Is Replacing a Filter Really That Important?

Is Replacing a Filter Really That Important?

Remember that popular 80’s board game Trivial Pursuit? Everyone had that one topic they rocked at and one topic they were pretty much clueless at (at least I did). Well today’s topic is cars and the question is this (but you don’t get a little colored pie piece if you answer correctly):

  1. How much clean air does a car need to burn its fuel?
  2. 216,000 gallons of air is what the average sedan needs for each tank of gasoline.

Where in the world does all this air go? Alright, this is getting a little too hard for a friendly game of Trivial Pursuit so A-1 Nashville Transmission in, you guessed it, Nashville Tennessee, will take over from here. Transmission repair specialists for over 16 years, A-1 Nashville Transmission explains that the air passes through the filter which catches the dust and dirt. You know how your home furnace needs its filter changed every month to keep dust, allergens, etc out of your home? Well it is equally important to replace your car’s filter also (every 30,000-45,000 miles depending on your car’s recommendation).

Okay, I will admit it. I am not as diligent as I should be at replacing my home furnace’s filter so when I finally do, my first response is, “Oh, yikes. That’s pretty black. Maybe I shouldn’t have waited so long.” Well you should have the same mentality toward your car’s filter also. That said, when your car filter isn’t changed, the result is disastrous because when the filter is full of dirt it does not work any longer which means that all the dirt and dust it should be catching starts accumulating and collecting on your car’s delicate airflow sensors.

And back to Trivial Pursuit…Q. What is a mass airflow sensor? (Just kidding. No more game playing; we’ll give you the answer.) The airflow sensor measures how much air gets to your engine. When not working properly due to the sensor reading being off (due to you not changing your filter) your car’s engine does not get the correct amount of air it should, thus causing it to not run as efficiently as it should since it is not getting the proper amount of fuel.

If you don’t mind paying a couple hundred dollars to replace your mass airflow sensor, go ahead and call A-1 Nashville Transmission for an appointment. But wouldn’t you rather call A-1 Nashville Transmission to have them replace your air filter for only about $15-$25 depending on your car’s make? I think we both know the answer. To put it into perspective, if you keep up with your 6 month dental cleaning visits (maintenance) then it will save you hundreds compared to not going to the dentist regularly and then finding out you need a lot of dental work done ($$$) to fix the years of neglect. By comparison, a damaged sensor will cost a ton more than if you would have kept up on your car’s regular maintenance and replaced the filter. Actually, you can purchase about two cases of air filters for the same price as one sensor.

So next time your car is in the shop and the gentleman working on it suggests replacing a filter that looks rather dirty, don’t think he’s just trying to get more money out of you; he’s trying to save you money in the long run. Remember, your car needs a new filter to run properly. There is a reason A-1 Nashville Transmission has been serving the Nashville area for over 16 years…because they are honest and know cars…they know your car.

They also know that when your filter is dirty, it is not doing its job of catching the dirt in the air. When this happens, the dirt passes on through to your engine and is eventually burned along with your fuel causing harmful emissions in the air. That said, we want to keep the air quality in Music City clean for our lungs, right? Yeah, we thought so.

So call A-1 Nashville Transmission for an appointment today and have your filter checked. For more information about A-1 Nashville Transmission, please visit


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