V50 Recommendation?

[rmmagow]

Hi, I am a long time owner of an old 98 V70 AWD. I am thinking to buy a V50 for myself and give the V70 to my son. Is the V50 fairly reliable overall? Easy to fix, i.e. similar to the V70. Are all V50's AWD and is the system better than the V70 (I've had the propshaft out for years on the V70)? Any particular years to stay away from? Is the engine a 5-cyl "white block" type?
I only ever saw one once at the dealership and at the time I though it was a pretty good looking wagon. Now they are at a price range that I can actually think about.