Third Coast Auto Group Official Blog
How Often Should I Replace My Cars Cabin Air Filter?
By Product Expert | Posted in Tips and Tricks on Wednesday, August 30th, 2017 at 3:51 pm
It’s finally the weekend and your excitement for the annual family retreat to Willow Point and the cabin on Lake Buchanan rouses you from your slumber with the rising sun. You scramble some eggs while the bread toasts, and then sit on the back deck and enjoy a solemn breakfast beneath the warm sunrise. Breathing in the fresh morning air, you take the last sip of your coffee and decide to start your weekend of leisure by washing the car while everyone else sleeps. After all the suds have been rinsed away and the Chevy Suburban sparkles like a diamond under new day sunshine, it’s time to tackle the interior. You open the rear passenger door and climb inside with your trusty vacuum hose in hand and are immediately hit in the face with the foulest odor man has ever created. You attempt to filter the filthy smell by breathing strictly from your mouth while you scurry out of the vehicle. The smell is so terrible you consider lighting the Suburban on fire and replacing it before anyone wakes and is any wiser, but better judgement takes over and you attempt to pinpoint the abomination and remove it without force.
Why Should I Regularly Replace My Vehicles Cabin Air Filter?
A brief retreat into the garage for big yellow rubber gloves, your kids swimming lessons nose clip and a dust mask and you are ready to re-enter the beast’s domain. Intent on extracting the offensive odor, you remove every piece of trash, wipe every possible surface and vacuum like you are going for the world record. Believing that everything possible has been done, you bravely remove your mask and nose clip and proudly stick your head into the vehicle and take a big whiff, and it’s still there. Feeling utterly defeated and beginning to briefly reconsider burning the Suburban to the ground to rid it of the odor, but you choose to ask your smartphone, “What’s that smell in my car and how do I get rid of it?” And Google shows you about 6 million articles on “how to get the smell out of your car” and the common denominator that you missed is replacing the Suburban’s cabin air filter. So you quickly find how to replace and where you can purchase a new cabin air filter for your Suburban from the trusty internet, and you are on your way to pick it up with some air fresheners in no time.
Talking with the helpful salesperson at the auto parts store, he tells you that it is recommended to replace the filter at least once a year or about every 20,000 miles. You explained to him your morning exploits and how you have never replaced the filter in the eight years that you’ve owned the vehicle. Once home, replacing the air filter is easy and the old one looks like it was used to clean a chimney and smells like a sock at the bottom of a gym locker. It is safe to say that you found the root of your problem and your weekend getaway has been saved, take a break and get yourself some ice cream.
