Learning to Change the Cabin Air Filter! #cbias #FresherCar

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago my dad showed me how to change my oil. Then last week I found out Social Fabric was working with Fram and I joined their group! I mean, c’mon, it’s about cars, of course I joined. What I didn’t know when I joined was that they had a “shop” for an air filter!

Ha! Yes! I was going to learn to change the air filter in the car. We’ll come back to this “task” in just a little bit. Let’s just say I had a total girl moment.

My mom drives a 2008 Lexus and I love driving it! So much nicer than my 2001 minivan. I figured her car was a great guinea pig and she was all for it. So, I went to Walmart to find the right air filter for her car.

I started going through the Fram automated air filter finder and searched for my mom’s make and model. I searched through the list and found the right filter number. But I wasn’t finding the right one. This guy from the tire shop came out with someone else and asked me if I was finding everything ok. I told him what I was looking for and he told me the numbers would be the same from one filter to the next.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t right. The basic air filters have one number and the cabin air filters have another. Take note of the word “cabin” for future reference. I found what I thought was my mom’s car model and made the purchase.

The next day, as I was talking to my mom, I said, “You have the GS, right?” and she said, “No, it’s an RX.” Buddy of course was sitting right there and says, “Even ‘I' knew that! Her license plate…” Oh, right.

So, I headed back to Walmart and turns out that the reason I spaced the first time I was there was because the electronic finder didn’t have my mom’s model listed. Thankfully, they also have the Fram catalog right next to it and that had her make and model number. Second time was a charm and I walked out with the right one!

Dad and I headed out to mom’s car to change the air filter. lol Here comes my girl moment! He had the hood up and I was propping the box up to take pictures and my dad says, “Wait a minute! THAT’S not an air filter!” Oh boy, he was right. lol It was for the “cabin”, as in inside the vehicle! He’d never changed that one before so we were both going to learn a new lesson!

He got his manual out as I went inside and pulled up the Fram website to watch the video so we knew how to change the filter. Dad came inside and told me he found it in his manual. He’d never taken the glove compartment off before so he had quite the time trying to figure it out.

Funny thing was, once he got the door undone. he realized that he was just trying to hard. It was much simpler than he realized he was making it. Isn’t that the way it always is?
You should’ve seen our faces once he pulled out the old cabin filter which they had never changed (and we never knew existed). The filter was black, had various leaves on it and a dead moth in one of the grooves! Just gross! We inserted the new one into the holder, tucked it back into the slot and away we went! It was crazy easy! I couldn’t believe how fast it went!


My mom has allergies, but not at all like me and my kids. We all have seasonal allergies and as soon as it starts to warm up, we become the sniffiliest people! I have a feeling changing these out will do us a world of good when we’re out and about! It'll also help since my parents will have to help with baseball game drop offs and pick ups. The boys will be with them a lot!
Right now you can get a Fram Rebate. You can’t beat getting money back! You’ll also be able to see my entire escapade getting the right filter with my Google+ album. =)

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and FRAM #cbias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.