I've been driving Saabs and now a Volvo for about 20 years.

I usually recommend Toyotas or Hondas to anyone who asks. In the past I recommended Saabs to friends and I discovered it's a poor choice for most people. In order to keep the few friends I have left, I now recommend Toyotas.

The keys to operating "premium" European marques without an excesive amont of pain IMO are having a tame indy mechanic, having access to discount parts and doing some of the work yourself.

While you can't avoid the dealer at times, most people djust don't want/need to maintain their cars to the same standards as when Volvo NA is paying when it has 115,000 miles on it and you're paying.

You said: "i have replaced the AC twice at a tune of $1500"

....I'm not sure what this means, if you had a leaky evaporator out of warranty many owners can live with topping up the R135 each spring, and it only costs a few bucks doing it that way. If you mean you had to replace a condensor or a compressor, that's not going to be much cheaper with a Toyota or a Honda.

At this stage of my life the Volvo cost isn't that much of an issue, what is an issue is the time I've wasted and the frustration of having a Volvo dealer and a couple of Volvo indies who seem like they might as well be in Roswell New Mexico trying to fix a flying saucer at times.