My mother had a late 70s 2 door Datsun in the real early 80s. For some odd reason it kept having cam issues and it was a “good f****** luck” trying to find anyone who would even touch it. The few mechs that did didn’t really want to and honestly didn’t have a clue about it and probably why it was constantly breaking down. I remember all of them bitching about it being a pile of cobbled together Jap tin cans. Haha
When was VW ever competitive? Nobody around where I live drives one. With the execption of a few old Beetles and a tiny smattering of New Beetles they basically don’t exist here. One of my daughters made the bad life choice of buying an 06 Pissant against advice. That thing was nothing but a headache from day one.
Better than mine.
I’m surprised Ozium spray didn’t handle it. I can’t stand the smoke smell either. People who are non-smokers don’t realize. Glad I quit 25 years ago. Have two ex GFs and an exwife who smoked.
Bought an '86 CRX quite a few years ago for $100. The carpet and seats were full of cigarette holes. Only way I was able to get rid of the smell in that car was to yank the carpet out and reupholster the seats. Thankfully I have the skills and tools for that but the smell in that thing wasn’t coming out otherwise.
There’s plenty you can do depending on what you have.
Swapping in new replacement coilovers, changing out the leaf springs for a 3 link… two trailing arms and a panhard bar.
Make it ride and handle a lot better.
Pulling the interior (seats, carpet, door panels) and trunk liner out and installing Dynamat or Boom mat then putting the interior back together. Spraying the bottom with a Line-X type bed liner. That’ll help with noise and helps keep the inside a little cooler.