'97 VW Golf K2- love it

I bought my '97 Golf early this year (2004)- it had 87,000 miles on it at the time. I was looking for a small car that was good on gas- it was down to the Golf or a Civic. I ended up going with the Golf because it has a TON more personality than the Honda, and it is much more fun to drive. When I purchased it I was concerned about it being less reliable than a Honda, but I have really had no problems with it. I have the standard 2.0-liter (which a lot of V-Dubbers call the 2.slow), but it's just fine for the commuting that I do. It has plenty of pep getting onto the highway, and gets great mileage (30-32mpg). The ride is great- very solid in the corners and offramps- the car feels like a go-kart when you're passing people around turns. My one complaint was the shifter in the 5-speed: it is quite tall and has a HUGE throw between gears. Within the first week I bought a short-shift kit ($40-50) and LOVE IT!. All the controls are easy to use, and the fog lights are especially potent. The K2 package I have has the heated seats (super hot!), heated side mirrors (love 'em!), and heated washer jets (which really do make a difference in getting ice off the windshield). All in all I love my Golf and hope to upgrade to the Mk4 ('99 and up) in the next year or two. I'll probably upgrade to a GTI with the 1.8 turbo or (dream) VR6, but that's just me wanting a little more zip out of this otherwise great car. As a side note the car is very easy to work on and maintain- I changed the timing belt this summer with no problems- done in about 3 hours.