1997 Volkswagen Jetta GT review from North America

About a month ago during a snow/rain storm I went through a large puddle on the highway, the car sputtered and the 'check engine' light started to flash, then remained on for the next day. Then it was gone.

Sometimes when its cold out the passenger door refuses to open, from the inside and out.

Most recently it caught on fire. It was really cold out so I went out to let the car warm up before I went to run some errands. When I came outside about 5 minutes later and got into the car I smelled something like popcorn, but brushed it off as some weird smell from my cigarette. About 5 minutes down the road we stopped at the package store. When we came out and I started the car I noticed some smoke coming out from under the hood on the passenger side near the windshield. I immediately turned the car off and opened the hood. I couldnt see what was causing the smoke, and a passer by questioned me as to wether the temperature gague was reading normal, which it was. He then told me not to go too far, and to probably go home and have it looked at the next day. Not wanting to take any chances I drove straight home. On the way the car began to fill with smoke, so much I had to open the sunroof and windows. I pulled into the drive and my roommate was outside, I yelled to her that something was wrong with my car, and she said she could smell the smoke. I got out of the car and opened the hood and flames started shooting out. We had to call the fire department to put the fire out (thank God we live a few blocks from the station). The fire was apparently behind the 'firewall' behind the front passenger tire. The paint on the fender is all scorched, burnt, and bubbled from the fire. The mechanic says that there was some sort of malfunction with the 'vapor canister' from the fuel line or something to that effect. HELP. Is this normal? Has this happened to anyone else? Is Volkswagen in any way responsible for this?

I really like the appearance of my car.

It has great pickup, steering, and manageability.

The GT seat fabric is a little eccentric, but it is a German car that's made in Mexico. hahaha.

Having a sunroof makes headroom scarce.