[Vwdiesel] OT: advice @ buying diesel for friend

[Rolf Pechukas]

hey gang
I have a friend from Taiwan who comes to the US every summer
she is looking to buy a car and keep here so she can use it when she's in the country, rather than spending $1000 every year to rent

she will only drive an automatic (!)

her budget is $9k tops

questions:

- is this a dumb idea (buying the car, I mean)?
is she really better off renting and letting the rental company deal with the hassle of owning it?

- is a diesel a good choice for her? (auto tranny limits choices)

- do VW automatic tranny's suck? (I seem to recall something about this)

- is a mid-2000s Golf/Jetta TDi automatic a good candidate?

- any other marque I'd want to consider?

- aren't M-B auto tranny's good? any model in that price range I'd want to look at?

- should I give up on the diesel idea and just find her a nice reliable girly Honda?
maybe hybrid?

thanks for any suggestions,

Rolf in MA