I am the original poster, and here I am almost exact 2 years ago to the day from my original post, and I'm happy to report that I finally have sold the Volvo, despite my resolutions of 2 years ago to rid myself of it immediately. For posterity, I figured I'd summarize my ownership since the massive turbo failure.

Two months after the turbo failure, we decided to keep the car for awhile longer for various reasons, so we replaced all 4 tires as they were quite bare and the rainy season was looming. Six months after that in Spring 2016, the front strut mounts failed so I personally rebuilt the struts with XC90 strut mounts and spring seats (the previous owner had inexplicably replaced the stock struts with aftermarket, but had not replaced the seats and mounts). For the record, in my 27 years of American and domestic car ownership I have never replaced a strut or any of its components -- well-done Volvo for installing struts that disintegrated before 75,000 miles!

One month later the front passenger wheel bearing started rumbling and needed to be replaced. Never replaced a bearing in any of my other cars either.

January 2017 I find drops of coolant on the garage floor every morning. After much searching, I am relieved to find that the relatively inexpensive coolant expansion tank has developed at crack on the outlet where the rubber hose connects. Replaced both tank and hose, only to have the new tank crack at the top within 1 month; returned tank and replaced again to lasting effect.

In Spring 2017 we found ourselves able to consider a new car purchase and in early May we purchased its replacement (not a Volvo!) but kept the S60 for an additional 2 weeks while our second car had some minor but time-intensive work done. Listed the car at the end of May and was delighted to find that our well-equipped 2007 Volvo S60 with 93,000 miles (about 27,000 miles below average) that we had paid $16,000 for in 2011 and spent over $6,000 in repairs over the ensuing 6 years was now worth about $4,000. Listed the car in 3 online venues, put signs on car, and waited... and waited... and waited. Every car I've ever sold private-party has sold within 5 days at list price with multiple phone calls. To be honest though, 2 different friends inquired about it, but I forbid them from buying it as I knew they didn't have the income to repair anything major. Took almost 3 weeks to get 1 party to finally come look at the car -- a kind Russian couple that had high regard for Volvo and purchased it happily. The transaction was finished painlessly about 1 hour ago and I'm hopeful that they are happy with it. I begged them to change the oil at 5k with full synthetic and put the fear of God into them if they didn't -- hopefully they will listen.

To sum up, it was neither a good car or a bad car. In fairness, it never left us stranded, always started, and had incredible handling, comfort and acceleration. We also felt very safe in it. Mechanically, it was tight with no major leaks and I felt that the 5 cylinder engine, if maintained well, was pretty much bulletproof due to its long service record. But goodness it was expensive to repair and the overall quality, particularly of the interior, was mediocre. My buddy bought a 2007 S60 2 years ago against my advice and last month his side mirror glass fell off as he was driving down the road (???). I've heard Volvo has improved a lot since they were bought by a Chinese company, and I hope so. My brother has a 2016 XC90 and it's amazing inside. But as for me, I just can't imagine ever buying one again, I value economy and reliability more than the excellent performance that the Volvo offered. But, having said that, I think they were be ideal cars for handy young people who want something fast and agile at a rock-bottom price.

So that's it, the end of my more bitter than sweet Volvo ownership experience. If you want "soul" and performance at a low price, buy a Volvo, but expect expensive and regular repairs. If you want reliability and economical repairs, go Japanese (Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus) and domestic (they are getting better every year).

Thanks for reading.