Cabin filter

Cabin air filter is solely for filter incoming air from vent to inside of the car /vehicle. It is not for the engine. I did not realize how important this filter was. A long time ago, a new customer came into our shop. He had 2000 Toyota corolla. His request was to install custom made in car filter. In these day, the cabin filter was introduced to newer car. This customer wanted to have this cabin filter installed in his car. He went to a few Toyota dealers, they said they can not do it. So he heard of us and came to visit us if it was possible to do it.
We could not guarantee if we can do it, but he wanted us to try. Well, we are able to make the pull out tray and adapt to use Honda Civic cabin filter for this application. Customer was happy and left our shop. About a few months past, this customer came back and told me the following story.
He has a health issue in breathing system. Every time he drives to long distance, every couple of hours, he had to stop the car, open the window and go out side of the car. But since we installed the cabin filter, he never had to stop the car any more. That summer, he had to go, 2 times from Ottawa to Toronto, and Ottawa to Barry. In both  occasions he did not have to open the window nor stop the car. He was very pleased.
By doing this job, it taught me the importance of clean air. I did not have any problem in breathing, so I did not realize how much it is  affecting our health. I have been a technician for a long time, before no cars had cabin filter. It is a good improvement.

The photo is one of our relatives' Vehicle, it is only 12-13 month old. This SUV was 2012, and we took it out in 2013. It is only a year old. There were couple of dead mice inside of this cabin filter, it looked like they created a nest. The customer was living in country side for a while. It is awful, but amazing. I think it is important replace cabin filter from time to time. (Kunio)