Thanks for the responses so far.

Polo would be nice, but she is worried its too small, and once you option the dsg it gets closer to $30k than $25.

She is very keen on the Subaru because of the fantastic service they give down in Albany, so at this point she is probably swayed in that direction. However she is driving an i30 this week to compare.

I noticed Ford has a really good deal on the Focus LX Auto, $22,990 Drive away,
which has all the fruit.

Keep the ideas coming, i30 seems to be the most popular choice so far.