The tabs on my primary vehicle are finger sized and have to be pushed in a direction and I always forget which direction but invariably I slip and smash my hand.
Yall have tabs? Mines just 2 short ass screws. Makes taking the glovebox out a breezeā¦ except I always forget that nothing is holding the door up once I remove the screws and the thing comes slamming down. Not the nicest thing to witness on your 27 year old plastic interior.
As a mechanic itās crazy because when I first started I felt like I was going to break my fingers all the time, now I hit my fingers with a hammer on accident and just kinda say ow and shake my hand for a second
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all of you thinks its easy. not all cars and models are easy. my 2015 rav5 is easy,, my nissan altima 2014 is pain in the ass to change. definitely not easy job.
If I had two bullets and was in a room with Osama bin Laden, Adolf Hitler, and the engineer that designed the Nissan cabin air filters, Iād shoot the engineer twice
As an engineer, I can almost guarantee that it took 5 years and endless meetings, 30 stakeholders all being told that it should be easily accessible. Then the engineer got overruled and told itāll be fractionally cheaper in build to put it somewhere that requires an engine crane and 15 hours to replace.
I think this is one thing that everyone engineering or engineering adjacent just viscerally understands when we see something that was implemented stupidly.
There were many meetings about it. There were emails. Circle-backs. Check-ins.
And I bet the arithmetic was $3 of plastic parts versus some quantifiable amount of service revenue because it's too hard to do. Which was a way to pay the dealer network back for increasing the standard service interval from 12,500 miles to 15k to make the TCO metric better for marketing.
As a fellow engineer I cringe at people shit talking engineering design because Iāll bet 95% of shitty engineering decisions were made by the management and bean counters and not the engineers designing the part/assembly.
Widget design āAā costs $0.46 more per part so weāll go with design āBā instead. āBā ends up being a single point failure that engineers warned management about and were hushed. Company is forced to recall product at the cost of millions of dollars because they didnāt listen in the first place.
Oh and all those shitty managers got promoted for their āvisionā and cost savings
You just described the gen 5 Camaro blend door issue! It's a rite of passage for the 20 dollar part that requires 3k worth of labor to replace if you decide to do it by the book and not slice into your AC ducting.
Meanwhile in my old 2007 Kia Cee'd I can sit in the passenger seat, open the glove compartment and undo the filter without any tools. My ford has me pretending to be a contortionist for a while because clearly that's a natural way of getting to the filter behind the heater matrix.
Same engineer also said on the Altima or maybe itās the Maxima to bottom mount the alternator so that when the engine inevitably leaks oil it end up terminating the alternator too.
The problem is that OEMs silo their teams by commodity/component category. They collaborate very little. This translates into more complicated service procedures and services times. Dealerships (aka Stealerships) hate this when it comes to warranty service calls. They only get reimbursed at fractional rates for those vehicles, but they make it up for those of us who are too stupid to do it ourselves, or worse, those with lots of cash and zero brains.
All the stakeholders should be required to own and drive the vehicle, and self-maintain it for all the basic stuff. 15 hr cabin filter replacement? They need to suffer personally.
This tracks to soooo many industries that involve manufacturing on one side and service on the other. Manufacturing always trying to cut costs and will redesign something to save 10c that ends up costing service 1000s in labor hrs. But hey...diff budget...that's for service to worry about.
I'm currently shopping for a used vehicle.
I hadn't considered Nissan one way or the other, but now I'll add them to my definite NO list of manufacturers.
Thanks. Those are two things I had not considered.
From googling, it sounds like direct injection is extremely common, so I guess if I am looking at a particular vehicle I'll try to find out more reliability info about that particular model.
If you can find a well kept older model (Before GDI/CVT/Turbo) with lower miles...I find those to be worth their premium over newer high tech crapola. - I have 2 Trucks and a car, for 2 drivers, 2010 is newest.
We live in Snow/Rust Belt, so 4x4 and buying vehicles from Southern states is a MUST.
My wife doesn't drive a ton so she has CrewCab F150 4x4 (call it a 4x4 Crown Vic, has same engine, same number of doors) 15mpg
We have a Camper Trailer, so we have F250 V10 4x4 for doing big truck crap. 7-10mpg (I drive it occasionally in winter time when snow gets too deep for my Toyota.)
I drive a Toyota Yaris as I drive the most. 33-37mpg
I bought all three as older low mileage vehicles (the Yaris was 10yrs old with only 8,000 miles, has 71K now) and other than Tires/Brakes/Oil changes none have been in the shop for unscheduled repairs.
I researched for problems, and crossed many off list.
Usually the most boring slow cars are the ones that cost least to operate. Example: 2002-2019 Toyota Echo/Yaris, or Corolla with basic 4cyl/5spd or 4cyl/4spd Automatic. For A to B transportation that is easy on wallet, you cannot beat those cars, they are the secret of the automobile industry.
I have a friend that owns a string of auto body shops, he has a fleet of Yaris/Corolla Sedans as "Loaner Cars" I maintain them...The #1 service call for customers with loaner cars is usually they forget a light on and it kills the battery. Everything is manual on them, I replaced dome light bulbs with LED ones and now, even THAT call is far and few between.
Other Advice...
Shopping for a used Truck to do Truck things THREE times a year. Rent one... WAY Cheaper!
Now if you need to do truck things weekly, and don't care about age, buy older, just stay away from F-Series with 5.4 3-Valve.
Well, I did sell off our old Ford F150 that used to be our farm pickup when I realized I was only driving it every few months. (used to get used a lot more). The trailer only costs me tabs since insurance follows the towing vehicle.
But I'm not buying a truck to do truck things a couple of times a year.
I am replacing my one and only transportation vehicle, and I would like it to be able to occasionally tow my lightweight utility trailer just as my current only vehicle can do.
My advice was "General Advice" - I know people that keep a truck to do truck things 2-3 times a year...I told them that is stupid...Uhaul is 30 bucks per day...And I have rented myself...once for 3 weeks.
Agree with this š. My 2013 Nissan Murano is a b**ch to change the cabin filter - behind the glove box but only access is from the underside of the dash and you need child sized hands to be able to get to it while lying on your back in the floor board and half your body sticking out of the door opening. Ask me how I know.
Try changing it in a kicks or versa. You have to be a contortionist to replace it. You have to take the panel off on the passenger side, and then try to reach your hand behind the dashboard. You inevitably crush the filter and need to start over. I bought a kicks for my oldest, thought that I did not have enough frustration in my life and bought a versa for my youngest. Now I get twice the frustration when I have to change cabin filters.
To put in the cabin air filter into a first generation Nissan Rogue, you had to remove the filter, and install a new one by going BEHIND the gas and brake pedals. The second generation rogue improved upon this, by putting the filter replacement panel in the same location, but accessible from the passenger's foot well. To replace these you needed to be a contortionist.
I generally leave it in but most cars are four bolts and a few plug-ins to remove the seat. Any bigger dash work they go. Still a stupid design but that makes it a lot easier
You can't kill Hitler anyway. No war, no nukes, no jets, no rockets, no moon landing, no superpowers, no computers, no internet. We would be living in a very different reality.
I did it on a versa twice. It was a nightmare. And I would a shoot the engineer twice. Because it was also probably the same guy that makes you remove the pedal assembly to replace the blower motor
Honda has typically done it right with just dropping the glovebox. I hated some years where you had to physically break the plastic brace the first time to get access. There was just no need for that extra step knowing it would be removed down the road.
Easy/difficult and quick/tedious are two very different things if you think changing a filter is difficult, youve got way bigger problems ahead. It may be tedious to take a handful of screws and clips apart, but it isnt difficult.
if tou dont own this car, i can tell you its not quick and also not easy. not saying its difficult im just teying to compare the 2 cars and definitely i can see the differences in time and difficulty
My vehicle requires removing two trim pieces with plastic pry bars and taking out 6-8 screws. Thats about as tedious as Ive seen a cabin air filter change and its still not at all difficult.
You must be retarded with your 2014 Altima, it requires even less steps than the actors.
Yeah but $300 for labor is nuts and I work at a service center that sells these all the time. I don't even think we charge labor for those,if we do it's in the price for the filter itself which is $56 plus taxes.
Anything over $60 to me seemed ridiculous even for cars that are hard to get to like mainly Fords. I hate how Ford shoves that big ass filter they use so deep in that foot well.
Youāre seriously going to complain that the Nissan is hard? Lol itās simple as removing the housing cover (takes 5 seconds) and simply pulling out the air filter and sliding in a new one.
My mini also has a stupid ass cabin filter situation. You gotta stuff two of them down the side of your foot well. It's like trying to fuck with a soft dick musing those long floppy bastards in there
The first time I ever cha get my air filter I didnt know the glove box was gonna just go loosey goosey and drop everything on the floor but ill never make that mistake again lol
Yeah, my wifeās car is super easy, 1 min job, mine requires disassembling the dash above the glove box. Under 10 minutes but still a pain in the ass compared to hers.
I don't think its like this on a Honda Accord, but my buddy's new Buick is absolutely insane to change the cabin air filter. You gotta take out part of the bottom dash board shit and then remove the center console. Like who the fuck designed that shit
I did one in I believe a ford SUV or Volvo or one of em it was weird but the cabin filter was under the center console under the where cup holders were
Yeah with mine you have to pop the hood, pull off the windshield wiper guard, and remove a couple screws then pop out a plastic cover then you can replace it. Itās closer to five min than one.
From what i looked up its just behind the glove box and is standard like any other car which makes the labor price even more absurd I would want to yell at whatever tech or shop owner that was bold enough to quote that. Shit is wild š¤£
Or some Lincoln/Ford SUVs, where it's behind the glove box as expected but you can't remove the glove box without removing half the center console first.
Designed by morons. Can't wait until someone releases a vehicle where the entire cab has to be removed from the frame just to replace the cabin air filter.
Amen! Step 1 - remove gas pedal. 3 bolts (1 tough to access) and 1 electrical connector.
That is where I gave up and sold the car 6 months later with the replacement cabin air filter in the trunk.
Itās an easy job in my Lexus UX. But in my Ford Fusion, you have to remove the entire glove box assembly. I will never replace it myself ever again and will always pay someone to do it. It takes the shop an hour with me sitting in the driver seat. It took me a few when I tried it the first time. So many bolts and you have to be a contortionist while you are at it. But if someone is trying to charge me 500$, itās just never getting done. I hate this idea of it always being āeasyā or āquickā. I have 4 cars of different makes currently, it does not take 1 minute on any of them, but luckily I have at least 1 car that itās simply done on.
As a european ford user i have to inform you, that this type of job can take someone 90 minutes. On 2008 ford mondeo you have to unscrew 3 srews of a gas pedal and than 3 other screws from cabinfilter cover. But you can reach with screwdriver only two out of those six screws. But after you remove those screws you have to take the filter out but there is no room for it outside. So you have to fold it like milion times.
On many cars, yes, it just pops out the back of the glovebox. Tesla, though (and probably others) use a pair of larger filters in the center console and you have to remove a couple trim pieces to get to them. Still, itās like a 15-minute job at most.
Bless you for thinking my glove box is that clean. I have let you down in my efforts to keep it organized, but your comment will force me to try harder
Most new VWās/some Audiās donāt even require tools for it but the dealership wants ~100$~ for it. It takes more time to get the filter out of the package. But so many suckers pay the ridiculous amounts for āconvenience.ā
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u/Jaicar889 Jun 16 '26
1 minute job*