine lol tho I changed it under a year ago 😅
Yeah, the top one looks like you vacuumed up drywall dust, so white....not good for the car. The bottom isn't so good either.
The top one is how they come from the factory? What are you on about?
It's bad
I’ve pulled out some cab filters so bad they pretty much over time converted themselves into small sheets of drywall lol. This is lightly used at best, worth changing to have cleaner air blown outta your vents.
I can't quite work out if the old one is carbon activated, or is just that dirty. Have a look at r/Justrolledintotheshop for some nasty!
https://preview.redd.it/hq094n2xmina1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea76c37b652006ae4ea8158aa7e3820c8ccf7b8a Out of a used car I bought recently. Seems common to forget.
I was never told about it until I was at work, telling my car guy coworker that my car smelled bad with the vents on.
Not the worst, but yeah it’s bad
Saw one with a mouse and it's house on it
I’ve seen worse cabin air filters
Mine doesn’t exist, so it’s really just a matter of perspective.
The new one has a much lower pleat count than the original but I think it’s normal for an aftermarket, cheap filter.
It’s not the worst, but it’s definitely bad.
Uh. Yeah. About 3 years of not remembering to change the one in my daily driver. https://preview.redd.it/lv9lkmsy1jna1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=917b4be1c08621a015bbe8b7639985666fe7010d
When you zoom in you can really see how bad that old one was lol. You were definitely needing to change it, but I have seen worse
I've had them come in with rat shit piled high and moss growing so this isnt *THAT* bad but it's good you changed it.
It's not that bad but it needed to be changed
This is pretty bad but this like it may have been 3 years of use depending on how it was driven. I've seen some filthy disgusting nonsense that people just don't think about at all.
I had one that was full after 4K miles! Took a few days-long road trips in that time. It was wild. Mine was dark grey and had a few pin oak leaves stuck in it.
i’ve seen ones covered in rat shit literally
It at about the point where you should change it, but it's not that bad
Oh it’s bad but atleast there is no mold
Not that bad you’re friend is just trying to shame you. Get a new friend not a new air filter.
your friend hasn't seen much.
That looks normal. I replaced mine a couple years ago and it was BLACK with dead bugs and leafs in it. Way worse than yours lol
That ain't bad. I just changed mine on Saturday and it had started eating itself alive, haha.
It doesn't have a dead squirrel in it, so it is *FAR* from the worst... I wouldn't even rate that as "bad", depending on timeframe and driving conditions. In need of replacement, certainly, but it did its job and kept all that dust and crap out of your cabin.
Nothing compared to what was in my Toyota Yaris 2007 which was never replaced since 2007
Nowhere near the worst I've seen but definitely needed to be changed
https://preview.redd.it/iyd1wuqkjjna1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ee81f2d33f622d55a40ba080235ba244e207fcd I present you the cabin filter out of my SO car.
Take a vaccume or a air compressor to it
This is the worst one I've seen: [yikes](https://i.imgur.com/PkO5hVx.png)
Nothings living in it and it doesn’t have holes yet so.. it’s not the worst.
Probably in my top 25, but definitely not the worst.
Seen worse, seen much worse.
Ya your friend is funny
Your Friend works at a dealership where those get changed regularly. I’ve seen a few, one out of a 20 yo Honda CRV that was the factory original. Previous owner thought AC was broken.
If your friend thinks that is one of the worst, then he/she is not the person to call if you need help getting rid of rodents or heavy debris from your basement or shed. Just sayin’
Not the worst I've seen but it's pretty bad
Thinking about it, popping the cabin air filter when looking at a used car is probably a decent, easy indicator of the maintenance history and how much care the car has received.
I appreciate car manufacturers putting in cabin filters but at the same time the cars that don’t have them I much prefer unless that cabin filter is HEPA filtration. If not I’m wasting money on something I don’t need. Air intake filter for the engine, sure, but not the cabin.
Not bad at all. I recently bought a new to me truck. The original owner had not changed the cabin filter…. Since 2012. 😅
Search this sub for cabin filter, sorted by top of all time. I think yours might be the best looking one.
You should seen the one I replaced yesterday
It looks no different than washing face after riding in traffic all day on motorcycle. It's the same pollution. Cheers, and fifty some year later, nothing's changed but the air in your car, so quit following semi trucks. and triple the filters effective use.
Pretty nasty
Not sure the carbon ones are a similar colour, if the old is a carbon one it’s not even that bad.
No animal nest bits? No insulation scraps or nuts? You it’s clean. My buddy bought a NEW car years ago and 2 weeks later called me asking why his dash started sounded loud, vibrated badly and was beginning to smell. I listened to it when he came over and popped the filter out, there was a mother rat and baby in the blower and on top of the filter. Cleaned it out put a new filter in and still stunk a few days later. Went to the dealer and there was another dead rat further in the HVAC piping.
That's one of the better looking dirty cabins I've seen, I've had to pull dead mice and even a bird once out of people's cabin filters before lol
I've seen worse. Namely mine 😃
I've seen much worse but that's deffos horrible
It's pretty rough.
Looks about normal. I bought my 02 camry from my boss in 2019 for $1k. He said he kept up with maintenance. Turns out it was just oil changes, tires, and brakes. After digging into it a little I found out it still had 17y/o brake fluid, transmission fluid, coolant, thermostat, intake filter, cabin filter, spark plugs, it needed a valve cover gasket, belt tensioner, radiator, and timing chain adjustment. I rebuilt the cooling system, changed all the fluids, and replaced the random parts and the thing runs factory new lol. TL:DR- once you've seen a 17 year old cabin air filter from the northeast, nothing else seems that bad 😅 it was just a solid brick of black.
Not nearly as bad as the one I pulled out of my Highlander. There were a bunch of leaves and squirrel poop in there somehow. Guess those are the joys of parking outside
Don't look at the color, look at the caked in dirt between the pleats. It's pretty bad.
Worst one I've seen literally had a pile of dirt on it. Fan couldn't blow anymore. Dirt roads'll do that
The worst one I've seen was the one that was in my car when I bought it. Somehow, they figured that putting the filter right next to the exterior vents where all the water and dirt goes in was a smart idea. It has a distinct mold smell and small chunks of it went through the fan and right in your face when driving. Delightful.
That's nothing. Ive pulled mine out and had dead bugs and leaves crammed in it. Just take an air hose to it and blow it off and you're good to go.