Share the anger

[Kira]

I bought from my sister and brother-in-law their 2000 Acura RL w/160K. All servicing was done at Acura dealerships at quite a price.
The stack of receipts I have is impressive.

With no mention of CAF replacement I set out to remove it. I suppose it may have been included in some scheduled service.

The car has a 2 piece filter. The elements are cheap and flimsy and are set into two equally cheap and flimsy frames which hinge.

The aft frame was broken and had a side missing. Folded over Scotch Tape was used to secure things.

Not a huge deal I know but for Heaven's sake, can't Acura people perform such basic jobs correctly?
I expect monkeys without training or experience to be moved around any shop to free higher paid employees for other tasks...but c'mon!

Now I'll again go through the receipts and I'll betcha I won't find mention of CAF anywhere because the dealerships want to maintain deniability.

And don't get me started on the "decarbonization" treatments they sold my mechanically disinclined brother-in-law.

 

[WyrTwister]

CAF ?????

 

[JLTD]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister
CAF ?????


+1

 

[2004tdigls]

cabin air filter??

 

[Kira]

Cabin Air Filter, yes. The common, low tech CAF. I see the abbreviation used all the time here. Sorry for any confusion.

Another funny thing is that spending 46¢ more at RA (RockAuto.com) got me CAFs for 2 vehicles shipped to my door as opposed to 1 at AAP (Advance Auto Parts).

 

[mk378]

Homer Simpson:
Quote
That's BTO. They were Canada's answer to ELP. Their biggest hit was TCB.
That was how we talked in the seventies. We didn't have a moment to spare.

 

[windeye]

I share your anger... but don't let anger get into you. Over the years, I have had quite a few simple service issues with dealerships and repair shops. for instance, coming to dealership for LOF + tire rotation, but only oil was changed, filter was not touched, tires were not touched. Had the same thing happen at a Toyota dealership. Another Toyota dealer changed oil but oil was still dripping when I took car home (~5 miles) from the mess they managed to create. Another dealer broke the batter cover, and put back not telling me anything. Another dealer broke license plate light holder, not telling me anything....the list goes on an don. People don't seem to care.

 

[KrisZ]

Hence when I see "only dealer maintained" listed on the add, I actually am more suspicious of the actual maintenance being done.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

The flunkies that cause that kind of damage have their mind on beer thirty and payday. They have no work ethic at all because they came up in a system that tells them from day one that they are the center of the universe and everything they do is just AWESOME.

 

[Dave9]

It's a 20 year old vehicle, if it wasn't broken already then you risk breaking it yourself by doing any non-necessary maintenance.

Perhaps your air quality is poor and/or you have allergies or a breathing problem and certainly this justifies replacing the filter, as would troubleshooting low HVAC flow rate, but either way this is the thing about older vehicles. They are worth so little because in addition to big ticket items like engine and tranny wear, little things like this crop up to nickle and dime (IF you DIY, more like $250 a visit for...) owners who have shops do all their maintenance.

Anyway if this is all that was wrong then you have a great start towards a reliable, low TCO vehicle.

Use aluminum HVAC tape to secure and seal the filter/ductwork/etc.

It's not at all surprising that Rock Auto can undercut a local B&M auto parts store. They don't have the overhead, but also it is a lot less convenient to have to wait in the middle of a repair for something to come in the mail, and less convenient if the part has a lifetime warranty, which a CAF wouldn't but many Autozone parts do.

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by Kira
I bought from my sister and brother-in-law their 2000 Acura RL w/160K. All servicing was done at Acura dealerships at quite a price.
The stack of receipts I have is impressive.

With no mention of CAF replacement I set out to remove it. I suppose it may have been included in some scheduled service.

The car has a 2 piece filter. The elements are cheap and flimsy and are set into two equally cheap and flimsy frames which hinge.

The aft frame was broken and had a side missing. Folded over Scotch Tape was used to secure things.

Not a huge deal I know but for Heaven's sake, can't Acura people perform such basic jobs correctly?
I expect monkeys without training or experience to be moved around any shop to free higher paid employees for other tasks...but c'mon!

Now I'll again go through the receipts and I'll betcha I won't find mention of CAF anywhere because the dealerships want to maintain deniability.

And don't get me started on the "decarbonization" treatments they sold my mechanically disinclined brother-in-law.


Put yourself in their shoes. You are low man on the totem pole in the service bay, and you just broke the CAF of some customer's car. What are you going to do?
a) report your mistake to your supervisor and accept the consequences, which is likely to be a termination or sanction of some kind at the very least.
b) scotch tape it and tell no one; continue on with job just as before.

I'm not saying it's right, just that it's the reality of the situation.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

The flunkies that cause that kind of damage have their mind on beer thirty and payday. They have no work ethic at all because they came up in a system that tells them from day one that they are the center of the universe, everything revolves around them, and everything they do is just AWESOME. And if they experience failure, it's the fault of others, not them.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted by mk378
Homer Simpson:
Quote
That's BTO. They were Canada's answer to ELP. Their biggest hit was TCB.
That was how we talked in the seventies. We didn't have a moment to spare.


+1
Reminds me of a recent trip to Oregon.
I asked the 20ish cashier if they took "Amex".
She looked at me strangely like she didn't know what that was.
Only once I elaborated and said "American Express" did she finally clue in.

 

[Job]

A dealer tech at $150/hr or whatever doesn't spend time with scotch tape. They have a couple minutes to get a new cabin filter in and move on. Then to say maybe there was a cover up at the dealer due to they knew they used scotch tape, all I can say is "really?"

 

[meep]

I had to do one of these ... on a honda product .... either a gen 1 odyssey or gen 1 MDX. The whole thing would be easy except for this one cross member in the way. I don't recall. I saw that if I pulled hard enough, I could prolly get the filter out and around and it'd be a 10 minute job, but if I did it the "right" way it'd take an hour and a half. I took the risk and pulled. Something broke or bent. I swapped the filter and put it back together. whatever broke/bent wasn't critical. We continued to drive the car.

As the guy working on it, I made a risk/reward assessment, and identified if that part broke, functionality was still good.

Not that I want a professional to break my vehicle, but who wants to pay 1.5hr shop time for a $30 filter?

Ultimately, my complaint came down to the early implementation of CAFs before integrated design teams worked out the maintainability. I think most oems have figured it out by now.

 

[bullwinkle]

I'm still trying to find out how we survived in the old days without them, especially in the days of "460" A/C (4 windows down, 60 MPH). I've been tempted to take my chances & throw the old ones away (without replacing them)...

 

[Fawteen]

I'd just replace it and not fret over it. Out of all the things to be concerned over, it would be at the very bottom of the list.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted by meep

...Ultimately, my complaint came down to the early implementation of CAFs before integrated design teams worked out the maintainability. I think most oems have figured it out by now.


you'd think that...
this is basically what I was used to in my old Sable,(which didn't have a filter, but i replaced the blend door actuator above right above where it would have been twice) and My family's/friends cars that have CA Filters...
Car Care Kiosk - Ford Taurus cabin Filter.

Now, Check out CAF replacement videos for Ford Fusions, and Escape/Focus/c-max... the basic first step in both is to remove the entire glovebox. THE ENTIRE ASSEMBLY.
Car Care Kiosk - Ford C-Max Cabin Filter (Same as Focus/Escape)
Car Care Kiosk - Ford Fusion Cabin Filter

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy
Originally Posted by mk378
Homer Simpson:
Quote
That's BTO. They were Canada's answer to ELP. Their biggest hit was TCB.
That was how we talked in the seventies. We didn't have a moment to spare.


+1
Reminds me of a recent trip to Oregon.
I asked the 20ish cashier if they took "Amex".
She looked at me strangely like she didn't know what that was.
Only once I elaborated and said "American Express" did she finally clue in.

I was in a store recently that only accepted cash or Amex. I wished them good luck with that policy and walked out.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Most take Visa, Discover or Mastercard due to less fees. As far as the cabin air filter they are not a necessity. My 2014 Ford F-150 doesn't even have one.