Like I said, It's a really fun ride. You'll love it solely because it's turbo AWD. I don't buy new cars either. Not really worth it to me because I don't like to leave anything stock. A DSM is the wrong car for a family unless there's another family vehicle.

But if you want a cheap high-performance 4 door... like cheaper than a WRX by like 8x over... check out a Galant VR-4. Unfortunately they were only made from 91-92, but you can get a turbo AWD 4g63 4-door with leather and power everything for about $3000 in great shape... maybe even with a few mods... and it certainly doesn't look fast.

If she's already thrilled about the WRX, by all means go with that because it's newer.