My wife and I put lots of miles on our cars, so my trips to the local autoparts store are starting to be a drag.
This might be a dumb question, but
do maintenance items have a shelf life?
I want to buy several oil filters, oil cases, and air filters at one time but I am worried that they might dry up or something of the sort. These items will be in my garage where the temperatures within a 24 hour period might swing from 80F to 30F during the winter or 120F to 60F during the summer. Will these drastic changes in temperatures hurt the air and oil filters? Will prolonged "sitting" times affect the oil?

Please...no laughing.

 

I have always thought of the same thing of the media in filters drying up over a long period of time in storage.. Is there any way to store the filters in the house? (I would never keep oil inside, because the first time you do you will have a leaky bottle)
But I'm sure the filters won't be affected for several months, after all some store may keep them on the shelf for a long time. I'm not sure how the oil would handle the storage.

 

The filter question is an interesting one...and I would like to know the answer also.

The oil should have a shelf life of several years though. You would be ok buying several cases of oil at a time.

 

Filters will dry out eventually. Oil filters will rust if kept in a damp environment. Everything eventually goes bad. The only way to find out is to do it.