So ended up bored rattling around the house last weekend so decided to change the cabin filter on my 2012 Jetta Sportwagen. Selling dealer told me many maintenance items were performed to CPO the car after it was pulled out of TDI storage purgatory after sitting for ~1.5 years, but many other TDI'ers had noted some dealers may create phony invoices to CPO a car or make it more marketable. Mine they changed oil, DSG fluid, engine and cabin air filter, new battery, new wipers, etc.
Anyhow I figured cheapest and easiest "audit" of replace/repair items was the cabin air filter so popped over to Advance Auto and picked up a $20 Purolator One cabin filter and commenced to replace. Wish I had grabbed some pictures.
So the selling dealer definitely replaced the cabin filter and it was still usable, not much rubbish was caught in the pleats and no notable structural or pinch issues. I could have just banged out the rubbish on the ground but figured I already had 50% of the work done so might as well put in the new one, not going to hurt anything.
I was a little concerned when I first opened the Purolator box to see "Made in China" stamped on the filter because we all know the quality of things coming out of China can be questionable at times, fears were quelled when I laid it side by side with the OEM VW part and honestly it seems to be a better filter than the MANN OEM. Same exact # of pleats, same exact dimensions, Chinese filter felt slight more rigid than VW part and the Chinese filter had a foam sealing strip surrounding the perimeter where the filter goes in the box (excluding access door side) which the VW filter lacked. The VW filter presumably can allow to leak around the filter walls since it is lacking the foam strip.
Anyways I was honestly surprised the aftermarket seemed to be better quality than the OEM, maybe next change I'll buy both and get side by side photos showing the differences then just return the VW filter.
Anyhow I figured cheapest and easiest "audit" of replace/repair items was the cabin air filter so popped over to Advance Auto and picked up a $20 Purolator One cabin filter and commenced to replace. Wish I had grabbed some pictures.
So the selling dealer definitely replaced the cabin filter and it was still usable, not much rubbish was caught in the pleats and no notable structural or pinch issues. I could have just banged out the rubbish on the ground but figured I already had 50% of the work done so might as well put in the new one, not going to hurt anything.
I was a little concerned when I first opened the Purolator box to see "Made in China" stamped on the filter because we all know the quality of things coming out of China can be questionable at times, fears were quelled when I laid it side by side with the OEM VW part and honestly it seems to be a better filter than the MANN OEM. Same exact # of pleats, same exact dimensions, Chinese filter felt slight more rigid than VW part and the Chinese filter had a foam sealing strip surrounding the perimeter where the filter goes in the box (excluding access door side) which the VW filter lacked. The VW filter presumably can allow to leak around the filter walls since it is lacking the foam strip.
Anyways I was honestly surprised the aftermarket seemed to be better quality than the OEM, maybe next change I'll buy both and get side by side photos showing the differences then just return the VW filter.