The air filter has been part of the engine for as long as you have been driving, bottom line the better the engine can breathe the better mileage and the better it will run. Now sometime in the last two decades they added the interior air filter, a/c filter, hepa filter, or climate filter. Now the theory is great like your engine make sure the driver can breath and the car run better (haha). Okay this filter takes the air you bring in from outside and runs it through a filter, hopefully keeping you more comfortable on road trips perhaps with high wind or heavy pollution keeping that mess outside. Now that is great and I can tell you a lot of passengers have benefited. Kind of the auto industry standard of creating need where we did not know one existed, but now how can we live without it. Okay so what is my point...
Located behind you glove in 90 percent of the models is the climate filter, ask at your next service and the technician will show you. The filters range in price from 7.00 up to 55.00 for the part depending on the make and model, of course the aftermarket is cheap and you get what you pay for. I mean for 7.00 bucks once you see it, you might say to yourself why bother, I would agree. Spend the money for HEPA or equivalent filter or just don't do it. Okay anyway the snag is most shops charge up to 70.00 to install the filter, DO NOT LET THAT HAPPEN. This is a highly competitive item and if it needs replacement at all the price should be half that plus parts. Call around do you due diligence and have you shop match the price, again if they wont why are you going there? Now my blog is not a do-it yourself thing. A good fair shop will work with you and the price should already be something that feels fair to you, so maybe it is worth it to just let them do it, but please look at the filter, and then remember what the car smelled like before and was the a/c working up to par. Basically odor and a/c are the only areas this will matter for and I have been pulling my filter out about every 10,000 miles and banging it on the garbage can and then vacuuming it, hitting it with my favorite air freshener and I am around 45,000 miles. Not to mention I personally do not like someone going through my glove box anyway.
Okay my last note on the climate filter. This filter will get dirty, the shop will spare no dramatics in showing you the high level of dirt and debris that has gathered here. Use common sense, somehow we all made it to this point without this highly refined feature. Granted it makes sense, but it is a huge profit center and easy like 2 minutes easy to replace. Dealers and Shopkeepers I am sorry this is like asking customers to pay for air filter installs and wiper blade refill installation. Take care of us and we will keep coming back.
Added after post. So I should give a big, big heads up for some models it is vital that the recirculate versus fresh air setting are cycled correctly. If not hold onto your hats for a 1700.00 dollar plus bill. Here is a rule to live by, if you think it is going to break slow down, don't force it. If you have issues after a recent visit anywhere with a/c recirculate versus fresh like noise or flashing light contact your dealer, call me. I can help!
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