Then buy one! VW sold 16,000 Golfs in Australia last year, the most ever, and the Golf swept all the car awards here in 2010.
Often VW service costs are no worse than other makes - in fact VW service intervals are often longer so the overall cost is less. But you are buying a quality product - a Volkswagen - and sometimes you do have to pay a little more for the best. Remind her that Beetles were more expensive than Morris Minors in the 1960s. That said, there are more and more modern non-dealer VW specialists popping up as their market share increases, so you aren't necessarily tied to the local VW dealer (some of which are terrible, admittedly).
Take her for a test drive in one. You can tell her that the Golf has just been awarded the Best Cars Award for Best Small Car under $35,000 for 2011 (NRMA, RACQ etc)
http://www.australiasbestcars.com.au/2011/default.htm