There is no point in spending £7000 on a car for a new driver. New drivers are always hard on cars and it would be a shame to use an expensive car as a learning aid.

The 2002 Golf sounds perfect. Easy to drive, inexpensive, should be reasonably reliable. Should still look respectable enough.

For peace of mind take out the best road assistance package available-probably cost about £100 p.a.

There is of course the thorny issue of vanity and pride-but that is not a technical question...

I would stick with the golf for another year or three, if theres nothing substantially wrong with it.

If we look carefully at the original post we can see that what the lady wants is peace of mind. If the Golf is reliable at the moment, and she is happy driving it (and also, importantly, if it's a 5-door), then there is some sense in keeping it until it can't be relied on any more

Following the Golf I'd suggest something smallish (but 5-door), easy to drive and reliable. My non-mechanical elder daughter, a nanny, has had four 1.3 Toyota Yarises, and all have been excellent. A newish one of these would suit her adnmirably, although if she'd prefer a new or nearly-new car, something like a Kia Picanto might fit the bill. For more room the Honda Jazz should be on the shortlist.

I would suggest something like a Focus as they seem to be well thought of, safe, and plenty to choose from. No need for a diesel as milage will be low (6k a year?)

If you decided on the Focus and want the "peace of mind" it would need to be Ford Direct. Not sure how many Focuses from Ford Direct are in that budget. I note that like many dealer networks the search engine is terrible (insists on a post code even if you do "nationwide" search). Only seems to let you select "new Focus". What most people want is just to know what stock is at their local dealer, not that the car they might want is in Lands End of John O'Groats.