Good morning! Today we have two station wagons from a country famous for meatballs, candy fish, a world-class chef, ready-to-assemble furniture, and some of the catchiest tunes of the 1970s. But I’m really only supposed to write about cars, so I guess we’ll stick to those.
Yesterday I showed you an odd couple of vehicles that didn’t really have anything to do with each other, and based on the comment and vote counts, they both kind of went over like lead balloons. The Blazer won handily, despite its higher price, probably mostly because it’s drivable.
The Blazer would be my choice as well. Yeah, I know, there are “better” small SUVs out there, but I’ve long had a soft spot for the baby Blazer, especially in two-door form. And the beefed-up ZR2 is the one to have.
You’ll be happy to know that today’s choices are much more closely matched in age, size, shape, and price. They also both hail from Sweden, have turbocharged engines, and sit just a little bit on opposite sides of the 200,000-mile mark. Let’s check them out.
1997 Volvo 850 GLT – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 2.4-liter dual overhead cam inline 5, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: West Orange, NJ
Odometer reading: 214,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The Volvo 850 series sits at a weird point in the make’s history, after the drivetrains modernized and went front-wheel-drive, but before the styling actually became, well, stylish. They’re still boxy, still good, but no longer resemble farm trucks underneath. And as the old RWD boxes age out and increase in value, the 850 is becoming a good way to get that square Volvo coolness for less.
This is the GLT model, with a turbocharged 190 horsepower version of Volvo’s inline five. I think we’d all rather see this engine sitting alongside a five-speed manual, but the Aisin four-speed automatic Volvo uses in these cars has a pretty good reputation. It has 214,000 miles on it, and the seller says it has been carefully maintained and runs well. It does currently have a check-engine light for a secondary air pump failure, but if you don’t need to smog test it, there’s no hurry in getting that fixed.
One huge upgrade from the 240 to the 850 was the interior. It still has that good Volvo no-nonsense design, but it no longer looks so brutalist. This one is in pretty good shape considering how many miles are on it; the leather is a little rough, but that’s what those sheepskin seat covers are for.
Outside, it looks pretty good. There are a few bad spots in the clearcoat, but it’s mostly shiny. A check for rust underneath is in order, but I sure don’t see any problem areas in the photos. And I really like the color; too many of these are silver or beige.
2000 Saab 9-5 V6 – $2,250
Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 3.0 liter dual overhead cam V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 190,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Inconsistencies in ads are something I’ve gotten used to in this line of work. Usually I catch them, and the ones I let slip through, you all can be counted on to find for me. Sometimes, though, a mistake is so egregious that you’d have to be blind to miss it. The seller of this car calls it a 2000 model in some places and a 2006 in others, and in the ad headline refers to it as a “Soap” instead of a Saab. It can’t be a 2006 model, because the V6 engine was discontinued after 2003, so I’m assuming 2000 is correct. And I don’t know where the hell Soap came from.
The V6 in question is a weird design, but what else would you expect from Saab? It’s an Opel design, with an unusual 54 degrees between the cylinder banks, and if that weren’t strange enough, only one bank’s exhaust powers the turbocharger. It works, though; it puts out 200 horsepower to the front wheels, in this case through a four-speed automatic. The seller says it runs and drives well, but we don’t get much more information than that.
Inside, it features some of Saab’s greatest hits, including a center-console-mounted ignition switch, an upright arms-out-straight driving position, and a special “night mode” for the instrument panel, quirks which are endearing if you like them and just plain weird if you don’t. It looks like it’s in really nice condition inside. The seller lists a whole bunch of options on it, but doesn’t specify how many of them work. I guess you’ll have to try them out and see.
Outside, it’s my favorite turn-of-the-century Saab color, a really nice washed-out green. It’s subtle, but stands out more than plain old silver would. Most of it looks pretty good, but there are some bad spots in the paint on the bumpers that tell of parking altercations in its past. Not a big deal, of course, especially for the price.
Seeing these two makes me nostalgic for a time when the car market was more diverse. Volvo still exists, of course, still good from what I hear, but no longer boxy, and nowhere near as charming. And we all know Saab’s story; it might be the least-deserved death since Barb in Stranger Things. But if you want to relive the market as it was 25 years ago, the cars are still here, and they’ve held up pretty well, it looks like. So what’ll it be – the Swedish car, or the, um, Swedish car?
(Image credits: sellers)
UFTA, this is really a neither day for me, but that’s not how the game works. I went for the Saab, since the seats aren’t torn, I would have to smog test the Volvo, and I too like that green color.
I wouldn’t keep it long though. Every drive would feel like a roll of the dice until it becomes mechanically totalled.
God these unlocked core memories for me. My dad had a manual 93 hatchback around this time and when I was in 6th grade one of the families we carpooled with had an 850. I actually disagree on the 850 not being attractive…I think they’re lovely and late 90s/early 2000s Volvo design was some of my favorite specifically because they hadn’t completely ditched the boxiness yet.They’re all aging quite well in my eyes.
Anyway I’ve mentioned my adoration of Saab many times over so I won’t reiterate it in excruciating detail, but when I was a kid I thought my dad’s black on black 93 was the coolest shit in the world. He’d drive it fast and bang gears in it with me, he had a CD sleeve on his visor that had some of the finest 90s classics like Nevermind and Mellon Collie, it was just a great time for little Nsane.
Unfortunately my mom made him sell it because she got sick of driving stick in DC and stalled it a bunch…and to be fair to her, with how bad traffic is and how unhinged drivers are around here stalling is NOT something you want to deal with it and is going to happen to a lot of people at some point or another. Although yes Manual Gang, I know most of you have never stalled a car ever and that anyone who does is a disgusting rube who should be banished to driving nothing but CVTs.
The car he replaced it with? A automatic Volvo S70. It was a lovely green color but that car was profoundly cursed when it came to reliability. But my old man being the OG that he is wanted a manual V70 wagon instead. But anyway, I narrowly went Saab but you genuinely can’t go wrong with either. I miss the days when Swedish cars were still weird as fuck and widely available. We didn’t know how good we had it….
From my experience learning to drive stick on a 900 (’96, before the name change to 9-3) it’s not the easiest clutch to deal with. I was a novice sure, but I stalled it quite a bit, the engagement point was pretty vague. I owned it at a time when I was frequently driving through bumper to bumper traffic between the north Philly suburbs and the Lehigh Valley and it certainly was a chore at times.
Loved the shit out of that car though.
I’ve heard that Saab manuals can be a bit tricky, so this tracks.
I’ve owned two 9-5s and loved them both. The V6 is pretty disliked, but I haven’t experienced it so what the heck I’ll give it a shot.
Love them both but dislike transverse mounted V6s (even narrow ones tho I’m intrigued by the VW VR6) so it’s Volvo for me today. I still keep my eyes out for a decent manual 850 but they’ve all disappeared in the Northeast.
Självklart valde jag Volvo för livet!
Bork! Bork! 😉
The Volvo’s a great color inside and out (that woodgrain on the dash looks aftermarket; any knowers?), but I’ve had a soft spot for SAABs for decades, and this one needs rescuing from an indifferent owner. We’ll take the 9-5.
Probably stock, just kinda ugly
Owned one of the 9-5 wagons. Bought online, flew up to CT to get it, drove it home. When it ran great, it was awesome. I STILL miss the night mode, it has honestly ruined me for most cars. All those LCD panels? SO BRIGHT. Comfy seats, tons of room, mostly invisible from cops.
But there’s a reason to this day my wife still calls it the Spaz Wagon. The alarm would go off for no reason at odd hours. It ran rough then would be smoooth. The A/C died on a long summer trip. Saab was still a going concern then and they said they could fix it all for $5k. We traded it in the next day on an used Mercedes but that’s a different story.
All that said the Volvo is awesome, but there’s a reason for my screen name. Saab is the winner for me. Is it a smart, rational decision? Oh hell no.
I owned 2001 and 2004 9-5 wagons. I loved those cars and the attention to detail in them. Thankfully neither of mine had any weird issues, just normal high mileage ones.
Both are good choices but I went with the Saab. I can’t not vote for quirky. I may also be in the minority here, but I liked the 54-deg. V6. My folks had an 02 Saturn L300 with that powerplant and it was a great motor. I can’t speak for longevity as they didn’t put that many miles on it.
I recently parted with a 2003 9-5 (sedan, 2.3 l lpt) that was a grandpa special with less than 30k miles, which was the first (driveable) Saab I owned. Mechanically was fine but I didn’t have a garage to store it so it was getting sun rotted (eg the shark fin antenna).
I am not sure I understand why everyone brings up parts as an issue for Saabs. I didn’t have issues finding parts for that car nor my 2008 9-3 converible that I’ve had for a little over a year ( although I was told I got the ‘last’ windshield when I had it replaced).
In fact the theme of this years Saab Owner’s convention is ‘Parts’. Check out SaabOriginal.com and you’ll see parts are plentiful (and if you have resources you can also find good used parts).
The ‘SportCombi’ (wagon) is a very desirable body style for Saab enthusiasts and this being a northwest car is reasonably priced. 5 speeds of course are more desirable but as the average age of Saab driver’s knees increases, that is changing.
That being said I think they had some quirks to work out of the 9-5 (which was designed while GM had a more hands off approach to Saab) and especially the V6.
I’m obviously biased but my vote is for the Saab.
PS SAAB is the correct spelling but I am too lazy to type uppercase on my phone.
Maybe Soap was an attempted portmanteau for an Opel-based Saab? ‘Sope’would be better, but perhaps spellcheck autocorrected to “soap.”
Theoretically, this should be a tough call with me leaning Saab, but I don’t trust that seller so I’ll take the Volvo instead.
Tough call, indeed. I’ll stick with what I know, and that’s the Saab, as I’ve had several 9-5s, and still own one that gets regularly driven. This car is definitely a 2000 model, and if not rusty underneath (not likely on a Pacific Northwest car), will have plenty of miles left in it. The V6 is a driving experience more like a GM car with a 3800, with smooth, gently boosted torque, and will be deceptively fast on the open road, in usual modern Saab manner. Check that the timing belt has been done, or plan on it immediately. 60k mile interval on the belt; the Opel motor is an interference engine. Parts, even OE, are still readily available. Check that the climate control servos and flaps are working properly, and those are pretty much the two biggies. I’ve not had enough Volvo experience, but I’ve noticed that most modern-ish Ovlovs I’ve seen have really crappy quality leather seat skins and seem to regularly have transmission solenoid issues.
Saab(autocorrected to Soap), but both are equally appealing and revolting at the same time. I just would rather have smooth soap inspired design over the standard squared off soap inspired design.
Both are good, but I went Saab simply for the color.
No wrong answer today, but I voted against the transverse V6 and worse parts availability.
Tough call, but I worry about buying a Saab from someone who knows jack shit about Saabs. I wouldn’t buy an orphan car from anyone but an enthusiast who I know has taken care of it. The boxy wagon is my winner for today.
That is why I chose the Volvo as well. I like that Volvo to begin with, thankfully, but I like the looks of that Saab and have always wanted to own one. HOWEVER, that Saab is a no for me just because of the seller.
Yeah the Volvo is sitting in the driveway of a nice house, and is a 1 owner car. I believe it has been taken care of, although they apparently don’t know what leather condition is.
Square Volvos always catch my eye. I love them.
Saab, otoh, are a pita to get the unique (non-GM/Subaru) parts.
The “Soap” was probably an autocorrect artifact. I would be wary of the Saab. Much of its Saab-ness had been lost at this point, as it was full of GM stuff, but there is still so much quirkiness left that getting parts and labour for that thing might become a problem.
The early 9-5s are probably the nicest of the breed, build quality-wise. GM forced Saab to slowly cheapen and de-content the cars through their long production run, and in usual Saab manner, the GM bits largely enhance the car. Parts availability is surprisingly decent, the Saab enthusiast community is friendly if not slightly fanatical, and usually more than willing to share knowledge, skills and parts from their personal hoardes.
I am not sure I agree on “the GM bits largely enhance the car”. The way I would put it is that the Saab bits enhanced the car from its humble Opel/GM beginnings as an Opel Vectra B with different badges to a kinda sorta somehow still a bit of a Saab.
Okay, then GM’s money and access to the parts bin for bits certainly helped Saab along the way. Other than GM binning the whole enterprise in the end, the quality of the bits (and access to them) that went into the cars made them better and kept the enterprise going much longer than they could have done, solo. I’ve had at least one of most everything Saab from V4s to NG 9-5s over a few decades (Saab count here is currently at five, all driving), so I’ve seen the yins and yangs first-hand.
The people I know that had that era of Saab all gave up long ago. I don’t see any running around my parts either. I still see a few 850s around and almost bought one as a winter car about a decade ago so I went with it.
Both are nice but I’d need to smog it so I’ll take the SAAB (aka SOAP). Autocorrect?
The SAAB also has no CEL’s so it wins this one. And I really like that green color as well.
There are no wrong choices today but I went Volvo.
I’d feel better if the Saab had a 4, doing math with 54-degree angles is just too weird for me. It might also win if it had a stick, and a fresh clutch.
But I’d rather roll the dice on the Ovlov. Parts are easier to find, and there’s less to break in the first place. Plus I love how a 5 feels on the highway.
I do love a good Volvo. I even love a bad Volvo, but I’m going #TeamDentistJet today!
I’m usually team SAAB, but at this point, if it’s not a 2.3T manual it’s not worth the trouble.
I’m thinking inside the box, so I voted Volvo.