Volvo is a much better car than either the VW or Ford, in my opinion. I would put Volvo in the same class as Lexus or BMW, just below Mercedes. Volvo has always been one of the safest cars on the road. My first car wreck was when I backed my 69 chevy c10 into a Volvo's driver side door. It left a small 'ding' in the door, and bent my plated steel bumper into the fender and broke my tail light. They are like tanks on wheels.
I owned a Volvo for many years, and loved it... except... it had this one quirky little thing... Every time I went on vacation to Florida in it, the engine would simply stop running for no apparent reason. It happened once on the way down, just inside the Florida state line, it happened once on the way home, just outside the state line, and it happened once, while we were on the strip in Panama City, bumper to bumper on Saturday night. Each time, the problem was caused by a 'relay' gone bad. Finally, a mechanic told me, Volvo's are notorious for this, it's the 'salt air' of the coast. It causes corrosion in the relay contacts, and they go out. It was never much trouble to fix, the relays were always in stock, which was odd for small towns in the South and Swedish parts, but then it made sense after he told me this... they expected it, so they stocked plenty. lol
Other than that, it was an excellent car. We put over 300k miles on it, and it was still very reliable, didn't smoke or use oil, and got decent gas mileage...drove like a dream!!
