WTB-VW jetta, manual

[Goodspeed]

1.) I am confused now as to what I want.
2.) BMW?..hmm...why not a jetta again? E36=sexy...E34=not so much

For me it would simply come down to RWD versus FWD. You're probably going to have a lot less fun in the latter

4.) I don't want a "fixer upper" here, I AM A GIRL...yeah crazy, I know. I kind of just want something that doesn't need work all the time, I do babysit quite often and I need a car that is SEMI practical (Throwing the kids in the trunk doesn't count *cough-JAKE-cough* and I am literally going to be broke after I buy a car so I don't want to be putting money into it all the time.

I can't comment on the reliability of VW's (though all the CEL jokes and burning shop manuals from experienced MM'ers leads me to believe they may be unreliable money pits), but I think you're best bet would be to find a nice E36 sedan owned by an enthusiast. They'd be more likely to have properly serviced the car (cooling issues, rear subframe stuff, etc) for performance driving than you're average Jetta thats been driven into the ground by many a teenage girl before you. Plus, picking up a decent E36 from an auto-x/RR forum would probably mean it would come with some tasty bits as well...