The license plate renewal on my 2001 Subaru comes every December, and where I live we have emissions testing. Every year since I've owned this car, when the autumn weather first turns cold and wet, I get a (O2 sensor) CEL on my Subaru. I do all the auto maintenance I'm equipped to (both tool-wise and skill-wise) so the first time this happened I had hoped to change the sensor myself but I couldn't manage to break it loose. But to my amazement, the CEL light went out in time for me to get to the testing station and pass emissions in time to renew my. I've also discovered since then that I can do my emissions testing as much as 90 days before renewal is due. So now I make a point to get my emissions testing done as soon as I can remember in October, which is usually before it gets cold and wet. Problem solved except that as the years go by and the miles add up, my gas mileage also decays slightly. Now I'm getting 2 or 3 mpg less than when I first bought it (~80k miles ago), and I can't help but wonder if I might get some of that back with a new O2 sensor. I should note here that overall it runs well enough but idle can on occasion be a bit erratic and a handful of times it has stumbled when I got heavy-footed from a standing-start. But still, for a car with 220k on the clock, I am nowhere near thinking it's ready for the scrap heap. All that to get to this. Question #1: If it were you, would you let it ride as long as the car passed emissions and fuel economy wasn't truly horrible, or would you bite the bullet and replace the sensor? Or something else? Question #2: How do you deal with a frozen O2 sensor? I should note I didn't get especially aggressive when I tried to remove this one. I'd left is soaking overnight in PB Blaster but I only used an open-end wrench, not one of those sockets with the cut-out to avoid the sensor wire. And although I twisted as hard as I could, I didn't try putting a cheater bar on the wrench for fear of twisting the sensor in half (can that even happen?) or rounding off the hex surfaces. So what 'tricks' do the pros use for changing stubborn sensors? If I get the socket that's custom-made for the job, is there a risk of destroying the sensor before it breaks free (after which I'm facing an even bigger repair bill than just replacing the sensor)? I ask this now because I've got most of a year before I'm due testing again, so I've got a log of cushion if I were to try DIY-ing it now. And for obvious reasons I'd sooner not go ahead and cut the sensor wires and just go for it with a 'regular' socket until I know I can get the cussed thing out. So any advice, comments and jeers are welcome.

[h3]Hello:[/h3]2018 Vibe with low-mileage Recently, I noticed the Dash storage compartment does not shut and occasionally its contents spilling out on passenger's floor. I always fill its contents half-filled, then there is not causing 'too much papers' in the dash storage compartment. Any help on this issue would be truly appreciated. Thanks,