Cheers guys and steady on?! No fallouts please! And thank you for your comments and advice so far.
All points are very valid and I've been doing sums and trying to weigh the whole thing up. Yes, the car is 9 years old and going great but age and wear are starting to show. The car is a daily driver and I rely on it pretty hard - it's well cared for but also well used. It might be a £1,200 bill now but what else might follow is my debating question? And £1,200 on a £4K car doesn't seem like good maths.
To buy a fresher car at 2 years is an outlay of (more) money (again!). however, my thoughts that lower maintenance and repair costs with a newer car paired with less hassle makes sound sense.
Back to the original post... If it can't be a Golf...
P.s. Thinking of changing my name to "BettyBigsack" - What a great combo!!