Helping Mom get a new car [Kinda OT]

[Motor Sport Visions Photography]

My mom's 1987 scubie-doo has a cracked head and she's done with it. It
has been a great car for her purposes (she bought it new) but hasn't
been exactly the pillar of reliability, has a fair bit of rust now, and
at 129k miles is now done. (She just had some $1500.00 worth of work
done a couple months ago that involved the heads coming off, it
overheated a couple weeks ago now, and the shop is pretty much saying
"too bad"--don't get me started.)

Anyway, she's leaning in the direction of either a new Jetta wagon or
used something--perhaps Passat wagon, A4 wagon (mandatory Audi content),
ovloV 850 wagon, or????

Mom is ~61 years old, makes an okay living teaching at our local
community college, doesn't expect a lot from a car, etc. But, I would
like her to treat herself to something that will be decent, safe, and
with a little luck may be the last car she needs to buy for many years
to come (after all, she got 14 years out of a basic Subaru wagon). She
really likes the Jetta wagon, but ashe also seems to really like the
ovloV 850 my wife and I just got.

Suggestions? Would the longevity expectations from a new Jetta (with the
anemic base engine) be comparable to an Audi?

Mike Veglia
Motor Sport Visions Photography
http://www.motorsportvisions.com