I struggle with a version of this as well but I am such a Luddite, The evil I know always wins.

You are looking at a much newer V/XC70 than I have ever considered so you kind of have to do a cost benefit anaylsis...and YOU have to do it because all of us value different things differntly.

An example of this, I could not give a rats behind about a passenger airbag but I do value ABS so a '91 or later 240 is fine for me. Beter brakes than the 7/9 series.

Since you are mentioning safety AND wanting a third row seat, I have to believe the XC90 third row is safer that any of the rear facing seats. I know the improvements to the structure Volvo made to ensure the rear facing third rows were as safe as possible...but I still would rather have a conventional third seat.

The early XC90 with the I5 turbo was not THAT much worse gas mileage than XC70 of the same vintage. They pretty cheap on the used market. They are also the only AWD/FWD with a decent tow rating if I remember correctly.