I was visiting my mom's house in Florida and decided to take her car (a Mercury) to the dealer for an oil change. A year earlier I had discovered that her hood release latch was faulty and I could not get the hood to open unless I pulled the latch and then hit a bump in the road. But I had forgotten that when I went to get the oil changed. Anyway, after the oil change (with filter) I drove home about a mile and parked the car. The next day I noticed some drips and decided to pop the hood to check it out. Then I re-discovered I could not get the hood open. So I went for a drive and hit a speed bump, thereby opening the hood. I sorta wondered if the mechanic had some other way to open the hood. Anyway, when I inspected the filter I noticed that it was not all shiny white and new looking. It had a patina of black over it - perhaps an oily black. When I touched the black I could easily wipe away the black and reveal a shiny white area with my fingertip. The oil on the dipstick was an amber color and looked fresh and new. Sooooo... was this a new filter?