How Often To Change Cabin Air Filter For Toyota (Camry, Corolla, Highlander)

Have you ever wondered how often do you need to change a cabin filter on your Toyota?

Or what is its function and how to recognize that it has to be replaced?

You are at the right place to find out the answer to these questions and everything you need to know about cabin air filters for your Toyota vehicle.

So, how often do you need to change the cabin air filter on a Toyota? Toyota recommends that you do it every 15,000 to 25,000 miles or once a year. But depending on the air quality of the area you live in, maybe even more often.

But let’s get a bit more into the details about change frequency and why you have to change it, and for starters what this filter is and why your Toyota has it.

What Is The Function Of The Cabin Air Filter?

Every air filter is filtrating the air, and the cabin air filter cleans the air that enters your vehicle cabin through the air conditioning system.

It is one of the passive systems in your Toyota that greatly improves the quality of life with your vehicle, and which is often overlooked during the regular maintenance of a vehicle.

It removes dust, pollen, and other particles and fumes from the air before it is introduced into the cabin of your Toyota.

Just like your engine air filter, it works because of the phenomenon that very thin fibers have an electrostatic effect.

How Often Do You Need To Change Cabin Air Filter On Toyota?

The general cabin air filter change frequency recommended by the manufacturer depends on the exact model of your vehicle (Camry, Corolla, Sienna or Highlander) and ranges between 15,000 and 25,000, or once every year, whichever comes first.

But, depending on the environment where you drive your Toyota, you might have to change it even more often.

If you live in an area with particularly high levels of air pollution or pollen, or if you drive it very often on the dry dirt roads, you may have to change it every 10,000 to 15,000 miles.

What Happens If You Don’t Change The Cabin Air Filter?

If you don’t change the cabin air filter the quality of the air in it will drop.

First, the particles and the fumes which it should catch will become present in the cabin.

Eventually, your air conditioning system will become less and less efficient as the lower volume of air will go through it.

In other words, using the car will become a much less pleasant experience

Read also: How Often Do You Need To Change The Engine Air Filter For Your Toyota

How Much Does Toyota Cabin Air Filter Costs?

Replacing the cabin air filter on a Toyota at a dealership usually costs between $30 and $70.

If your vehicle is still covered by a warranty, this fee is covered partially or fully.

In case that you prefer to change it by yourself, you should know that a replacement filter price ranges between $10 and $20.

Replacing it is a rather simple procedure and it doesn’t require any special tools.

While it varies between Toyota models, most often all you have to do is to open the glove box and remove the single Phillips screw that holds its hinge.

Behind it, you will find is located the filter housing, which you just need to pop open and replace the filter.

The cover has ramps on the bottom that fit into slots on the housing and push filter in the proper position, but also ensure that you can’t put the cover back in the wrong orientation.

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What Are The Symptoms That You Have To Change The Cabin Air Filter?

The very first symptom of a cabin air filter that needs to be replaced is the smell inside the cabin.

As the filter is unable to catch the particles and fumes entering from the outside, the cabin will start smelling like the air around your car.

After that, you may notice that the cabin is slowly becoming dusty, and that dust is accumulating on various plastic surfaces not present before.

Eventually, if the filter is very clogged, you will notice that the airflow rate when you turn the AC to blow on max is not what it used to be, as less air can pass through the filter.

How to Replace Cabin Air Filter 2019 Toyota Camry >> Check out the video below:

Bottom Line

The cabin air filter is one of those things on vehicles that people, in general, don’t pay enough attention to.

They clean the air which is introduced into the cabin by the AC system, and that way greatly improves the experience of driving the car.

On Toyota’s, they need to be replaced every 15,000 to 25,000 miles, or once every year, though if you live in an area with a lot of pollution, you should change it more often.

Changing the filter at a dealership is not very expensive and is usually covered by a warranty, but it is simple to do, and you can roughly cut the expense to half by doing it yourself.

References

https://www.ackermantoyota.com/blog/toyota-engine-and-cabin-air-filter-replacement/