According to surveys and personal anecdotes on social media posts, mechanics have often been found to overcharge women for auto service. Whether it’s “unnecessary repairs” or simply attaching higher price points for certain tasks, mechanics often see women as prime targets for a quick and easy buck.
It’s something a Los Angeles-based TikToker named Saika (@saika_delic) said she experienced after taking her car in for an oil change and seeing the mechanic make service recommendations she thought were overpriced .
According to Saika, the auto repair shop tried to charge him more than $300 in labor, parts, taxes and fees to change the cabin and engine air filters.
@saika_delic Today I’m Saika the mechanic 🚘 🔧 Don’t play on these streets #carairfilter #cabinairfilter #airfilterchange #auto #mechanic #diyautorepair #mercedes #mercedesbenz #airfilter #diycarservice ♬ DND – Saika
“Um, you’ve spoiled me if you think I’m going to pay over $300 just to change my air filter,” Saika says to start her video.
He explains that he recently went for an oil change, which normally costs him about $180. However, he says his estimate suddenly went from $184 to $545.57. When he questioned the new price, he was told the change reflected the cost of changing the engine and cabin air filters.
Hearing the explanation, Saika told the mechanic to just change her oil. She decided to change the filters herself because it was “quite simple to do,” from what she’d heard. He says he found a YouTube tutorial and got the materials from AutoZone because the mechanic also “tried to raise the price of the parts.”
The camera then cuts to Saika showing her AutoZone ride.
“We have the cabin air filter and the regular air filter,” he says, displaying two STP products before tying his hair back behind his head and preparing to do the air filter changes.
“Alright, let’s get into it. Today we’re going to be Saika the auto mechanic.” The video then cuts to her looking at the open hood of her vehicle; a Mercedes-Benz badge can be seen stamped on the plastic cover of the engine block.
“Now, how do I get this cover off? Yes,” he says as he touches the cover with his hand. “Okay, after watching a video, I don’t actually have to take it off. This is optional. I just have to take this guy off,” he says, pointing to another piece of plastic next to the engine block cover.
The piece Saika needed to remove was held in place with screws that couldn’t be removed with his hand screwdriver, but he had a box of different bits and screwdriver bits. After finding the right bit, he realized the screw was “too tight to do by hand” so he would need the power drill to remove it. However, since the drill was dead, he had to recharge it and wait until he had enough juice to complete the engine filter change.
So in the meantime, he decided to change the cabin air filter.
“Supposedly, [it’s] down here,” Saika says as she removes a section of floor under the glove box. Doing so exposes cables and plastic boxes, including a rectangular one designed to house the vehicle’s cabin air filter.
It seems to come off relatively easily, and Saika uses a screwdriver to help her pry the filter out of its plastic housing. Bits of dust and dirt fall from the cabin’s old air filter before the camera pans to it with both hands to finally pry it out of its casing.
“Oh yeah, the girl needs to be changed so you look at this one and look at the new one,” she says, comparing the cleaning of air filters.
It takes some fine tuning, but is able to get the new filter into the housing. With a little trial and error and more perfection, he successfully closes the cabin air filter housing cover in its plastic case, then refits the floor and carpet to the their original positions.
“This is for my girls,” he says at the end of the video. “And my good nails,” she adds, showing her hands to show that she didn’t chip or break her nails in the process.
He also posted a follow-up video where, with his newly loaded drill, he was able to remove the screws holding the engine air cleaner cover in place.
@saika_delic #stitch with @saika_delic saved me over $300, learned something new AND didn’t even mess up my nails. I feel like a boss #diyautorepair #airfilterchange #airfilter #carairfilter #autoservice #formyladies ♬ DND – Saika
Like the one in the cabin, the old engine air filter was full of dust that swelled up after it was thrown on the ground. Initially, he was concerned that the air filter he bought was not the same as the one he took out of his car, but when he opened the box, he was relieved to see that it had the same dimensions.
“Wow, I’m really killing it today,” he says as he walks back to the front of his car to drop the new air filter on the engine.
Upon seeing the interior of the home, however, he noticed that there was a lot of dust, so he decided to take a canister of compressed air from inside his home to blow away the extra dust and dirt.
“The fact that they charged me $300 for this is beyond me,” he says as he slips the engine’s air filter into its plastic housing. Once inside, he screws the filter cover back into place and closes the hood of his car.
“And we’re done. And that, ladies, is how you can save yourself some money. For you too”, he concludes.
In the comments section, one viewer suggested that if she didn’t want to do the job herself in the future, Saika should try Valvoline, an auto oil manufacturer that offers instant oil change services.
“Girl, if you go to Valvoline, they mail you discounts,” they wrote. “Especially during the holidays. it’s usually 10-20% or $10 off.”
Another commenter thought the air filter change wasn’t the only service the Saika mechanic tried to overcharge for.
“It should only cost $24 to change an air filter and the oil change shouldn’t be that much either,” said the viewer.
According to RepairPal, a cabin air filter change should cost between $63 and $85 for parts and labor, and engine air filters cost between $57 and $73. At the higher end of those estimates, that still costs about half of what Saika was quoted by the auto mechanic he took his car to initially.
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