Best scenario is to let your wife learn how to drive manual car. It is not really hard as she might think it is. It'll take just a few days of driving school lessons and a few weeks of practice before your wife will be able to drive a manual car as she would a matic car. But for an A/T car, I'd suggest one that has lots of space and, due to high fuel prices, very good fuel economy. With these criteria, the Elantra 1.6DCVVT A/T is a very good choice. The power figures are very high for a 1.6L engine and the DCVVT engine along with 6 speed tranny should give you great gas mileage.