Something I check frequently when I start working on a car is the cabin air filter. As you might guess, it filters the air you breath inside the car, as part of the heating and air conditioning system. Sometimes the filter’s pretty clean, other times it’s dirty enough to replace. Then there are those that should’ve been replaced long ago.

Just a little dirty.

Usually when we tell the customer that the filter is dirty, they’ll replace it. Sometimes I emphasize the extreme dirtiness of the filter.

Just dirty.

Customer didn’t replace this, but might’ve if he’d seen it.

Just a lot a bit dirty.

Not only is it pretty full of stuff, but it looks like some animal started gnawing on it. On our multi-point inspection sheets we have color coded boxes to mark for the conditions of various things. I marked this filter as red.

Just ew.

The worst I’ve seen, unless I was so disgusted by a previous one I didn’t take a picture. The filter has obviously done its job, blocking a lot of stuff, but it should’ve been relieved of that job long ago. The customer did get it replaced.

-Dan