Yes, opinions vary on washable intake air filters, but this post is not about that 
Let's talk about cabin air filters. I can't see a downside to a washable filter. In the case of my Sonic, most any disposable filter is $20. The K&N reusable is $40. It seems like a no-brainer, but there isn't really any way to know the filtering efficiency (or any other useful spec) about any cabin filter.
So is this a pretty obvious choice, or am I missing something?
Do you really want your car to smell like K&N oil all the time?
The cabin filters aren't oiled.
It depends.. Is that like ode de wd-40? If so, yes. I love that smell.
Why do you even need a cabin air filter?
In reply to novaderrik:
Dust, allergens, general nastiness. The AC in your house has a filter, why shouldn't your car's?
It's a desert out there... lots of dust.
Derick Freese wrote: In reply to novaderrik: Dust, allergens, general nastiness. The AC in your house has a filter, why shouldn't your car's?
The windows in my house are open from sometime in may until as late as November..
In reply to novaderrik:
You can't do that down here in TX, unless you enjoy sleeping in a 100° house.
It is a miracle that we survived without these filters until someone finally figured out how much money they could charge for them!
I have to laugh cause everytime I take the car for an oil change, I am forced to look at my air filters being held by some tech who is telling me how their conditions is impairing my lifestyle and expectancy. " $50 for the new filter and $15 to install will improve your life". When I tell them I will pass, they seem perfectly happy to "Install" to old ones for free.
Go figure.
If you plan on keeping the car then I would.
Buy a bunch of disposable ones on Rockauto and replace every 6 months or so. They have an AC Delco for under $10 that has charcoal to remove odors.
I felt the same way about them. Like WHY? But the first time I took one out and looked at the dirt it held I figures, why not! Around here it seems that they last at lest a couple of years but of course it depends on how much you drive. On my mothers car (A 2007 model) I would bet the OEM one is still OK. On mine I'll replace it when the car hits 20-25K miles.
Three years and still getting lots of air flow.
Guess that is an advantage of living in the lower Adirondacks and having a garage.
novaderrik wrote:Derick Freese wrote: In reply to novaderrik: Dust, allergens, general nastiness. The AC in your house has a filter, why shouldn't your car's?The windows in my house are open from sometime in may until as late as November..
But do you ever drive your house through dusty construction sites or down gravel roads? 
Had the Blitz reusable cabin filter for the IS300, supposed to be rechargeable by leaving it in the sun, waste of money fell apart shortly. I just bought a good 3m hepa filter for the house and cut it to size. Recently came across some one close out from RockAuto so I loaded up.
pointofdeparture wrote:novaderrik wrote:But do you ever drive your house through dusty construction sites or down gravel roads?Derick Freese wrote: In reply to novaderrik: Dust, allergens, general nastiness. The AC in your house has a filter, why shouldn't your car's?The windows in my house are open from sometime in may until as late as November..
No, but I do drive my cars and truck down a lot of gravel roads.. sometimes just for the hell of it and at speeds that can only be considered "above the speed limit", and usually with the windows open because functional AC isn't something that I have in anything I own..
Also, my house is a block downwond from a heavily travelled gravel road that has about 10 miles of open farmland on the other side of it..
we sell alot of the paper ones, there pure profit margin and we only charge 23.50 installed. it depends alot on your driving conditions and amounts. some people need one about every 20k while we have other customers nearing 100k who have yet too need one. luckily i just take them out and hand them to someone else to try to sell if i feel it needs replaced.
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