Despite what the technicians at your local drive-up oil change shop attempt to sell you, replacing a automobile’s cabin air filter is normally a really sure bet. Most cars’ cabin air filters are deep contained in the glove compartment or somewhere easily accessible under the hood, but sometimes automakers resolve to squirrel it away somewhere infuriatingly difficult to succeed in. Unfortunately, the latter applies to Volkswagen’s ultra-cool if slow-selling ID Buzz, which for some reason practically requires disassembly of your complete front of the automobile in an effort to replace the cabin air filter.
I loved driving the ID Buzz after I lived with one for per week, but now that I’ve learned how absurdly difficult Volkswagen made it to switch an easy part that requires relatively frequent substitute, I even have mixed feelings. When automakers do things like this, it forces most owners to take their vehicle right into a service center to have an easy filter substitute performed, which after all requires them to pay greater than they need to. Come on, Volkswagen, the ID Buzz is already expensive enough!
That is ridiculous
On this TikTok, a technician documents the lengthy means of swapping out the cabin air filter on a 2024 ID Buzz. First, you will have to pop the Buzz’s comical front service flap, disconnect an electrical connector, disconnect the windshield wiper fluid reservoir, unclip one in all the cables, ans unscrew two bolts against the bulkhead. Next, you will have to open the front doors to unscrew an upper trim piece from the side of the Buzz before unscrewing a bolt that fastens one other panel above the front hood flap and repeat that process on the opposite side of the Buzz. Once that is done, you lift that upper front trim piece off the vehicle and unplug one other connector from it before unfastening a cloth flap that covers the cabin air filter housing. Then you definitely can finally remove the panel that hides the air filter and replace it with a brand new one. When you’re done, you after all have to switch all the trim pieces you simply removed, plug all the electrical connections back in, reconnect the windshield wiper fluid reservoir, and shut the hood flap. It’s so simple as that!
Obviously I’m being sarcastic. This process is infuriatingly overcomplicated, and it leaves massive margins for error whether it’s misplacing bolts, scratching exterior panels, or reconnecting things improperly. I get that the ID Buzz is formed otherwise than all other cars in the marketplace, but I see no feasible justification for such a convoluted approach to locating the cabin air filter. One thing’s obviously: it’ll keep Volkswagen dealer’s service departments in business.
This Article First Appeared At www.jalopnik.com
