Hey all, I'm NOT a car guy at all. I've never changed the filter on my 2012 Hyundai Elantra GLS and I don't know which to buy. I googled it and 4 different air filters popped up, some that are the standard rectangle kind and then one of the circle kind. So I'm not sure. I have an amazon gift card so I was hoping to buy one thru there.

Does it matter if I just buy a cheap $10-15 one or is it worth it to buy like a $40 K&N filter?

Plz help

Here's a link to ones I found: http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/search/?N=0&Nr=AND%28make%3AHyundai%2Cyear%3A2012%2Cmodel%3AElantra%2Cpart%3AAir+Filter%2Cuniversal%3A0%29&PN=0&VN=4294962665+4294962661+4294941397+4294963841&domain=autopartswarehouse.com&query_type=Product+Results&Nr=AND(make:Hyundai,year:2012,model:Elantra,part:Air+Filter,universal:0)

And I also found a $14 Purolator one on Amazon

Just not sure what matters

This post was edited by AspenSniper on Dec 17 2013 09:28am

Just about any filter would do the job. Also if your car has a cabin filter I suggest u change that also.

This post was edited by charliemurphy on Dec 17 2013 10:11am

it does indeed.

Does it matter what filter though? I guess i'm asking, does the fancy K&M 50,000 mile filter actually make my car run better/last longer than would a $15 purolator?

Everybody has an opinion on if a K&N air filter adds any power. If it does its pretty negligible. Nothing you're going to feel in the seat of your pants anyways. But the upside to the K&N is that you can wash and re-use it, where as the others are 1 time use disposables

might also want to point out with a k&n that you have to spray it with the cleaner, let that soak a few minutes, rinse it with water, let the filter dry good, spray new filter oil on it, then you can put it back on. most people dont realize its not a 5 minute job to clean and reoil a k&n

Yeah that's a good point. Some people swear by them, I personally run whatever is cheap, and not fram.

i bought one for my s10 and after i wrecked it i gave it to my dad. i usually clean it up for him while we're changing the oil or something. its amazing how much shit sticks to those filters but thats kind of a bad thing too i guess once it gets so much build up on it.

e/ i never noticed any real world gains in mpg or performance either. it did give it a nice sound when you hit the throttle pretty hard though. thats about it as far as i could tell

This post was edited by JDH on Dec 17 2013 11:33am

With the way 98% of people are today with putting off maintaining their vehicles, I'd suggest most people to stay away from them for that reason.

Like the guys above said personal preference.I run oem replacement parts on my daily driven cars, but you'll be fine with the purolator if you decide on that.