CHARCOAL CABIN FILTER : 87139-YZZ10

[Hershey]

seen where you can purchase this filter through TOYOTA . Started selling it NOVEMBER of '09 . Costs twice as much than the standard cabin filter . Some TOYOTA dealers have 10% or 15% off parts and accessories . Can be found at their websites to make a copy . Figure the charcoal cabin filter be $34 or so with 15% discount .

[aca72]

Wow! That is steep.

I just get the aftermarket non-charcoal version at logical-source.com.

[Hershey]

would think the charcoal filter to last longer .

[JBougie]

O'Reilly auto parts has the regular filters for $11 .... unless the charcoal lasts at least 4x that, it's cheaper for the regular ones :/

Those damn cabin filters are expensive!

[Tatsh]

The difference isn't between the time. Both versions would need to be replaced when they get clogged with dust/dirt/leaves and whatnot. The charcoal version filters out odor as well, that should be the only difference between the two.

[Hershey]

you can vacuum out the regular filters with a crevice attachment . Clean the side where the air comes in . They last a little longer that way .

[b_hickman11]

O'Reilly auto parts has the regular filters for $11 .... unless the charcoal lasts at least 4x that, it's cheaper for the regular ones :/

Those damn cabin filters are expensive!

My O'Reilly's has them for $8.....

[cali yaris]

or make your own, it's easy:

http://www.microimageonline.com/csArticles/articles/000000/000053.htm

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Yup, made one for my sedan and my gf's Civic. Reusable filters ftw.

[JBougie]

My O'Reilly's has them for $8.....

They were out of the $8 ones the last time I bought mine; I forgot about those ones already lol

SO yeah - $8 is a HELL of a lot better than $35+. I just use a home AC air-freshener and cut it to fit into my cabin filter so the whole car smells wonderful :)

[Hershey]

called a TOYOTA parts department and the charcoal cabin filter is $29.99 ( may be less at different dealers ) . Then you can get an additional 10 > 15% off with a coupon found at dealer website . Not so bad. Should last longer than the standard cabin filter .

[sbergman27]

The charcoal version filters out odor as well,
Typically, activated carbon filters are of more interest to the marketing department of the company selling them than to anyone else. There usually just isn't enough of it to actually make a difference. Ditto with Fram's baking soda filters.

One might be able to make a filter-box with enough charcoal to be effective. A good source of activated charcoal is pet supply stores, in the fish section. Crunch it up to increase the surface area and pack it loosely in some sort of box of the right dimensions. Put a layer of 3M Filtrete(tm) on the top and bottom. (And see the thread(s) on this board regarding making your own cabin filter for more guidance.)

Then again, I could be wrong. If anyone cares to buy one of these, I might suggest a "highway skunk test" with the intake set to pull outside air. If it did seem to help at all, repeated tests over time would be interesting. Testing might be facilitated by anyone who happens to have a pet skunk whom they might be willing to loan out for the purpose.

-Steve

[cali yaris]

A pet skunk would have the scent organ removed. Nice try, though.

[sbergman27]

A pet skunk would have the scent organ removed. Nice try, though.
Depends upon the tastes of the owner, I should think. The possibilities of "intact" pet skunks for practical joking are virtually unlimited.

-Steve

[cali yaris]

Thanks for confirming that you're not for real. :wink: