Why Buy An OEM Air Filter w/ Pictures

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Changed the air filter on my 2018 Ford Edge today at ~14K miles. Replaced the original FoMoCo unit with an Ultra Power WA10048 purchased from Rock Auto. It is made in China and cost a bit over $4 with shipping bundled with a few other items. A filter from Ford would cost at least $10 more. I could not tell the difference between the two except for the two glue strips on the intake surface. Sealing gasket material, filter and size were exactly the same. I'd rather buy parts made in the US but I'm not stupid with my money either.

How do they do it?
 

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OEM only for me. The filter and media may look identical, but the efficiency could be way off. Worth considering. An air filter is your engines primary defense against foreign particles, and is worth the extra $ for OEM. That's my opinion anyway, certainly you can use whatever brand you prefer.
 
Everything on my 300ZX was "Nissan oem", all the way down to the wiper blades. Haha yep,I was that "purist"!! :D

On my Accord,I just grab whatever goodies The Great Wall has for me haha!! But one thing I always buy dealership oem is atf. Some transmissions are really finicky.
 
OEM's and aftermarket source their filters from major filter manufacturers. The Fram filter I bought for my truck is made in the same plant as the ACDelco filter.
 
How do the Napa Gold filters compare to the best out there? I've been using those since forever and never see any debris inside my air intake past the filter. Clean as a whistle, even doing the finger smudge test.
 
I had to get a Mann air filter for my 97 Volvo because Volvo discontinued making OEM units for the car. The quality difference is obvious to the naked eye. First the OEM unit paper is better, and the sound deadner foam on top is really high quality. The Mann replacement unit, it's just not made as well as OEM, the sound deadner on top is, well I'll say it crap. The OEM sound deadner is 1/2 inch of dense foam padding and the Mann units sound deadner is 1/2 inch of fiberglass.

$16.00 for the Mann and $20.00 for a Volvo air filter. I'd willingly pay the extra $4 for an OEM unit.

Edit: $16.00 is what I paid at Advance Auto same exact filter at Rock Auto is $9.11

It's not bad as it sounds, but no one makes a replacement air filter for this car at the same high quality level as a Volvo OEM unit.
 
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Changed the air filter on my 2018 Ford Edge today at ~14K miles. Replaced the original FoMoCo unit with an Ultra Power WA10048 purchased from Rock Auto. It is made in China and cost a bit over $4 with shipping bundled with a few other items. A filter from Ford would cost at least $10 more. I could not tell the difference between the two except for the two glue strips on the intake surface. Sealing gasket material, filter and size were exactly the same. I'd rather buy parts made in the US but I'm not stupid with my money either.

How do they do it?

It's $10.00.... That seems a bit silly. I'd understand if you were saving like $50 or something, but a China filter with unknown efficiency or something approved and sold by the OEM for $10 more, the OEM part would seem like the obvious choice 🤷‍♂️
 
It's $10.00.... That seems a bit silly. I'd understand if you were saving like $50 or something, but a China filter with unknown efficiency or something approved and sold by the OEM for $10 more, the OEM part would seem like the obvious choice 🤷‍♂️
And it just so happens the OP’s filter looks similar … but filters from Wix, Fram, STP, Purolator, AC Delco etc can be significantly different … I’m willing to use a non OEM filter if they are willing to publish the efficiency … OEM if not.
 
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Changed the air filter on my 2018 Ford Edge today at ~14K miles. Replaced the original FoMoCo unit with an Ultra Power WA10048 purchased from Rock Auto. It is made in China and cost a bit over $4 with shipping bundled with a few other items. A filter from Ford would cost at least $10 more. I could not tell the difference between the two except for the two glue strips on the intake surface. Sealing gasket material, filter and size were exactly the same. I'd rather buy parts made in the US but I'm not stupid with my money either.

How do they do it?
Assuming it's the same manufacturer the Ford product probably comes with a warranty and also contains the added expense of Ford being the middleman.

On an aside they may look identical but may have differences in construction such as the quality of the gasket and the glue holding everything together.
 
If you think OEM filters are the same as Chinese ones, check out ProjectFarm's youtube vid. Side note: K&N went down in flames.
 
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I use OEM air filters so I don't have to guess about quality and efficiency.
I use a restriction gauge so I don't have to guess about when to change it.
Last time I changed the filter, in my previous 2006 Toyota, the restriction gauge reached 11" at 43K miles (new filter 7").
The maintenance schedule called for 30K miles.
I'd hate to be breathing air that needed changing the filter at 14K miles.
 
Before I got an aftermarket intake filter.... I just buy Mann filters... one of the suppliers to VWAG. Same filter, no VWAG marking tax, likewise, the oil filter I use is Mann... same exact filter, no VWAG marking tax
 
Assuming it's the same manufacturer the Ford product probably comes with a warranty and also contains the added expense of Ford being the middleman.

On an aside they may look identical but may have differences in construction such as the quality of the gasket and the glue holding everything together.
Media also.
 
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