gncndad wrote:This has to be one of the most entertaining threads I've read in a LONG time!
However, for those with sensitive noses, and anywhere but in desert areas, the odor of a 2+ year old filter is noticeable, and very unpleasant. All the organic matter in the filter, when humidity is high, can really come alive and create all sorts of bizarre fragrances.
YMMV...in desert areas, there's little or no organic matter, only dust and other very dry particles, probably very little odor of any kind.
Thanks for the entertaining read!
Glad we could entertain you
I showed my daughter the Russian youtube video and while she also got a kick out of it, she thought our '12 Leaf(which she mostly drives) could use a filter change

She said it kind of smells musty when using the HVAC, most noticeably the A/C. Now I've smelt it before in the summer(as I have on some other vehicles when it's humid out and I just assumed the evaporator coil(cold coil mounted inside of the dash) was full of moisture/water) but I always chalked it more up to just that, mold or mildew living on the wet evaporator coil and not necessarily the filter itself. People in the desert area probably don't experience condensate as much as us in more humid climates but it's always amazed me we don't have more of a problem with moldy evaporators. As the evaporator is deep inside the HVAC ducts, access is all but buried and no real way to clean it. I did see an episode of Motorweek where Pat Gauss mentioned using some sort of fogging method to spray from an aerosol can into the fresh air intake of the vehicle and it would presumably kill the mold/mildew and help eliminate the odor. Apparently, the best way to clean the evaporator coil is to dismantle the dash and HVAC system and spray the coil with bleach water and then fresh water but that method can cost hundreds if not more dollars, all due to accessing the buried coil
I guess in the case of my '12 I just might try one of those charcoal/fabreeze filters Leftie spoke about. If/when this happens I'll report back just how hard it was to do, whether the filter was actually dirty and where I was able to find the filter and cost. Looking at the OPs video it's not really a job I'm looking forward to but I'm probably too cheap to actually pay to have it done
