I agree that Mahindra branded filters are a bit over priced. I recently replaced all of my filters with Wix filters, which are available at a number of auto parts stores. The original filters on my 2816 were unmarked, not even a part number or manufacturer. This leads me to believe that they are of questionable quality, as unbranded products do not claim to meet any quality standard. They are unmarked to prevent you from cross referencing to other brand filters. The Mahindra branded boxes at my dealership mostly contain unmarked filters as well, although one, the engine oil filter, is a Mitsubishi branded filter.
I agree that the contents of the filter can will greatly vary between brands, and that some major brand names offer nothing more than a famous name to a filter that minimally meets the quality required by the application.
I retired from the railroad industry, and after servicing 3600 hp locomotives for 30+ years, I have probably changed tens of thousands oil and fuel filters. We change the filters every 3 months. Each engine has seven 6 inch diameter by 36 inch long oil filters in a large filter housing as well as two spin on filters for the turbocharger which are larger that any automotive filter I have seen. The two spin-on fuel filters are just as large. It was common to service five to ten locomotives each day.
Now that being said, it does not make me an expert on the quality of any specific brand of fuel or oil filter, but it does provide me with a lot of exposure to what brands are used. The brands that are used are high quality industrial brands, not inexpensive brands that you get at *** Mart. The two brands that I have seen most often are Wix and Baldwin. I trust these two brands more than any others.
I can guarantee one thing: Mahindra, as well as Case, Ford, Kubota, Mitsubishi, John Deere or any other OEM that you may think of do not make the filters on the equipment that they sell. The filters that they use are the minimum quality that meets the specification and are lowest price filter that they can buy. I believe that most dealers do not want you to know what filter is used, so they will get your business, and will do their best to dissuade you from using other filters by brining up the quality issue, something that they themselves now little about.
Fleet owners look for quality and economy. Cutting corners on filters and fluids, while reducing initial cost, can result in catastrophic failure in the long run. My advise: use the best quality commercial filter on your application. Learn what the OEM specification calls for as far as flow rate and filtering media, and meet or exceed those standards where you can.
