Best Fuel Filters: Fuelish Behavior

Top 8 Best Fuel Filters

This is a slightly difficult list since virtually every vehicle on the road takes a different type of fuel filter. Unless you’re driving a GM product from the ’90s; experience shows they all used roughly the same one from about 1990 until about 2008. Also, know that there typically aren’t service intervals for the replacement of these things – generally, when they go bad, you know.

Anyway, enough storytime. The options on today’s list are grouped as apples-to-apples options for a car representative of the typical daily beater. Others exist, so make sure you check your specific application before mashing the Buy Now button.

We're breaking from tradition with this list and arranging our selections from most to least expensive. While it is true these types of parts do sometimes have different internal gubbins that affect their performance, a lot of people simply buy on price. Use your discretion.

This is listed as a factory OEM part from Honda, partially explaining its price which is two or three times the cost of others on this list. The seller asserts this is not an aftermarket part and the reviews seem to bear that out in terms of OE fitment. Back in the day, Honda used to have an advertising tagline that read "Don't open your hood to strangers." which totally wouldn't fly today.

Priced at about two-thirds the cost of the OE Honda filter, this K&N option has been reviewed by more customers yet retains roughly the same overall star rating. The ad says this filter's cellulose glass media traps contaminants such as rust, dirt, and other crap.

Real-world feedback says that, in some applications, the u-groove into which this thing sits (basically its mounting bracket on the car) doesn't fit snugly. The best advice is to gently file down the bracket instead of manhandling the filter into place.

Reviews of this filter are fair to middling, despite is being far from the cheapest option presented here (for that filter, scroll down to the bottom of this post). As always, it pays to read the feedback - something we hope separates our commerce lists from those of other sites.

A couple of respondents reported foreign material in the filter upon arrival and were content to ship it back for another one. Two others said the product didn't come with those all-important crush washers that are shown in the ad. Some, meanwhile, had no problems at all.

This brand sometimes gets a bad rap, with more than a few urban legends about poor build quality floating around garages in this country. Your author thinks this may be due to the sheer number of Fram products purchased by DIYers, given their wide availability at big box stores.

However, going by our own experience - which is positive - and that of people who bothered to leave reviews on Amazon - also positive - it seems most of those stories are just that; stories. A 4.8 out of 5-star rating is stellar, even if it is only from a small sample size.

GK-who? GKI, apparently. There isn't much to go on with this ad, since the seller only describes this filter as "OE quality media for high engine protection." Dimensions are provided for the unit itself but not for the fuel line outlets.

The mix of feedback is odd, swinging on a wild pendulum between fulsome praise and outright indignation. Some say it doesn't fit the vehicle for which it is listed, while others complained about it arriving in destroyed packaging. When installed on a car on which it does fit, however, comments were positive.

With plenty of pictures to accompany the ad, there's no little excuse for buying this and then finding out your car has an in-tank filter. Seriously; that's some of the complaints about this product. Failing to do a bit of research is hardly the filter company's fault.

Still, there is a point to be made about cars being listed for which this filter does not fit, so those clueless DIYers may have a bit of a point. Your author is still of the opinion that a quick Google search will confirm the basic shape of your car's specific filter.

The intentional misspelling of the word 'guard' notwithstanding (yay marketing!), this seems to be a very popular product. it's sub-$10 price probably has a lot to do with that, though its lengthy product description doesn't hurt, either.

This is one of the few filters on this list that purport to have been tested by its manufacturer, save for the OE unit at the top of the page, and a couple of other big-name brands. The inclusion of exotic supercars in these ads is always hilarious, especially when the part is for a beater Honda.

Despite bearing a well-known brand name and collecting a near-as-makes-no-difference perfect 5 out of 5-star rating, this is the cheapest filter on this list. That might be due to its slightly different construction (fits older Hondas than some of the other filters listed today) but equally cheap options exist for other models that have under-car instead of under-hood fuel filters.

Praise ranges from "no reason not to buy this" to "fit well and price was reasonable". The ease of installation was also mentioned by several DIYers. Yes, there are only ten reviews, which is an exceptionally small number.

From time to time, TTAC will highlight automotive products we think may be of interest to our community. Plus, posts like this help to keep the lights on around here. Learn more about how this works.

(Editor’s note: This post is meant to both help you be an informed shopper for automotive products but also to pay for our ‘90s sedan shopping habits operating expenses. Some of you don’t find these posts fun, but they help pay for Junkyard Finds, Rare Rides, Rental Reviews, and whatever else. Thanks for reading.)

[Main Photo Credit: Doug McLean/Shutterstock.com. Product images provided by the manufacturer.]