Ron, I can understand your desire to resist japanese like toyota or honda, but they are reliable - on the other hand the s60 would be much more fun. I am new to this forum - I've had a couple of volvos - 94 945 and a 2000 v70. I loved the 945, but the v70 was gorgeous, but a pain - always going to the dealer - I ended up getting rid of it after 2 yrs. But that's not why I'm here. I'm thinking of buying a 97 850 for my daughter (age 17). I like the looks, integrity and most of all safety. In looking the car's reliability on Edmunds it looks like they could be very troublesome. The one I'm looking at has 111,000 miles and looks like it has had a lot of recent servicing (which I'm viewing as a good thing). Do you think that as these cars age a bit and have had some parts replaced they may get more reliable or should I also go japanese?

GFD