Dealership cabin air filter replacement

The missus took the 2022 4Runner with around 20,000 miles on the clock in for its scheduled oil change today. She was given a picture of a really nasty looking cabin air filter that the service advisor recommended that it needed changed. I agreed. Except cost... $203 + change. I know sometimes these air filters can be trickey so I did some research.
When I was much younger I had a job as a parts changer at an Oldsmobile dealeship, and was witness to some really shady sh!t that went down there. Having that experience my advice to everyone is do not take your vehicle to a dealership for anything other than warrany or recall work.
I showed her some videos and she wants to change it herself.

Conclusion: Dealerships are maintanence scammers!

 

It’s a 15-second “job” from the glove compartment.

 

Yes, the dealership, iMO Got away with one with this.

Les than 10 minute job with no experience.

 

But they pulled and put it back in to get the picture.
I’m sure the pic they showed her was not the actual picture of the filter, just a dirty one
It’s one of those jobs I can’t imagine how they can get away with more that 10$ over the price of the filter.

 

It takes me longer to take the junk out of the glove box than to change the filter. I buy the filters @ walmart, frams I think...

 

They didn't get her, she said she'd sleep on it.

 

Commission is a powerful thing in the hands of some people.

 

It’s a no brainer job.

 

Dealerships aren't honest?
no way....

 

Of all the DIY things we can do on our Gen5's, nothing is easier than changing the cabin filter. Not tricky at all. Lots of YouTubes out there for steps to follow. Here's a pretty good one - see below. BTW, for $203, I hope it was made of gold (or these days, maybe copper? LOL!).

Watch this video, order a cabin filter and change it yourself. Amazon has lots of selections of brands, including OEM.

Good luck!

How To Change A 2010 - 2021 Toyota 4Runner Cabin Air Filter - Remove Replace Replacement Location - YouTube

 

I thought $80 at the Honda dealership for my wife's Civic was a ripoff...now it sounds like a deal.

 

I work for the company that owns Southeast Toyota. If a dealer is charging $203 just to replace the cabin air filter, that is too high. Typically, the cabin air filter is less than $100 installed. To say that all dealerships are a ripoff is not a fair statement. With that being said, there are those that take advantage of customers and that is unfortunate as it tarnishes the reputation of all dealerships. There are dealerships out there that charge a fair price for the work they perform. I would compare prices to determine who is and who is not charging a fair price for the work they perform.

 

The cabin air filter takes less than a minute to change. OEM charcoal filters from the parts department are about $20 and you can do it in the dealer parking lot like I did. I used their trash can for my old filter.

 

I hope to hell that included the oil change!! Wow.

 

Dealers and shops pulling this crap to change out the cabin air filters has been a scam for decades. I thought the public had wised up. At least shops here don't even mention cabin air filters anymore.

 

BMW replaces my cabin filter yearly for free. Toyota has always marked mine as dirty and needing to be replaced for the last 3 years and 30k. They obviously don't check because I put in a fresh one myself every year.

 

Not a ripoff? $100 installed? FFS that's highway robbery. You can apologize for the stealerships all you want, but a filter is $20 at most retail. Which is what, $7 wholesale to the dealer? And $93 for a 12 second swap? Fuck that. No wonder why everyone hates dealerships including yours.

 

If you had read my post correctly, you would have understood that I do not work for a dealership. I work for the company that owns Southeast Toyota Distributors which is the distributorship that sells new Toyotas and parts to all Toyota dealers in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

I said LESS than $100, not $100. Typically, somewhere around $69.95 to $89.95, depending on the dealer. The cost on the part is not $7 as you may believe. Maybe that is the cost of a cabin filter at Auto Zone but not for an OEM part and there is a difference. The labor cost is typically around $20-30. You may believe that is too high and if so, install it yourself. Many people do so.

Everyone loves to trash dealerships and some of them deserve it but last time I checked, dealerships are for-profit businesses and not charities. All of the freebies that customers expect cost money. The facilities are not free nor is running them free. Someone has to pay for that and that someone is the customer.

 

My stealership practically had a stroke when they realized I changed the cabin air filter myself. I laughed a bit and asked if they needed Toyota brand air for the tires too. They realized the fear mongering didn't work in that situation and stopped bugging me. They wanted seventy bucks to do a two minute job with a fifteen dollar part.

 

Last I changed in cabin filter from a dealership was 10 years ago. What a scam, one can do that so easily themselves.

 

Mine told me I needed transmission oil changed for my last Honda. I told them I changed it yesterday (which I had). Their face was priceless.

 

They usually replace filters every 15k of maintenance. I bought K&N cabin air filter.

 

There is a difference between a fair profit and ripoff.

 

Well Toyota doesn't have timing belts to sell now. Apparently replaced with transmission services. You would think 15 year old technology would have a dipstick. That's what someone should develop. Exactly why I don't use dealer. Besides the poor thing happening. It's commission based and everyone wants the money without the work. I want to talk to the person working on mine and watch. My alignment guy let's me be in shop with him and help. Believe half of what you see and none of what you are told. I Google a lot after that.

 

You are exactly right. Working at Toyota we didn't even get a good deal. My service manager said if you can't make money off your friends you certainly won't from you enemy. I have to say we were always honest about what needed to be done. They will give a doctor or lawyer best deal, free stuff warranty coverage and take last penny of someone who doesn't spend much. They know the doctor will be back to trade and won't be doing his own maintenance. Non regular customers won't be back except when they have to. I have accent and everyone thinks I'm ignorant immediately even if I know what I'm talking about so. Pisses me off

 

I'm in the wrong business. You're telling me I could make $30/min?

In all honesty, dealers should not even charge labor to replace a cabin filter. Buying the part at wholesale price and making the customer pay retail price would be the most it should be, if that.

I bet people would be more likely to get their car serviced at dealerships more often if they saw cabin filter changed, with labor free of charge for it. Dealers do not lose money by spending an extra minute changing a cabin filter, if anything they're more likely to have customers come back and dealer would profit from other services.

 

I used to get paid 0.2 for cabin air filter installation. All you have to do is pull glovebox down and its right behind the little snap off panel. It's so easy. They charged $30 to install and the price of the filter? I always got paid out of filter price.

 

^^^ That x 100.

 

My dealer was off the beaten path and they had coupons for everything to get your business

 

Absolutely. My wife returned from an oil change visit at a local Honda dealer. $80 to change the cabin air filter. Never went back.