I hope she gets a nice one.
To be honest, I used to change cars every 2-3 years, usually get bored out of them (main reason to switch). Reliability obviously is a major issue if there is something wrong, you should get out reasonably fast, and that was the case for 2 of my previous cars.
I have had my car since mid 2007, and the car was one year old, and got it off a VW dealer who had a previous lady driver wanted to change to bigger car as she was pregnant. Polo GTI was rare then, and it was the only one on Trademe. I didn't even know what to look out for, and took the plunge and bought one. Didn't know VASK existed then.
I had a friend who just bought a 60k Golf GTI the year before, and at the time I laughed; thinking why would you want to spend that much money to get a car with only 147kw and small hatchback. Boy I was wrong when I drove his car, and really loved it. I at the time couldn't afford to get Golf GTI MK5, and heard good things about the Polo so went for one.
It is one of the best cars I have driven for its money. I am not just talking about power it makes. It is practical, and when seats folded can take large amount of luggage (big supermarket shopping loads are fine with just boot alone), has been reliable for me, and economical to run. Yes, I have been doing mods and services quite regularly so it has added up in price.
However, the car I bought at the time in 2007 is worth still quite a lot in 2012 (I would hope), and I haven't lost 30k during the process of 4.5 years compared to my friend's Golf GTI. With right mods (if I were to start again, I would just go with most bang for buck mods), the car will make good dose of power (talking 125kw at wheels and torque around 300nm) with stage 1, in a car that only weighs around 1100kg. With stage 2 you can get 140-145kw / torque around 350nm and above), but you do pay for your fuel for that extra 'oomph'. The torque gain from Stage 1 to Stage 2 is quite a lot and you can feel the difference.
I think it has been a great car overall, and been versatile as daily driver + track racing (only tracked 3 times in it). Can take family around and even baby at the back in the future hopefully. I can't see any other car that I can purchase currently for the money I paid that would do the same job and stay reliable.
Mods I would recommend:
1) PD160 intake pipe with K&N if easily obtainable (or Jabbasport one)
2) iPod kit ;-)
3) REVO Stage 1 (Stage 2 gets fuel consumption up)
4) Tyre change from 205/45/16 to 205/50/16 (a lot more comfortable).
5) Front bushes replaced with solid bushing from Skoda
6) Whiteline sway rear sway bar
Then just enjoy the car! ;-)
