This one has lasted 5 years and 95k miles, and it’s been under a toddler’s car seat. It’s not terrible, but it’s not clean either. Once a year should be fine, I think.
Changing it every year is overkill.
My Corolla’s filter was pretty clean after two years. I guess it depends—do you have kids or pets?
I use the Rav4 mostly for commuting to work. Our Armada is the family car, but the Rav4 does get used for toddler duties sometimes.
Could be where you live too. I’m in the inland Northwest, and I only drive 6-8k miles a year, but I still change the filters every year. They always look nasty from all the dust and wildfire smoke. Even if the hybrid batteries are using cabin air, I’d still check your filter.
Depending on where you drive, it should be checked every 16,000 km.
Blow or vacuum it quarterly, change it yearly.
Quick tip: don’t use compressed air. It just pushes the dust into the battery.
Just take it out and blow it off, like you do with the engine air filter.
Blow from the inside out? That would work.
Exactly, from the back, sides, whatever works.
Once every two years is enough, or yearly if you have pets or a lot of dirt around.
Do second-gen Priuses have these filters? My battery keeps overheating, and I couldn’t find one.
I don’t think so. It’s probably only for hybrids from gen 3 and up. The overheating issue was why Toyota added the filter.
Check out this video: https://youtu.be/WNo-VXJSg7s?si=6GazIqebL5eIp3Lt. The new filters after 2018 seem a lot better unless there’s something else I’m missing.
Just clean it every 5,000 miles, and if you want to replace it eventually, go for it.
After 2013 models, yes, before that, no.
You should watch that guy from the forum. He explains how spilling liquids in the back seat can ruin your hybrid.
It’s listed in the maintenance schedule.
There are a lot of different versions, so make sure you’ve got the right one when you go to get a replacement. Mine looked like a shoe insole.