Hi Russell, and welcome. At that vintage you're looking at a T4, which I have no direct experience of, but reading various threads, it seems that the autos can give trouble. Of course, you only hear of the problems on a forum like this, but it seems that if you do have trouble the repairs are expensive. The last of the T4 diesels were pretty well regarded, and quite punchy. The V6 seems relatively rare (and I'd expect more so as a manual), and would be a lot thirstier, but it depends on what type of driving you'll be doing.

For not much more than $20K you may be able to get an ex-ambulance through the auctions (then you'd be into a 128Kw T5, about 2007/9), and fit it out yourself.

I'm also in Fairfield (you may have seen my 07 Trakkadu camper about), so you're welcome to drop in for a chat and a look (pmail me to arrange). I'm also a member of the VWCV (Volkswagen club), and can put you on to several good VW specialist mechanics.

Brian R.