The cabin air filter scam

[gadget73]

Three of us at work have trucks, my 96 S10, my cousin's 92 K1500, and the plant manager's 2018 GMC Sierra. The GMC is simply enormous for what is nominally the same truck as the K1500.

 

[SiliconTi]

Oh boy...

Just had my oil changed at a Honda dealer (treated me very well in the past). Tech shows me (my) filthy cabin filter - do I want a new one? "How Much?" $65 parts and labor. Umm, pass. So, I went to the parts counter - how much for a new one? $21. So, $40 in labor to replace a filter *he had in his hand and had to put back in*?

Not impressed.

 

[savatage1973]

Three of us at work have trucks, my 96 S10, my cousin's 92 K1500, and the plant manager's 2018 GMC Sierra. The GMC is simply enormous for what is nominally the same truck as the K1500.

,

I've had a few S-10's and liked them, as a small truck, but ultimately, I need a "big" truck to tow and haul, but my 2016 Silverado HD3500 quad-cab, w/8' bed, dually, 4wd, Duramax Diesel is almost ludacris in terms of parking. Yeah, it can tow a house trailer, but it is the size of one as well and cost more than one when I bought it--granted, I own the construction company, so MY "work truck" has the interior of an Escalade in it--I earned that, so if I want the heated steering wheel and heated leather seats, that's on me--I had to pay for it. BTW, the dog really likes the heated leather seats, and they come in handy for keeping the pizza warm on the way home

I fondly remember the days of working on a farm, where the old crotch that owned it used to buy "farm trucks"--always the heaviest duty stripped-down (plastic/rubber everything and no power-anything, and no A/C). 454 4/spd 4wd. He'd replace them every two years like clockwork--they'd only have a couple thousand miles on them, but they might as well have had 200K on them from the hell that they went through. I was 14 (not legal to drive yet) and took one (brand new with 32 miles on it) to pick up some hay-wagons. The farmhands loaded the bed to over the cab level and then daisy-chained 6 loaded wagons behind it. Low-lock 4wd, granny gear on the 4 spd, and red-line on the BB 454 and we were moving (it just shuddered incredibly as I feathered the clutch)--I have no idea how much weight we had on, but I made it back to the main barn. I wish life was so simple now.

 

[SoCal Sam]

I do all minor maintenance and parts replacements on my vehicle. Got tired of the oil change monkeys and dealerships trying to up charge my service ticket.

 

[savatage1973]

I do all minor maintenance and parts replacements on my vehicle. Got tired of the oil change monkeys and dealerships trying to up charge my service ticket.

Used to do pretty much everything myself, but now it goes to the dealer. No "Qwiky Lubes", or other franchises--back to the dealer. YOU sold it to me, YOU warrantied it, and YOU serviced it--done and over with--if YOU disagree, I have a lawyer on retainer. Done and over with.

 

[Dingman]

the ac smell is mold building in the ac evap. no cabin filter will help that but you can get a charcoal and or fabreeze filter which will mask it.

In high humidity the AC get condensation on it which drips out leaving the tell tale water puddle in the summer. IF the car is turned off and not used in warmth for a day or so, the mold grows. sometimes, a shot of lysol in the air intake will alleviate it. (get the scented stuff)

This is correct.
What I do is just turn off the A\C a block or two from destination. With the A\C off, and the coil not condensating, it drys out before parking. I sure couldn't say how much good that does, it's just a habit.

 

[gadget73]

ultimately, I need a "big" truck to tow and haul,

yeah its not a "real" truck, but it does what I need. I can tow my boat and fetch lumber and such. Its not suitable for commercial use. Its the perfect thing for someone who basically needs a car, but occasionally has to move a bulky item that isn't incredibly heavy.

 

[50nstillhifi]

Of course for the $ales person.. this is a plausible "add on" they are pushed to promote because it boosts sales. Sometimes it is an education for the car owner who never has heard of or changed out the filter.
Last I replaced was in a JEEP and it was filthy. Every year the vehicles in the Southeast are overwhelmed by pollen and they do end up in the cabin if no proper filtration system.
So this is a necessity to a degree to replace the element.. not sure if its well valued at double the cost of the filter... hmmmmmmm

 

[savatage1973]

yeah its not a "real" truck, but it does what I need. I can tow my boat and fetch lumber and such. Its not suitable for commercial use. Its the perfect thing for someone who basically needs a car, but occasionally has to move a bulky item that isn't incredibly heavy.

I 100% agree--mine were just fine for what they were, and they were pretty bullet-proof in terms of maintenance/longevity--no complaints at all.

 

[Harvestor]

This is correct.
What I do is just turn off the A\C a block or two from destination. With the A\C off, and the coil not condensating, it drys out before parking. I sure couldn't say how much good that does, it's just a habit.

We do this also

 

[savatage1973]

I first ran across the cabin filter scam when my wife got a new Honda Accord in 2014. After owning the car less than a year she took in in for one of the free oil changes that they had offered when she bought the car. She called me from the dealer, and I told her to skip the cabin filter change....... as they wanted some outrageous amount of money .... something like $60 or maybe $90 to change it. Once I looked online and saw how amazingly simple it was to change ...man..... it became apparent just how hard they were trying to gouge us on that one.

I'm sure all dealers do it, but I know for certain that Honda dealers do--my one good friend is the lead mechanic (basically shop-foreman) at a large Honda dealer. Everything is charged "by the book"--every "service" is assigned a given # of hours to be billed out at the shop rate. It may only take a good mechanic 10-15 minutes to actually do something, but if "the book" says 2 hours, then you get billed for 2 hours of shop labor, and the mechanic gets credit (paid) for 2 hours of labor. There are days that he has come over laughing about putting in 20-30 billable hours in a single day.

The other thing I take issue with are all the "disposal fees"--you pay for new tires, and then have to pay an additional fee for disposal of the old ones--same for all fluids--oil, coolant, tranny fluid, whatever--you pay for the new and then there will be a line-item on the bill for disposal of the old.

 

[Pio1980]

Itemized billing, it may be law almost everywhere now.

 

[gtxtom]

I'm sure all dealers do it, but I know for certain that Honda dealers do--my one good friend is the lead mechanic (basically shop-foreman) at a large Honda dealer. Everything is charged "by the book"--every "service" is assigned a given # of hours to be billed out at the shop rate. It may only take a good mechanic 10-15 minutes to actually do something, but if "the book" says 2 hours, then you get billed for 2 hours of shop labor, and the mechanic gets credit (paid) for 2 hours of labor. There are days that he has come over laughing about putting in 20-30 billable hours in a single day.

That's the flat rate system and it isn't all that great. For every 20 hour day I've had, I've probably had just as many 2 hour days - and that's being at work for 8-9 hours. The auto business doesn't just screw over the customers, it gets everyone.

 

[savatage1973]

That's the flat rate system and it isn't all that great. For every 20 hour day I've had, I've probably had just as many 2 hour days - and that's being at work for 8-9 hours. The auto business doesn't just screw over the customers, it gets everyone.

Yeah--I'm sure it has its way of "evening out". He is fortunate to work for one of the busiest and largest Honda dealers in our region, so he stays pretty busy, but I know the drill. I own a construction company, and there are days I spend driving to a site, going home and putting together a bid that may or may not be accepted, and I've just wasted a whole day (actually lost money on fuel and time I could have been actually working and getting paid), but you've got to play to win.

Same can be said for pretty much any commissioned sales position (and I include servers and bartenders in that group)--for every $400-500 Friday night, there is a rainy, cold, shitty Monday when you don't even make enough for a pack of smokes on the way home.

 

[ETLS]

Can someone tell me how do I change the cabin filter in my 1969 VW bug?

Get a '72 beetle.

 

[Bob]

this is the great American Experience.

that $40 air filter at oil changers/dealers/any-corp-out-2-kill gets
the service guy a $10 cash bonus
the service manager keeps his job another day til the next quota period
the regional manager gets a "acceptable" yearly rating and keeps his job for another quarter
the vice president high-fives his staff and gets his 6-figure bonus (we aint talking 100,001)
the CEO moves rapidly up the top 5% with bonus, stock options, warrants, re-up bonus, etc

 

[Wildcat]

Cabin filters were introduced in cars built after 2000 per Google.

My '97 has one. And I didn't even realize it had one until I'd read on a forum for my model that it needed to be replaced. I had quite a collection of random things hiding in there...and miraculously more air blew out of the vents after changing it!

 

[2011etec]

My 03 f150 didn't have one.My 13 edge does and takes 15 to change.Now that ive done it, maybe 5 to 10.Bought the edge because I could not justify buying a full size truck any more as ive actually used the bed only a couple of times a year ,nothing a 5x10 trailer cant do.The awd works great for the snow and logging roads I frequent with the boat or 5x10 with atv on board and the 285hp is more than adequate.Whom ever came up with heated seats and backup camera should get a noble prize,lol.

 

[Mrv8q]

Went into Firestone the other day for an alignment and was asked if I wanted to have my cabin filter replaced and I said no as I had just replaced it. The mechanic had not looked at mine but just assumed I needed a new one.

Which is why I date mine and add mileage with a silver Sharpie along the side, cabin air filter and air filter.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Watch a YouTube video on how to pull your own out from behind the glove box. It's about the only way to keep from getting screwed by the Stealerships. My car likely had the original as I just replaced mine yesterday, the original was plugged with dirt. Hard to imagine how the a/c worked at all.