My Volvo Story

[CIK7]

I dunno if this is allowed. I hope so but if not, I apologize.
This is my discovery of Volvo, transition to Volvo, and experiences with them and their research. I am financially poor so I always went to cheap deals, despite them being more expensive-ish.
While hunting for first car (2/17), I had an obsession with Saab, knew there was another Swedish car maker. Found Volvo, saw 2002ish S80: "ewwwww why would I want that?!" (I thought it was ugly at that time). Still hunting (7/17), wanted 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero (manual), 2005 Saab 9-5, or '90s 900. But I loved to research vehicles and I thought 'What could be wrong with Volvo? At least I can do research to see if it's something I don't want'. Noob research led me to immediate obsession and to test drive '07 S60. Engine was abused, wouldn't accelerate fast when I put down the pedal, didn't buy. Bought (10/24/17) an '09 Impala LT 3.5 later on to satisfy having a car. I took this time to figure out: Dream car was '96-97 850E or '98 V70 FWD. It was hard to find though. Being a noob, I drove to Dallas thinking I was gonna test drive an 850 with Turbo. It was NA I found out later. The seat was comfy despite being torn to crap. My Volvo obsession led to selling and then buying (3/11/19) an '01 V70 until I could buy the exact year and model Volvo I wanted. I was a sucker for the dealer's '2.4T' claim. Drive home found it to be NA (base model). I loved the comfy seat. Even with being torn and separated. Tranny started going out and it was more complicated to work on than the Impala. Traded (9/30/19) my 01 V70 base (176K) for 98 V70 XC (144K). Needs LOTS of maintenance, but super nice car, easiet to work than both other cars, with good tranny. After this winter, I will be removing the driveshaft.
The remodeling ideas I have for this car are realistic but dramatic and kinda hippie.
After going through Volvo from my first 'ugly' thought: their wagons, the 850 T5R (in yellow), 98 V70 T5, and 02 S80 T6 (with phone) are the coolest Volvos around.
Just a tidbit: Nobody outside Volvo fan bases seem to know about Ford behind the scenes with the '99+ vehicles.