I've got a confession to make. I don't like shopping for car parts. In fact, I always see it as an unnecessary expense that should magically fix itself. Guess what? Cars need air filters every 30,000 miles or so. I'm not a mechanic so I don't have a way to sell you an air filter over the web, but I can save you some bucks on either replacing or cleaning your air filter when the time comes. I've done the research so you don't have to.

1) Compare offers online. Since you are most likely reading this over the web, you can certainly take a look through the various auto part retailing websites. Just enter you car make and model and you should be all set to get an air filter delivered to your house in a matter of days. Online retailers generally don't pay for expensive real estate like other businesses do, so you might be able to get a good deal on one.

2) The junk yard. While you might think you are above visiting a junk yard, are you above saving a lot of money? Probably not. A quick stop in at the local junk yard might save you a lot of money compared to a new air filter. And, even better, this ties directly into point #1. A friend of my, Robert, needed an auto part so he looked online and found a junk yard. The junk yard shipped him a part that was almost new and he couldn't have been happier. Just cause an air filter is used, doesn't mean it's very used!

3) Consider not buying an air filter and saving all of your money. Clean it. Yes, air filters can be cleaned. In fact, if you clean your air filter, you can pretty much forget points #1 and 2. Clean out your air filter the right way and save all the money that you were planning on spending on a new or used air filter. However, cleaning your air filter isn't as easy as you might think it is. Find out how to do it once, and do it correctly.