Check your Cabin Air Filter Today!

I put in a decent filter and make sure it is kept relatively obstruction free (vacuum it from time to time, clear leaves, etc.) but to me it seems borderline stupid to change it unless it gets moldy or torn. When the weather is decent, which is most of the year, we drive around with the windows open. That filter does zero when it comes to the air quality inside the car. It only becomes a concern during times of hot summer driving or cold winter driving when we are forced to have the windows up all of the time.

 

What's all this weird phobia about NOT changing a simple filter?!

I see the most ridiculous comments on this website! What else do you people "skimp" on? The engine air filter, too? 10 years old??? Do you never inspect or change your home furnace filter? Never clean the AC ducts in your home? Never check the AC filter? Never have your chimney swept? Never empty the dirt collector (or install a new bag) on your vacuum? Never empty the whiskers out of your electric razor??? I can't believe the laziness and cheapness I'm seeing here! Does your bathtub have a big nasty black ring around it, too?

You guys & gals plunk down $25-$35 grand for a Prius, and then whine & complain and come up with every stupid excuse to not buy a simply-installed $5-$12 cabin filter? Some Prius owners are dumb as dirt! One less trip to Starbucks and you just paid for your new filter. I change mine 4 times a year! And you wouldn't believe how nasty that thing looks. Oh, but it's not torn... maybe I should just leave that crappy sh*t in there! LOL!

And maybe I should drive with the windows down all the time, and suck all that dust right into my hybrid battery vent! Riiiiiiiiiight. Along with all the dust/dirt/pollution/car exhaust that comes in the windows. You drive with the windows always down, and you had better be vacuuming your interior and cleaning that traction battery vent twice a month. 2 years later, nearly 35,000 miles, and my interior still looks brand new.

Windows UP, enjoying my AC, changing my filters... and just driving it.

 

> yawn <

 

1. I don't do Starbucks
2. I make my own filters for the battery intake fan grille and keep it clean religiously. I'm not sucking all that dust into my hybrid battery vent. Do you have a filter on yours?
3. The car interior gets cleaned regularly.
4. In 1.5 years we've put 25k miles on our and it looks as good as the day we bought it.

I'm not coming up with any "excuses" to justify failing to buy something that is totally unnecessary most of the time in my car.

 

2. His 2016 Prius has a factory filter for the battery vent. Does yours??

 

No. I missed that he was a new member with a different generation car posting in the generation 2 forum. I'm sure, though, that the filter on the fan intake is a lot more effective at keeping the fan clean than a filter located multiple feet away and not directly to the intake. Unless, of course, his car is airtight and then he'd better worry about running out of oxygen if the a/c is on recirculate and it's a long drive.

 

troll. relax.

 

I also made my own battery fan filter. Funny, though, when I checked the fan a couple of years ago, after never checking it at all, it was extremely clean, but since I was in there anyway...no great feat to make a little filter.

Helps that I only haul the hound around in my husband's Camry!!

 

I love the idea that a paper towel would do however NASA would not agree. With the world sharing the air in the international space station it was clear charcoal filtration was needed to abait the the recirculating of flatulents of one crew to the next let me be clear the easiest way to deal with the odors and the health risks of driving through un-monitored air-quality is to use a charcoal filter that is changed often. Find yourself a cheap source and change it often


iPhone ?

 

If you want to extend or increase the filtering, you could also cut a carbon filter sheet to fit and it can sit on top of the cabin air filter. This is what I used:

 

you guys know about this one Toyota makes right?
And you also know you can order online Cabin air filters and change for just $10? Remember using conditioned air helps keep the battery working under optimal conditions.



iPhone ?

 

Thanks for this reminder. I need to check to see when I last replaced mine. Used to live out in the country and replaced it frequently due to lots of dust, but haven't been as careful now that we are back in town.

 

Not only that, but when I checked mine last, I discovered mice had turned it into a nest. Pulled half the fuzz or if the filter, and chewed holes in the gray foam.

 

Thanks for sharing the info with us.

 

anyone have experience with this $8 filter?

 

What $8 filter????

I use the TYC -- around $4 from Rock Auto and numerous other sources. Works fine -- almost as good as my damp paper towel.

 

You're supposed to change it?

 

I only used to change it when the mice peed on it, or they chewed through it. Which, was every few weeks.

But, since I screened off the car, they do not seem to find their way in there anymore. Or maybe the soybean smell wore off the wiring and they are longer attracted to the car.

Now, mostly, all I do is pull out the filter, smack it against the ground a few times and see if I can see a decent amount of light through it. If so, back it goes.

 

I think prairie and east coast air has more particulate? I swear you could still dine off our Engine Air Filter, seems near-new at 74K kms.

(I'm likely repeating myself... )

 

anyone know the size of gen2 cabin filters off the top of their head?