How Important Is Your Cabin Filter?

Most people know about the oil filter on their car. Each time you have the oil changed on your car, they change the oil filter too. But, did you know that the cabin of your car has a filter also? This is different from the air filter and is actually referred to as the ‘cabin filter’.

The job of the cabin filter is to filter the outdoor air as it comes into your car. It works to remove allergens, particles, and other debris so that the air you and your passengers are breathing inside of the cabin of your car is clean.

In most cars you will find your cabin filter behind the glove compartment, and many times the glove compartment needs to be removed all together in order to get to the cabin filter. Whether you or your passengers have allergies or not, having a clean cabin filter is essential to ridding the air you are breathing inside of the car from rodent droppings, leaves, and other particulates.

• It is recommended to have your cabin filter replaced one time per year, or every 30,000 miles. But, you should check the owner’s manual of your car to see if it needs to be replaced more often.
• If you or your passengers have allergies, you might want to replace your cabin filter more often.
• Replacing the cabin air filter in your car can be a do-it-yourself project, but in the more upscale cars it is difficult to get to the filter because it is behind the glove compartment.
• If your cabin air filter is dirty, your air conditioner motor could burn up quicker because the system will need to work harder
• Most cabin air filters will run up to $30, plus the cost of labor

If you haven’t had the cabin filter in your car changed this year, or you didn’t even know you had one, now would be a good time to bring your car in and have the air filter inspected. The allergens in the air are very high during the summer months, and fall weather brings a lot of debris flying around.