Watch This Cabin Air Filter Replacement Process And Feel Rage Well Up Inside You

Ask anyone who's ever done their own maintenance on their car: filters should be quick and easy jobs. Anything that's meant to prevent crud from entering the engine or cabin should be simple to access, require basic tools at most, and achievable within, say, half an hour if you're moving at a snail's pace.

However, that's not always the case. European cars often get a bad rap here — in fact, changing a Porsche Panamera's engine air filter practically requires disassembling the entire nose of the car. Generally speaking, most people might think that Japanese and American cars are a different story. They've been designed to have easy access, and some don't even require tools to replace, especially if you're changing an old cabin air filter that's getting the kibosh.

But you'd be wrong to make such an assumption. In fact, sometimes it can take a solid hour or more to change out. Especially with certain vehicles of the Ford family. If you don't believe us, watch this cabin air filter replacement process and feel the rage well up inside you.

This Short published by Indiana-based Rohrman Toyota on YouTube perfectly encapsulates why a cabin filter replacement on a late model Lincoln sedan is particularly arduous. It's downright disturbing.

Firstly, there's an immense amount of clips and fasteners that need to come out to get to the filter's location. As many DIYers may agree, and commenters point out, you have to be extra careful in ensuring they're not broken and are properly re-installed. Otherwise, that could result in unwanted squeaks and rattles down the road.

Then, there's the sheer amount of interior components and panels that have to be removed to gain access — before getting to its general location, bits of the center console have to be removed to make room. Finally, once the target is acquired and removed, one has to remember where fasteners went, how interior pieces are put back together, and more. It's frankly absurd to follow service manual instructions — or remember to snap plenty of photos during the disassembly process — here. But it's necessary here for those who are doing this job for the first time. Or maybe even the second.

One commenter put it perfectly by saying "mechanics exist because engineers suck at their jobs," something their professor told them during the second semester of engineering school. They bring up a good point: which freaking engineer designed it this way?

It would make a little more sense if there was just too much to package in this particular region of the vehicle. But it almost looks like the mechanic is pulling off panels just for the sake of pulling off panels. Perhaps the engineer had a vendetta against mechanics? 

It should be said that not all Ford/Lincoln models are so difficult in this department, which makes this job seem even stranger. The mechanic then shows us what's involved in replacing the cabin air filter in a Toyota Corolla in less than 20 seconds. That means zero labor for DIYers and a (hopefully) small charge for the dealership or independent shop (again, hopefully).

As someone who's replaced cabin air filters on newer American and Japanese cars plus older European cars — including ones that are known for being overly complex in other ways — this author can't help but shake their head. If you possess similar experience, you'll feel the rage well up inside you while watching the cabin filter replacement process on this particular late model Lincoln.