The fuel filter of the car is a common and necessary part that protects your car engine. The main purpose is to protect the fuel injectors from damaging by the particles in the fuel. A fuel filter is not a lifetime auto part. Every car owner needs to understand its functionality and have it changed on a specific period. Otherwise, the filter will be clogged up by the dirt and particles from dirty fuel, both gasoline and diesel. The dirt may pass through the filter and fill up the fuel injectors nozzles. The car runs with the dirty injectors will cause the problems to the engine. The obvious problems you can find are something like lose power, uneven idling speed, darker fume, engine stalling, shaking, and so on.
It is not a part you can overlook. This cheap part can lead to different symptoms of engine failure. You or the mechanic guy may pay a lot of time and resources to find the cause. We are sure that it is a pain to pay for the expensive fuel injectors despite we can protect them with only a few bucks of the fuel filter.