Tesla air filter question
Hello it’s been 2 years with my car and I am gonna replace my air filters. Do you recommend I just buy the oem Tesla ones or are there better alternatives out there? Thanks!
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Hello it’s been 2 years with my car and I am gonna replace my air filters. Do you recommend I just buy the oem Tesla ones or are there better alternatives out there? Thanks!
Hepa filter buy from tesla, cabin air filter buy from amazon.
Wait what’s the difference? I have a model 3. Are you talking about the cabin air filter and then the bio weapon filter that the y has?
The Model 3 doesn't have a HEPA filter. It has two regular filters inside under the dash. There are companies that sell HEPA filters for the Model 3, but I don't recommend getting them. Using a HEPA filter in a system that isn't designed for it will make the fans work harder and might cause premature failure. I have bought the regular filters on Amazon and they have worked well and are a bit cheaper than from Tesla. There is certainly nothing wrong with buying them from Tesla. You don't have to replace them very often, so a few extra dollars for OEM isn't that big of a deal.
Yes. Cabin air filter is inside on passenger side. HEPA filter is under the hood.
I used non-OEM "carbon filter whatever bs" for awhile but I was worried it was straining the HVAC fans so this year I just switched back to the Tesla-spec ones.
Strain the fans? Can 3rd party do that?
The filters are not bidirectional, and if you install them incorrectly they will cause unintended backpressure in the system and eventually your blower motor will fail, which is not covered under warranty if filters are incorrectly installed.
I had the blower motor go out on my 2020 P3D- a few months after I had mobile service come out to change out my cabin air filters.
(mine was covered under warranty)
How much is it for them to come out and do it?
It’s roughly $81 after tax. Hello, mobile service here. We offer a lot of services at your home or business. There is no up charge for mobile service. Whatever you’d pay at the center is the same as you would for mobile. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Mobile service for the air filters was $70 $34 was parts and $36 was labor.
Figured I was only going to save money on labor and didn't want to fuck it up, so I just scheduled mobile service.
Later when my blower motor went out, I think they had my car for about a week. (to replace the AC blower motor they have to take out both seats, the center console, steering wheel and dashboard to get to it.)
WOW. That sounds like a crazy amount of work for a part that will certainly wear out over time. I remember replacing blower motors on some of my old vehicles where you just access the motor from under the hood and replace it.
Do you happen to remember what the estimate was to replace the blower motor? It was probably a lot.
Around $1200 I think, and 90% of that is labor.
(when mine went out, it was not related to incorrect filter installation, though I was informed by the service advisor that people have, in the past wrecked the blower motor by using the wrong filters, or installing them incorrectly)
Doesn’t it tell you how to enter it?
People aren't very good at following directions.
In the Model 3, it is a bit of a tough call. First time i replaced mine I got them off of Amazon for about $20-$25 bucks for the pair (there are two of them you need to replace). Tesla OEM were $17 each at time.
I will say the OEM were way better quality than the cheap ones. Maybe buy better ones than I did.
Changing them is a bit of a pain in the rear admiral. Unlike a lot of cars where you just go behind the glove box, these are in the middle between driver and passenger. You have to remove a bunch of trim, move the high voltage line out of the way (nothing like that warm fuzzy feeling) and remove the service door which has some screws that are hard to get a screwdriver at, all while laying upsidedown in the passenger footwell. I ended up going to the auto parts store to get a bendable screwdriver. It wasn't impossible by any means, but way more difficult than replacing a cabin air filter has any right to be.
Second time I just paid mobile service like $65 to come out and do it (parts and labor included).
Here are the instructions on how to do it: https://service.tesla.com/docs/Public/diy/model3/en_us/GUID-DB0A1E3C-926E-498C-A2FD-A27B8421A471.html
Update: It looks like the changed the stupid screws to fasteners and eventually just tabs now, so it might be easier now. Mine was a 2018 so your mileage may vary.
I changed my model Y cabin filters few weeks ago. Have the car for 2 years, and the old filters didn't look too dirty.
You may be able to wait until 2.5 years to change it.
There is video on Tesla about how to change the filters.
Where do you live? Ya I dont know how dirty mine really are. I don’t drive in areas with lots of smog and smoke. But I’ve heard of people changing at 2 years and they were fine
I live in NJ, so it may be cleaner. I was thinking to replace that later. But since I have taken things apart, I decided to change the filters.
Hmm well I guess I’ll have to think on it. I don’t really think paying $80 to put air filters in is right. Every car manufacturer has made it easier while Tesla makes it difficult for the average person. My old Acura tl you had to take the glovebox apart but my old Acura tlx it was right there when you open the glove box you just slide open something and that’s it the easiest thing in the world. I don’t mind doing it myself but people are making it seem like I shouldn’t?
You should watch the video from tesla, is is quiet easy to do.
The only difficulty I had is pulling the cable on the left side. That was a bit tight and I didn't want to break it.
The hepa filter does most of the filtering so when the air recirculates the cabin air filter barely needs to filter anything. Helps more if you usually keep windows closed
my car is 1.5 yo, the AC started to smell like rotten fruit/wine for a minute after turning it on, it indeed came from the cabin air filter