What to look for in a Jetta VR6?

Hi everybody... I'm a certified RX-7 and Corvair junkie, but I'm looking for a MKIII ( 93-98 or so is MKIII, right? ) Jetta VR6 for me and the Mrs. Gotta be a 5-speed. What should I look out for? What are the weak spots or things to check on? I'd like to stay in the $5k range price-wise, so I'm probably going to be looking at 95ish, 100k+ cars. Here's some stuff I'm wondering:
How are the clutches, trannies?
Do the VR6s use a timing belt or chain? What's the change interval and how critical are they?
Any weak spots in the VR6... headgasket, anything like that to look out for?
How are they to work on? I do all my own work and I'm not afraid of doing engine swaps, clutch replacement, and stuff, but it would be nice if it wasn't horrible to work on (see: Hondas).
How soon will I be replacing suspension (shocks, bushings) on a 100k car?
I don't know much about these cars, so any info or FAQs you can point me to would be great!
Armen
1979 RX-7 GS - Daily Driver
1984 RX-7 GSL - parts car
1966 Chevy Corvair 4-door - current resto project
1965 Chevy Corvair 2-door - future resto project
1965 Chevy Corvair convert. - future resto project
1987 Honda Accord - POS that won't die
1976 F-150 - gotta tow stuff