When you change your cabin air filter often, you get treated to fresh, clean air whenever you drive your Mazda3. Otherwise, you might notice the air smells and feels stagnant, taking away from your driving experience. Fortunately, this filter is easy to replace when you have the right part.
What’s the best cabin air filter for the 2020 Mazda3?
You can get an OEM cabin air filter for your 2020 Mazda3 for $34 from DiscountedMazdaParts.com. If you are looking for an aftermarket option, consider a K&N filter, which is under $45 on Amazon.
Is it best to use an OEM cabin air filter, or are aftermarket parts okay? What’s the ideal service interval for these filters? If you’re interested in learning the answers to those questions, we have the info you need, so you can start taking great care of your 2020 Mazda3.
How Often to Change the Cabin Air Filter in Your 2020 Mazda3
Unless you live in an area with a lot of pollen and other contaminants in the air, you should change your Mazda3’s cabin air filter every 15,000 miles or about 18 months. Otherwise, decrease the service interval to under 10,000 miles.
You can easily tell if your filter needs replacement by checking it at every oil change. Your auto tech can look for excess debris trapped in the filter element plus check for damage. If there’s anything wrong, then just replace it with a new one.
If you’re comfortable doing your own maintenance, you can check it yourself and even change it out as needed. You’ll just need to:
- Open the glove box and look for the clips along the inside upper edge
- Gently pry the clips loose on the cover and pull it down
- Squeeze the top and bottom tabs to pull the filter out
- Install the new filter by pushing it into place
Once you’re done with those steps, you just have to reassemble the glove box and close it up tight. Then, you can run your heat or AC to see if your new filter makes your car feel fresh and clean.
Aftermarket vs. OEM: Which is Better for Your Mazda3?
When you go with an OEM cabin air filter for your 2020 Mazda3, you can rest assured that it’ll fit perfectly in the slot and function as intended. All these filters are purpose-built for your specific vehicle year, make, and model to give you the best user experience.
OEM filters only remove basic contaminants from the air, like dust, pollen, and other large particles. K&N aftermarket filters, on the other hand, go beyond that by removing the smallest particles from the air, including germs.
You do have to pay a bit more for the improved filtering with K&Ns running in the $45 range. Beyond that, they usually cover multiple applications, which often results in a less-than-stellar fit.
They can save you money in the long run, however, since K&N cabin air filters are reusable. Instead of buying a $34 OEM filter every time, you just clean the filter element on your K&N.
The cleaning process does take a lot more time and effort than just throwing out and replacing OEM filters. You have to clean all the contaminants out of the element, let it air dry for hours, and then spray it with the refresher.
Overall, choosing between OEM and aftermarket cabin air filters simply comes down to your preferences. You really cannot lose, though, as long as you select the highest quality parts possible for your car.
