Made in China

[yeldogt]

Between my personal cars and business vehicles I have a bit of a fleet - currently fifteen - so the cost of maintenance is not insignificant. What I have found over many years of doing this is the same as every other endeavor ...........You get what you pay for. Without question the factory OE parts provide the best overall performance -- the question is ... at what price. The internet and the proliferation of "online dealers" has really leveled the playing field as to finding the best prices. Since I keep track of the milage and maintenance -- and we keep our cars for an extended time -- I am able to anticipate the parts need and normally have them on the shelf when the time comes - this allows me to order ahead and get the best prices and minimize shipping expenses. Buying this way allows me to get the OE parts when they are all averaged together for not much more than aftermarket and it removes all the guessing. So I was a bit disappointed when I got my Nissan order last week and found that the latest Nissan oil filters are "Made in China" .... My order from last year -- "Made in Japan". The new filters are not as heavy -- they look to be all metal --- but clearly not the same. The air filter is a bit suspect also - no country of origin on it -- but it is not as high a quality as the old one -- still better than Fram quality. At $6.00 they were a great buy -- now I'm not so sure. I should point out that Nissan always had two filters -- the dealers get an un-boxed bulk filter that I was always told were not as good but meets specification -- they were blue and sometime the online dealers would sell them for $3.00.

So -- is the OE boxed oil filter still a good buy at $6.00 ? The air filter is still better than the ones from Frams and the dealer price is a couple of dollars less -- so thats a no brainer. But it is disappointing that the quality is falling.

[Towncivilian]

I have read that some (all?) Nissan oil filter manufacturing has been outsourced from Japan to China, and a potential drop in quality could result. However, the filters are still, of course, built to OEM specs, so there is no reason to not run them for the scheduled oil change intervals. However, I do not believe they are worth $6/ea. Their efficiency rating is not known, and they use cardboard or fiber endcaps (not necessarily a bad thing, but most "high capacity," "extended drain," etc filters use metal end caps, presumably for integrity of the filter).

I do like Purolator PureONE PL14610 oil filters as they are often on sale for a reasonable price ($5/ea when ordered online from AAP), especially when combined with AAP's online discount codes. The efficiency rating for all of PureONE filters is 99.9% at 20 microns, but it appears that the PL14610 and PL14612 (shorter version of PL14610) seems to be rated at 99.9% at 40 microns instead. Despite this, the efficiency rating for these two filters @ 20 microns is still likely in the very high 90s, but I do not believe efficiency ratings are published for that micron rating currently. I sparked some discussion about the PL14610 in this thread on Bob Is The Oil Guy, and posted pictures of one cut open. Read here as well for discussion regarding the different filtering efficiency of these two filters. I currently have nine of these filters stashed in my garage. I believe the PL14610 will fit a QR25DE Altima L32s (4th gen) without issue (even though it's spec'd for PL14612, presumably to match OEM specs to the letter), so you can have slightly more filtering media that way.

I would stick with OEM air filters, I believe they're quite well constructed. Wix are often lauded as well.

[fueler]

The way I look at it, these durable Nissan engines aren't very picky about oil and oil filters.... i've been using plain old Castrol GTX (dinosaur oil) and generic chinese no-name oil filters since I bought it, and it still purrs beautifully at 200k miles. Buying expensive oils & air filters for a Nissan is like throwing money out the window.

[Towncivilian]

The way I look at it, these durable Nissan engines aren't very picky about oil and oil filters.... i've been using plain old Castrol GTX (dinosaur oil) and generic chinese no-name oil filters since I bought it, and it still purrs beautifully at 200k miles. Buying expensive oils & air filters for a Nissan is like throwing money out the window.

I would disagree about cheaping out on the air filters. They are arguably the most important filter in your engine. Dirt and other abrasives can enter the oil if your air filter is not up to par in terms of efficiency or allows unfiltered air to pass, and such abrasives are obviously unwanted and detrimental to engine longevity. An air filter lasts what, 20 to 30 thousand miles, if not more? Shell out the $17 for a filter every 2 years or longer (if the filter seems serviceable still) at least. As long as you change the engine oil and filter based on the severe service interval (3,750 miles) you will be fine with whatever. I know the VQ35DE engines are murder on oil and it shears quickly, sometimes out of grade, but I'm not too sure about the VG33E.

[Chuck Tribolet]

Fueler, you could do a lot worse than Castrol GTX.

But I don't cheap out on filters. The Wix air filter has about twice the surface area of the OEM. I posted pix here
a while back. And there are several sites where someone bought a bunch of filters and cut them open. Wix always
does very well.

[Towncivilian]

Fueler, you could do a lot worse than Castrol GTX.

But I don't cheap out on filters. The Wix air filter has about twice the surface area of the OEM. I posted pix here
a while back. And there are several sites where someone bought a bunch of filters and cut them open. Wix always
does very well.

Huh, interesting. I was planning on replacing my Pennzoil air filter (??? where did I get that one) with an OEM at some point, but I'll try to dig up your pictures and rethink my decision. EDIT: Found it! Great info. I'll definitely buy a Wix 46116 for only $8.95 shipped!

Wix does indeed make great filters in general. NAPA Gold oil and fuel filters are manufactured by Wix and are around the price range of the Purolator PureONEs and are also an excellent choice.

[yeldogt]

fueler - the point of my post was that you can get good quality at an affordable price -- $6 and $12.for the OE.


One point about the Nissan Air filter -- it still has the side reinforcements on the paper pleats. Most of the aftermarket filters do not have this as they use the same filter media for every filter -- just cut to different sizes and sealed with the top rubber.

The side reinforcement keeps all of the pleats together/ aligned and does not allow them to open up - this reinforcement is important in wet climates as the non reinforced filters will distort and open up. If you look at your filter and it is full of stuff stuck in the pleats or the pleats have opened - that is what is happening. The factory filter keeps the pleats together and the particles fall down in the air box. So in some situations the larger filter area is not a positive.

[Towncivilian]

The Pennzoil filter has side reinforcement. I didn't count the pleats, but it appeared to be around the same number as an OEM filter. Considering I live in Florida, do you think the lack of side reinforcement would negatively impact the Wix air filter? Also, what would the side reinforcing matter if it's locked in the airbox housing? This Pennzoil filter has been on for over 18k miles, and it hardly looks dirty.

On another note, the Nissan OEM cabin air filters also have 53 pleats, just like the OEM engine air filter. I guess Nissan likes 53 for some reason.

[yeldogt]

The pleats on the Fram filters separate more than one would think. How much of a difference it really makes -- who knows. Nissan obviously believes it important that the reinforcement be installed. Cars are sold all over the world with different warranties and expectations - I go to Africa often -- trust me they are not changing air filters every 15k and buying them for $10.00. The filters are expected to last and be able to be wiped off .......... It's dusty in the summer and wet in the rainy season.

My point in posting was just to point out my disappointment that Nissan is reducing the quality of the parts. Being able to purchase the OE parts at a competitive price to aftermarket was a previous no-brainer.

[Towncivilian]

I bought the Wix 46116 air filter from Amazon for $8.95 with 2-day shipping. I'll let you guys know how well it fits. I think that the side reinforcement shouldn't matter much once it's secured in the airbox, but we'll see. I like that it has double the pleats of the OEM filter, and is cheaper to boot.

[GRNMACHINE]

Made in China to manufacturers specs means I will buy something else. ZERO confidence in it... Sickening we cant even make our own food in this country anymore.... Chinese Drywall anyone.... Ridiculous

[Towncivilian]

The Wix filter seems like a significantly tighter fit - it's more difficult to snap the frame's clips back on the airbox. It has about double the pleats of the old Pennzoil filter, which looks hardly dirty. Should I use up the Pennzoil filter, or trash it and start using the Wix? I don't know how long the Pennzoil filter has been in use.