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We just returned from having the car’s oil changed. During the procedure, the service tech texted me pictures of my dirty engine and cabin air filters, offering to replace them for a total of $110, most of the charge being labor. I declined and picked up new filters for $25 from an auto parts store.
I found two short instructional videos on Youtube that enabled me to install them in less than ten minutes.
The funny thing is, the mechanic took the old out, then put them back in when I declined the service. Had the total price been in the neighborhood of $50, I would have been a solid yes, and it would have caused him no additional work.
Now I can afford to buy Chrissy something pretty!
Then there’s the dealer mechanic that told me my cabin air filter was filthy, and had a picture to prove it. Only I had changed the filter myself two weeks prior…. Never went back to that dealer….
I once worked in air filtration research. One of the things I learned is that removing and replacing an air filter introduces a lot of particulate matter into the air intake manifold. Whenever I go for “just” an oil change, I ask them to leave the intake and cabin air filters alone. Like Dan, I learned a long time ago how easy it was to replace air filters.
Maybe it’s different over your side of the pond, but here it’s always an oil and filter change, never just the oil. My mechanical skills stop at air, gas, water and topping up the little plastic reservoirs under the hood, so changing a filter sounds like open-heart surgery to me. You’ve earned that $85 saving 💰
It’s the same here. I was speaking about the engine ‘air’ filter, not the oil filter.
On this car, changing those air filters is a simple job.
When I was young and broke, I used to change my own oil. These days, the only way you’ll find me under a car is if I’ve been run over.
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