The biggest advantage with the activated type is that it picks up odours so you smell less of the fumes from outside
If you don't care about those just get the OE
I switched to a Mazda 3 as a daily but I loved the CX-50, CX-5, and no doubt in my mind the Mazda 6 holds its place.\n\nThe layout under the hood was similar to my 13' fusion. Changing oil was easier, engine air filter was easier, cabin air filter was easier.
What car do you have? I used to drive a Ford C-Max and getting to the cabin air filter was insanely hard.
I found the cabin air filter that came from the factory to be pretty basic and low quality. When I replaced it with a better one I instantly stopped smelling the wiper fluid/other cars exhausts.
There’s a 3rd party cabin filter with a carbon layer on Amazon that is significantly better than the ford cabin filter. I haven’t noticed anything since installing it.
The why shupack answered, the fix if you care could be to try a third party cabin air filter. If there are any out there with a larger amount of carbon in them (carbon absorbs odor) that'd help. Replacing the cabin air filter behind the glove box is fairly easy to do and several YouTube videos on it. Cheaper than having the dealer do it, and 3rd party filters claim to be better. We did notice less smoke smell from the wildfires last summer when I swapped out from OEM to whatever filter I put in.
Ford Fusion is almost this with labor. You have to take a ton of trim and bolts off. Even take out the glove box.
Change your cabin air filter for the bad smell. Could be clogged as well causing less air flow.
Given that they're charging $95 for a cabin air filter, it's highly likely that they're overpriced.
I’ve changed the cabin air filter probably 4 times now, used a foam evap coil cleaner twice, ran Lysol thru the cowl multiple times, did a descent bomb in the car. At absolute best, this lasts for a couple weeks and then back to this gross mildew smell coming from vents.
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The brake pads OEM Alfa Romeo got the first review!
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For wiper blades PIAA already 100 reviews.
For battery Energizer already 25 reviews.
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For cabin filter Fram already 25 reviews.
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If choosing cabin filter across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare cabin filter across these categories:
In March 2026 on PartReview, cabin filter OEM FORD were overall better than OEM Mazda.
In March 2026 on PartReview, cabin filter OEM FORD were overall more popular than OEM Mazda.
By vote balance, cabin filter OEM FORD surpassed OEM Mazda:
By number of reviews, cabin filter OEM FORD surpassed OEM Mazda:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, cabin filter OEM Mazda led more car-specific ratings than OEM FORD:
OEM Mazda are chosen by owners of cars such as: Mazda 3, and others.
Cabin filter OEM FORD have not yet taken leading positions in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding a review and specifying your car.
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of cabin filter OEM Mazda with: Mann, K&N, Fram, Tesla, Bosch, OEM Volkswagen, Wix, OEM Honda, OEM Toyota, OEM Nissan.
Also available: comparisons of cabin filter OEM FORD with: Mann, K&N, Fram, Tesla, Bosch, OEM Volkswagen, Wix, OEM Honda, OEM Toyota, OEM Nissan.
You can also see who is better among other cabin filter manufacturers: Mann or K&N, Mann or Fram, Fram or K&N, Tesla or Mann, Tesla or K&N.
