1997 Volkswagen Golf CL review from North America

The car had a few problems when I bought it; water leaking into the trunk through the tail lights, fairly rusty, the pneumatic locks were broke (except when operated thru the passenger door), the drivers side door lock was stuck unlocked and the intake manifold gasket was rotten (apparently common, yet cheap to fix-$80 installed). Since then the rear shocks and springs have broke, the rear lights have died (for obvious reasons), and now the coil has a crack in it and it sputters when it rains.

Despite all these problems, the greatest thing about this car is that my cousin is an enthusiast, and helps me fix it for next to nothing. The acceleration and general power is great considering the 1.8 8-valve has apparently around 95-100 hp! I can do 140kph at around 3500 rpm and still easily accelerate. I drive uphill on the way home from work and it handles with ease. If it weren't for the fact that the interior is bland, its getting rusty and it has no a/c, I'd drive it into the ground. I'm also getting 500+ km/tank.