I bought a Denso cabin air filter and notice that it had 30% less pleats than the one I was replacing (which I'm assuming was from Lexus.

 

You are overthinking it. Most members of this forum buy the filters from amazon based on price (Denso, Wix and a number of other brands) and they work just fine. Save a few dollars and don't worry about the pleats.

 

I use Mahle air and oil filters on my Lexus and Infiniti q45

 

The Mahle was $17.50 and the Denso was $12.5 so I went with Denso. Absolute garbage! The old Chinese made cabin filter that the Denso replaced was 2x the quality. Denso is a joke!

 

I refuse to be enticed to purchase aftermarket parts on my car a save a few bucks. Not worth the risk to downgrade my car. I'll just stick with OEM and not have to worry.

 

Good to see u don't use denso filters hate to see your car worth $2000. LESS because of the filter u use. I buy mine on ebay for 8.00 bucks and they work fine. That's cabin and motor filter. 8.00 each