Nine years ago I touched off a flurry of hatred by having to resort to desperate measures to remove a too-tight oil filter. Lots of the commenters said I was an idiot, didn’t know what I was doing, etc.
I’d like to suggest that some quick lube places are fully taking advantage of their customers by offering to install air filters.
Last week we took our car to a local, trusted quick lube place and they asked if we wanted to replace our dirty, dirty air filter. The correct answer in this situation is, “No.” The offer for a new air filter, installed, was $35.00.
I went on to Amazon and ordered a new filter for our car for just $15. I also took the time to order cabin air filters (which the quick lube place didn’t check, natch) for another $14. And I installed said filters tonight in 15 minutes. Now, to be fair, I’ve done the cabin air filter change before. It’s easy, but you just have to know what to do. Same goes for the air filter: if you look up a help forum for your particular car, odds are good that you’ll find how to do it – and odds are just as good that it’ll be pretty easy to do. In the off chance that it isn’t, then… it might actually be a deal.
But for most cars the question comes down to convenience. I had to get my hands a little dirty to get this done, and I also wasn’t able to do it at the same time as my oil change. A small price to pay, I say.
Posted in Cars