I currently drive a 14 year old Honda Accord that apart from the rust, two spots only, and having 520,000 km, runs great. Also, I'm a proud owner of 1998 V70GLT that is a great car. In 2000 when I shopped for a wagon there were not that many of them out there and Volvo V70 was a great choice that I never regretted.
Now I'm shopping for a sedan to replace my Accord and I narrowed my choices to:
-Volvo S60
-Acura TL
-Infinity G35
I checked Acura and Infinity and they look and feel great. Build quality is quite perceptible, power is around 260-280 hp, reliability legendary. Looks like all the right things are there. And it's all can be had for around C$40k. Today I visited Volvo showroom and I was quite disappointed to find that comparable Volvo would require at least C$50k. And for the additional C$10k I would get lower quality, lower reliability, and less power.
And this brings me to my point. Volvo used to make quite reliable, dependable, boring, and extremely practical car. Now when they try to compete with the likes of Audi (great cars, poor reliabilty) and BMW (great cars, good reliability) they seem to be losing people like me. If I want a sporty sedan with a pedegree I would go for BMW 330, four (or all) wheel drive I choose an Audi. If I don't care about any of the above I think my best option is either TL or G35. Which leaves Volvo S60 out.
Am I missing something?