My '97 Civic HX is a commuter which I'm really happy with. Recently topped 104K (!!!) and am having a couple issues I could use some help with.

Wore through a spot on the driver's seat fabric and am starting to wear the foam a bit. What's a good solution? Fabric cover? Drop in a used seat?

Jackass knocked my driver's side mirror which seems to be hanging by the power control cables. Is that a tough DIY fix?

Got a check engine light which I asked my local oil change place to diagnose for me: O2 sensor. Called a couple local dealers and got a range of "bring in immediately" to "bring in on next oil change." How urgent is this, since I can't get a straight answer from the dealer... No idea if this is related, but I started to get a squeal upon startup.

 

For the seat issue, I would try to find a used seat. I have a thread in the For sale section about a guy in Philly parting out a 99 Civic. Where are you located? I may be able to pick it up for you.

To replace the side mirror, it isn't that hard. You just have to remove the door panel, remove the cover which is also on the door above the actual door panel (a small triangular piece) and them remove the three nuts/plastic clip (if not already ripped out) that should be holding the mirror in. Then, put it all back together in reverse order. If you get a Haynes/Chilton manual, it should be able to walk you through it.

For the CEL, try and find out which o2 sensor went bad. It's either the primary or secondary. Almost any shop should be able to pull the code and let you know. Having a bad o2 sensor will hurt your MPG, but nothing extremely noticeable.

The squeal that you mentioned most likely has nothing to do with the o2 sensor. Maybe a belt which needs to be changed?

 

Welcome to HCF!! i Also have an HX with over 233k mile's! still running strong, i just intalled megan header, and a magnaflow cat with a 2.5'' cat back. Maby the squeal is because one of the belts are wet? Some times when i wash my car it squeal for like 2 sec because i got some water in the engine bay

 

I'm in Southern California, so that's probably not an option. But the offer is much appreciated. I'll look around for a local used one.

That seems to be the consensus. Thanks for your thoughts.