I bought a 1998 S70GLT (78,000miles)from a friend whose lease was up.I had second thoughts about it because of the Consumer Reports comments.I have owned many different cars mainly American,Japanese,German(two Mercedes & many VWs).This is my first Swedish car(made probably in belgium and owned by Ford).I think the Volvo is built every bit as good as the Mercedes.As far as reliability,I have only owned it for a year but no major problems.My only complaint so far is the gas mileage,only getting 20-25mpg.I do thing that Volvo has some electrical problems.My electric windows on the curbside both front and rear are very unpredicable.Drivers door detent broke.Dont know if I would buy another one but so far so good.As far as Consumers Reports are concerned, I think they deal with reports from subscribers who own these vehicles and if the sample is statistically large enough then they analyze it for trends.And this is what they publish.good or bad.I think they are as fair as the info that is sent to them.