Air quality has certainly become a hot issue in our modern Poway world. We install air filters on our ventilation systems and in our vacuum cleaners. There’s a filter that cleans the air going into our Vehicle ’s engine — so why not one for the air in the passenger compartment?

Foreign and domestic auto makers haven’t been ignoring the issue. Cabin air filters are becoming a standard feature on newer vehicles. These filters can clean particles out of the air down to three microns, which accounts for pollen, dust and most pollutants. Poway drivers who suffer from allergies or have a respiratory disorder should be a lot more comfortable. And even if you don’t have a medical need for the filter, the cleaner air in your car just might help you breathe better, figuratively as well as literally.

Cabin air filters are still fairly new in Poway , so you’ll have to check your Vehicle owner’s manual to see if you have one. If you do, your routine car care will have to include changing the filter as part of your important preventive maintenance. The owner’s manual will give recommendations on how often the filter has to be changed, but if the air where you live in California is particularly dirty or if you’re prone to hay fever, you may want to change it more often.

Your Friendly Poway Auto Repair service professional can also offer suggestions on how often to change your cabin air filter in your Poway area. They’re the ones who actually see the dirty filters, after all.

There is no standardized location for cabin air filters. Poway drivers can usually find them in the Vehicle engine compartment or under the dashboard, but they might be somewhere else. So the ease of changing the filter will depend on its location. Some are readily accessible, but others make you wonder how they got installed in the first place. Bring your car into Poway Auto Repair and we will locate your cabin air filter for you.

However, if you have a newer Vehicle , it’s good auto advice to find out if it has a cabin air filter. If it does, you should change the filter regularly. A sure sign that a filter needs to be changed is that the interior of your Vehicle will start to smell bad. That smell is exactly how some Poway car owners discovered that they had cabin air filters in the first place!

Cabin air filters are just one more way we have to stay safe, stay healthy, and stay on the road in Poway.

Here is a questions for brilliant Poway drivers What is a cabin air filter?

Is it:

1. A filter for a house in the middle of the woods?
2. A fresh, piney scent?
3. A filter for the passenger compartment of your car?

Clever you, it’s 3.

A cabin air filter cleans the outside air before it comes into the passenger compartment. It filters out dust, pollen, spores, bacteria, pollutants, sparrows, harmful exhaust gas and odors.

These high tech filters can block particles larger than 3 microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns.

Now not all vehicles in the Poway area have cabin filters. They are fairly new on the scene in California. About forty percent of new vehicles come with cabin air filters, but the number is growing every year.

Cabin air filters can make for a very nice driving environment for Poway car owners. Your car can be a haven during California allergy season with very little dust and pollen getting into the cabin. However, like all filters, your cabin air filter eventually gets clogged. When this happens, your heating and air conditioning flow can become restricted. The filter can even get kind of smelly.

Poway Auto Repair
13907 Poway Rd Suite A
Poway, California 92064
(858) 748-0561

Check your vehicle manufacturer’s owner’s manual for recommended replacement intervals. Often, the owner’s manual forgets about the cabin air filter, so ask your Friendly Poway Auto Repair technician for a recommendation. It’s usually every year or 12,000 miles/ 19,000 kilometers. Change it sooner if you drive in dusty Poway conditions or if you start to notice an odor from your ventilation system.

So, Poway auto owners, keep your cabin air filter clean. It may not help with your brother-in-law in the backseat, but it will make your driving experience more enjoyable.