I'll just add .02 worth - I've got a '95 Turbo Sedan (87K miles) and a 99 V70 XC (38K miles). My visits to the dealership have been for routine maintenance, a battery (on the 850) and two light bulbs. The routine service is, to me, reasonable - $35 to $45 dollars over the 6 years of ownership. I've replaced the front rotors on the 850 and had two brake jobs. The more expensive visits were the rotors and the timing belt.

Note - in the last 8 months I've had 2 more brake jobs on the 850 but that's because I've been racing the 850 on a road course and I refuse to go on course with less than 50% of the pads left. Running out of brakes at the end of the front straight at 110 MPH is not something I want to experience. So, I changed them out with 40 to 45% remaining.

You can draw your own conclusions about reliability and cost of ownership but I'm perfectly satisfied with both. A safe, comfortable, reliable car that provides excellent performance (find a Honda or Toyota sedan that tops out at 155 MPH or ask the two BMW drivers that got passed by a 5 year old Volvo 850 at Thunderhill) is the way I'd describe the Volvo.

And, as others have said, this site is where people turn when they have a problem and are looking for advice. Acordingly, the content is going to contain a fair number of problems. Don't allow that to color your impressions...