Skoda Fabia MK1 v.s. MK2 as first car

[speedy_thrills]

My sister is learning to drive and she quite likes the Fabia one of her friends has. She's asked me to help her find one, there are a couple of good candidates but the MK2 is about £500 more than the MK1 for a very similar car (both about 80k miles, similar features and built within a year of each other.) Is it worth paying the extra for the MK2? I notice the MK1 is a slightly lower insurance group but wasn't sure if the MK2 would be more reliable.

Being a first car I think it's fair to assume that quite a lot of 'learning' is going to happen in this poor car but no one wants their first car ownership experience to be buying a pup.