I've read of other members on here making their own "homemade" HEPA cabin air filters. Home furnace filters are bought for around $20 at local hardware stores and cut to size and placed into the filter "holder". About four filters can be cut from a single home furnace filter. Questions: 1. What type of filters are you using? The ones made by 3M look really nice. 2. Aren't the 1" thick filters too thick to fit in the filter "holder"? Tips or tricks? 3. Can someone please provide detailed pictures of their homemade cut filter?
Once you cut the furnace filter out of the frame, the pleats will fit into the Prius air filter holder. After paying the dealer cost to replace the cabin air filter a couple of times, I used furnace filters in my '04 Prius since I also cut furnace filters to fit in my FJ. It works fine
Home Depot now carries Filtrete window AC filters that will save you the misery of having to deal with wire.
I have had great success stretching the life out of my cabin filter by just using a shop vac to suck up the larger debris off of it.
Don't pay a dealer. Get the filter online for $15 and do it yourself. The job is about as simple as it gets.