Do they realise the irony of that?
I have a C reg polo. Around me, the oldest cars I usually see are about F reg, full of holes and ready for the scrapper. There are three cars that I see on a regular basis that are older than mine, two are polos and one's a golf, all are still running fine. I've had my polo for about 7 months now and all that it's needed doing to it was a filter change, a new headlamp switch and an ignition switch, anything else I've done to it was just to make it run perfectly rather than being essential. Parts are dirt cheap providing you don't go to VW for them, they're great fun to drive (the coupe S being the best of the lot), they don't have any kind of barryboy image and if you want the mod cons then you can fit them later with the money you've saved on purchase and running costs..
To quote my own dad, who's been doing various jobs in the motor trade from autocross to contract hire, Lada to VAG, my polo is a "cracking little car" and an absolute bargain.
Anyway, I hope that's enough of a selling job there
Now go and change their minds! 
Getting the most for your money when you're buying a second hand car isn't just about what spacky features or what length of metal you can get (oh yeah, try parking an escort vs a polo.. much easier in the smaller car, and unless you're regularly carting around heaps of stuff (like, more than a passenger plus an _entire_ student bedroom*) it's big enough!)... there's longevity - how long before you have to scrap it or sell at a knock down price "spares or repair" and buy something else - servicing costs (parts and labour), insurance/tax, running costs including petrol, oil and tyres etc.
). You don't really *NEED* anything more than that, it's all fluff (still, it would be very nice fluff! 
Much appreciated. 