We have owned a 240, 740, 940 and 850 wagons. All of them have been terrific cars, driven to high milage with norminal mainteance costs. I bought my wife a 2003 XC (before reading this site) and have been holding my breath since. She loves the car and it has lived up to the Volvo reputation so far.
However, it is toooooo complex, Volvo provides no useful information on how to maintain the car (no mention of where the oil drain plug is, etc).
Knowing what this site has posted so far, unless AWD is very important, I would look for a good V70.

Stay away from AWD. I am finding out that it can be very expensive.$3000 after just 52K mi.

My 98 V70 has awd and a high pressure turbo. It is not as fast as a T5, but that is OK, it is fast enough for me. The awd is a problem. The fluids cannot be drained, they must be syphoned out, and mine needs it done soon. There are too many noises when the car is cold or when making tight turns.
The front wheel drive T5 model is much better so long as you don't get "sport" springs. Besides, with ABS and traction control, you will be able to get most anywhere.
If you NEED awd, get a 2001 XC with an extended warranty that will cover awd and AC.

Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

Needing a wagon is something I can relate to, but needing an XC? What about it do you need? AWD?

Unless you really need AWD, I wouldn't bother, personally. And I'd avoid a first-year/first-generation XC altogether due to how many service techs have warned me against them. Plus, the LPT engine is a bit low-power for an AWD configuration.

-KB
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'99 C70 Convertible || '99 V70R AWD || '90 780 Turbo (for sale)

You WILL have many more problems with a XC, especially with 130K miles UNLESS someone else maintained it very well (unlikely). There's one in our shop now where the customer is willing to spend perhaps ~$5K to "restore" if need be because for some odd reason, he loves it. He has a couple of them and sinks alot of money into each.