Two sons... two overheated TDI's. . .
They both knew they had leaks. (one at the plastic thermostat flange, the other in the middle of the outlet hose where it rubs against that rubber block that keeps it out of the fans). I nagged them both endlessly to get it fixed. They both drove anyway. Eventually; overheat resulted, in both cases. In the first case it was a catstrophic seize-up during rush hour. In the second case, apparently just quietly blew the head gasket.
(You know you've "arrived" as a father, when your son runs the car out of diesel on the freeway in Chicago, in 20-degree weather, pushes it the last 1/4 mile to the gas station, calls you long distance, and you talk him through a fill-up, buying a 17-mm crescent wrench so he can crack the nut on the #3 injector to bleed it and get it to start).
(Just wish he had fixed that outlet flange. The part was like what; $20?; + $80 worth of fresh G12
).
I agree with the Camry idea; though the Toyota RAV4 was an awesome platform, because the kids sit up a bit higher, have better visibility, and can see where they're going better. And also a little better protected in collisions. Older RAV4's though are kind of in higher demand than camry sedans so they're a few hundred bucks more.
My daughter also overheated her RAV4, but that really wasn't her fault - the previous owner did a half-ass job on the TB, and didn't replace the water pump! That was my first head gasket replacement, and she got another 100k out of that truck before her dirtbag boyfriend "borrowed" it and wrecked it.