But sometimes it blows white smoke out the tailpipe (mostly at startup)
And it was running hot
The coolant is full and seems to be getting even higher in the overflow tank

These are possible symptoms of a blown head gasket. A compression test is a relatively cheap diagnostic procedure that could confirm that.

 

Going to see a 99 model on Tuesday. It's black, JXI. just over 100k. The guy who oens it just did the timing belt, water pump, plugs and a new battery. It's got the alloy gold trimmed wheels on it that I'm not too crazy about, but there is someone else selling a set of chrome ones on cl for cheap. I really like the body style of the 1st gen.

 

So I picked up the 99 last week. Enjoying this nice little ride!

 

Nice. Put some pix in the photo album.