I almost bought a V40 for us instead of the V70 T5 that we ended up with. But two items ruled out teh V40 (I was still warm to it but my wife helped me overcome my attachment to that car); lack of space (long-term) since we have a 14-month old baby (and perhaps another one in a year or so) plus a 110-lbs. dog which would be too..tight for us. We like to travel a lot so it woud not work. Lastly, we love manual transmissions and the V40 is not available. So, if you have kids, forget the V40...you will regret it dearly. On the positive side, the V40 will cost LESS to maintain (despite you read here from some people), it will be more economical in gas and it is quite a bit sportier. But the V70 is a REAL wagon, with all the versatility that this entails. Why not take a look at a 2001 V70 non-turbo? Currently, there is a rebate of about $2000 good until 12/31/01. The car has pretty good pick-up and it is more economical than the V70 2.4T. Or go for a 2002 V70 2.4T with the 2.9% financing available for up to 48 months...

Good luck!

Yannis