After 8 years and 80,000 miles on a 99 V70T5, my advice is that you should not own a Volvo that is out of warranty. Not that they are terribly unreliable, but there are too many things about them that make it difficult for an independent mechanic or owner to service. Too many computer codes that can only be accessed with the specialized dealer equipment... It needs a special tool just to remove the engine computer from it's housing... A wrecking yard just told me that, on 99 and newer Volvos, it is impossible to install a used computer from another car & reprogram it - you have to buy a new one...I don't think most other brands have this kind of proprietary attitude. If the car is under warranty, it is going to the dealer anyway, but after warranty, the dealer is just too expensive. And they are not bulletproof, by any means. I would rank European reliability well below Japanese reliabilty.

I hope to get a few more years out of my car, but the next one won't be a Volvo, and I will definitely not send my daughter off to college with this one.