Thanks for the info....my filter was original I guess!!! 112,500 miles. Looked awful!

 

theres a reason you shouldnt do this........the oem filter which you can buy from advance for like 30 bucks has a charcoal addative in it to keep down air inpurities. i work for a heating & air supply house and we sell these filters....even if you get a mono pleat (better filter) its still a throw away after a month the other filter is useable for 30000 miles! PLUS the diy filter wont trap all the particles you need i think the oem one is rated to .002 PPU. just my $0.02 that saving 10 bucks isnt worth my clean fresh air

 

I disagree, it all depends what filter you choose, and there's a whole lot more variety for home filters then for the car. Along those lines, I don't think cabin filters are somehow some super secret material that's better then home filters, it's the same stuff sourced from a filter paper manufacturer. If anything, the homemarket is a bigger market then the car market and you'll find more variety and have the option to get material that is even better than from the auto parts store.

I've seen the same fancy home filter materials like you mentioned that have activated charcoal/carbon, and you will still save money it you cut it down yourself.

One tip I'll add is you can ducttape the border to the frame to ensure that all the air flows through the filter material.

 

its not a theory or a guess here.......its about the ppu (particles per unit)they can hold in! some junky filter from home depot wont hold the same amount of particles in! its a fact not a guess! now i dunno if you cut a charcoal/carbon filter down and used it if it would be the same or not! i work for a heating and air supply house and i can tell you the difference between a throw away filter, a mono pleat filter, a charcoal filter, and a reusable (DONT USE THESE THEY ARE AWFUL) filter are HUGE! so you cant just go put ANY filter in and assume you'll get the same filtration!

 

OK, I see your point. Buyer should take some time to learn about different filters materials and don't buy the cheapest filter. But I take that still only as a warning. But the DIY is still valuable and worth doing. I still think that you can get the same, if not better material, from Home Depot and come out saving money. Sure, you can get really cheap (bad) filter material too and that is maybe not a good idea. But at least DIYer should have examined the specs on the filter package and saw the gajillion other filters next to it in the store with the fancier packaging and marketing and known exactly what they were missing by cheaping out.

So along those lines, I would claim that even if you get a cabin air filter sold as a car part, there are some that use worse filter material and some better(which tend to show up as price differences). And these come from big name part brands too. Don't think that just because it says made for a car that you are getting somehow some different special filter material (even if it's labeled as "OEM"). Moreover, the cabin filter material description is nowhere as detailed as for home filters, so you have no idea exactly what kind of material you are getting until it shows up (if you order online), and even then, you have to take a guess based on your eye and you can't know for sure what it really is.

 

Do you have the advance part number for this? Is it a fram filter? Thanks!

 

here is a link to it. but in case it doesn't work here is the info. Purolator Cabin Air Filter
Part Number: C35518

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...ype=10&PTSet=A

 

You don't want to use fiberglass filters correct?

 

man i need to change mine!

 

correct. u wanna use a carbon activated or charcoal filter. if u gonna be a cheapskate AT LEAST use a mono pleat or pleated filter. i just recommend spending the extra 10 and getting the carbon one from advance or where ever around you has them. not worth it to cheap out on this one

 

Whoa! Check out my dirty filter compared to what I'm throwing in there. ebay filter $15 delivered

 

Oh yeah, Car was 8 years old. Just bought it. I guess regular maintenance items might have been overlooked. I'd better bone up on my DIY skills.

 

they dont look the same

i found a cheap place to buy 2GS cabin filters from or any Lexus cabin filters for that matter
look up seller "aircabinman" (without the quotes)
no sense in making DIY filters anymore with his prices
lol
$8.9 + $3.xx shipping to canada

 

Thanks for that, i just ordered mine.

 

make sure they are carbon activated. better filtration and wont smell oddly like a dirty sock shoved in the vent. i clean or change mine every few months........just like my engine filter and my homes a/c filter. no sense in making these systems work so much harder by NOT cleaning them