Depends whats wrong with the VR....
VRs are more expensive to service, and the good thing about a 2.slow is they are about everywhere these days meaning you can get used parts for cheap..
Its gotten to the point now when a 2.0 ends up in LKQ up here in Orlando(basically Cophers) two weeks later you still have a real good chance of getting just about anything off the car.. meanwhile if a 93 Passat with a VR and an engine fire is put out there in 3 hours its stripped to a bare shell.
And like I said, it depends on whats wrong with the VR car.. Its not very old and should not have problems in the first place, which leads me to beleive the car might not have been very well kept...As my mom always says about cars I buy, you could very well be buying someone elses headache.