Wife.gov drives a Honda Oddity (same MDX-Pilot platform) and it's not skipped a beat yet. I also have a Honda lawnmower and a Honda lawn tractor....too bad Honda no longer offers an Accord wagon!

My Volvo dealer ate the cost of my AC evaporator out-of-warranty failure which has accumulated amazing amounts of good karma, outweighing their numerous screw ups over the years.

Since I only consider stick-shift cars, and I need a wagon and a modicum of reliability, my current choices are limited....to the Volvo V70, the BMW X5 3.0 and the 325iT. I think the C240 wagon is woefully underpowered, the SAAB 9-5 has it's pedals too close together for my size 13s, the Passat wagon has a reputation for eating clutches, and the Audi A4-S4 Avant has it's own array of major reliability-durability problems.

(Sigh) So, based on the PRACTICAL considerations of performance, load capacity and reliability, the Volvo remains my choice, by default.

I still have some time (I think) before the Volvo bites the dust. Unfortunately, wife.gov raised the bar to 180k with her last car and we still have it. Daughter.edu still drives it and has been unable to destroy it.

It's cheaper than any of the above choices to keep shotgunning parts into the Volvo...

-bill d cat