At 16 years old I would think it would be hard to tell unless both had been looked over carefully; no matter how good a car is in the first place, once it's had 16 years of either good, bad, or no maintenance, all bets are off.

I've seen good and bad examples of both. My college roommate had a Volvo and getting the thing repaired turned into a huge pain in the ass and was expensive (no Volvo mechanics in small-town Iowa). A high school friend had a hand-me-down first-generation Taurus that was a complete piece of junk. But then if either of them had been better cared-for they might have been fine cars. And Naemanson is right; Volvos can be cramped. I'm 5'7" and I thought my roommate's was a tight fit in the head and foot-room department (and we thought Scandinavians were tall).

Can you tell anything about the condition of them in relation to one another?