no reverse

i'm considering buying a 96 golf with 109,000 miles the motor runs great and the body great but it dont have reverse. i'm a trained auto tech but i dont have any experiance with volkswagens. is this problem automatically mean new tranny or can it be fixed easier? the guy wants 1600.00 for the car i can probably snag it for a grand. good purchase? any feedback would be greatly appriciated
thanks
mike

my first car was a 1992 ford probe i hate the car so much i tried every day to blow it up blew two tranny before the engine
 
anyway both time i blow the tranny  the reverse wouldnt work