Jared:

You should buy a Volvo for durability more than for reliability. It will probably require more repairs than your Nissan, but it will last forever if you take good care of it.

Look at the FAQ and be sure to have a competent _Volvo_ mechanic do a thorough pre-purchase inspection. Delayed maintenance tends to be rather costly, so you want to make sure that you take any into account when you buy the car.

To put things into perspective I bought my '91 940 a little over a year ago with 97K mi and just reached 117K mi. The seller repaired whatever had to be repaired (new brake disks and pads etc. etc. etc.) under warranty so I started out right. Since then the car had only scheduled maintenance other than a set of new spark plug wires and a bad AMM electrical contact. Total unscheduled cost well under $200. The car still looks and drives like new and I should easily be able to keep it for another 10 years plus.

Yes, these cars are easy to work on. Repair costs will be higher than for an American car, but you will generally save much more than that on depreciation.

I nowadays live in The Netherlands which has much more rain than you will ever see in Texas. RWD will not give you any problems.

Good luck!

Rob