I agree, the air filters will keep the HVAC system from loading up with dust/dirt, and help keep the evaporator clean, which reduces smells and improves efficiency. I don’t think they do as much for interior air quality, just because one opening of the door or window lets in lots of ‘dirty’ air.
… and then within about 20 minutes of driving that “dirty” air has been exhausted and replaced by filtered air…
Waste of time and money . How did we ever survive without this useless feature that you have to replace now at $20-40 a shot now .
A quick perusal of the comments and I didn’t see the obvious response…if this has happened a few times in a row, then it’s obvious that you’re not cleaning the cabin air filter like you said you would. In that case, why not just replace it?
Replacing it isn’t a necessity, but it is a nice thing to do. I work on a fleet of vehicles, and we expect these vehicles to go several hundred thousand miles during their lives with us, at 8-10 hours a day, every day, on the road.
During the life of your vehicle you may not notice much of a slowing in air flow over the evaporator/heater core, I see the difference over the years. Swapping out a cabin air filter (which I do at least yearly on my vehicles,) is a heck of a lot easier to do that pulling the unit apart to scrape all the bugs, leaves, and other gunk out of the evaporator/heater coil fins.
add in that many cabin air filters also improve the air quality in the vehicle, I think they are a good idea to swap at normal maintenance intervals.
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It’s possible that many older vehicles incorporated a bend or baffle etc. to separate larger debris from the incoming airstream.
With a filter added the designers have more freedom to make the air intake simpler and compact.
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I’m not a mechanic, not even a shade tree mechanic. However, this is one service item we do at home in my family. In fact, I ordered the cartridges for my Highlander and Forester this very week. This is a service I actually let my son do. I try to involve him in anything handy I do myself so he will learn and hopefully do more of his own service as time goes on. These filters cost about $10 to $15 and changing them takes under 60 seconds with no tools involved.
I do all my own maintenance and most of my own repairs that I have the tools, access, and equipment for. Cabin air filters are, for the most part, quick and easy to replace. Just did the oil change and cabin air filter replacement on my daughter’s 2021 Ford Escape SE. What a pain in the rear that was! A dozen screws to remove the skid pan from it to access the oil pan and filter, but I’ve never seen such a clean engine compartment on a car with that many miles. Then, the cabin air filter is behind the glove box, but you have to empty it, and go through some gymnastics to drop it down, then remove two screws and a panel, then slide out the old filter, which was horribly filthy and full of leaves and other debris,and replace it. I used a K&N Million Mile cleanable filter. It cost about one and a half times the OEM filter, but will outlast the car with only regular removal and cleanings. I’ve used K&N oil and engine air filters for many years with complete satisfaction. They make great products. Now that I know they offer cabin air filters, every car our household aquires will get one on the first change. Same goes for engine air filters. They also offer household furnace air filters, which we are looking into.
Taking my 2017 Acadia Limited for Oil change and tire rotation. Was mentioned last service probably next service. I asked how much it was at the GMC dealer, $79. Auto whatever is less than $25 for filters, watched a video, fairly easy. Cleaning out the glove box the hardest part, as the contraption has to be removed. Wonder Ford charge for cabin filter replacement.
Rock auto has very good prices on this stuff. Usually quite a bit less than auto stores .
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