I've been waiting for this vehicle for soooo long. It feels like it has been the longest new vehicle launch in history, especially since the old model had one of the longestruns in modernhistory (13 years?). Apparently the demand to see it was so high in Calgary that the dealer principal aked Volvo to fly the preproduction show car in from L.A. at a cost of $40,000 for the auto show in March. It was arguably the most clamoured over vehicle at the show; at least by my 50+ year-old demographic.
I bought an '05 in '08 at auction through a buddy who brokers cars and paid less than half of new so the temptation is to do the same in 2 to 3 years - I owned it for 4 years with nary a problem. However, even after owning five turbocharged cars and currently running two, with no issues, I am hesitant to do the same with this version for similar reasons expressed by others.
But then I think, the XC90 I had was running a small for its class 2.5L, 5 cylinder with only a 5 speed transmission and it had no trouble getting out of its own way and never let me down. I'm leaning to leasing and then buying it out IF and ONLY IF the problems are at the most minor. Plus, I haven't bought a new car in 30 years so depreciation be damned.
And then the plug-in version also looks tempting even though it seems to be getting less glowing reviews from Euro sources.