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Assuming that the catastrophic failure issues have been resolved (a large assumption), there remains the fact that the S80 is fitted with a four speed gearbox, while other vehicles in it's competitive segment feature five or six speed gearboxes. The difference is shift smoothness, fuel economy, and noise.
There remains a normal failure percentage associated with any transmission, and Volvo's only means of servicing this gearbox is with a remanufactured gearbox that is serviced by a GM subcontractor company in Chicago. Speaking from the experience of having owned four of these remanufactured gearboxes, I can advise that the quality of these rebuilt transmissions is dreadful. My Volvo dealer told me the tale of how his service department needed to install three remanufactured transmissions in one car before they could drive it out of the shop.
If you get a good box that goes the distance, it won't be a concern, but as Dirty Harry said, "you got to ask yourself...do you feel lucky?" The point is that the GM 4-speed is an obsolete design, with a poor reliability record, and poor service support from Volvo. You can do a lot better than this for $40K.
If you still decide to buy a S80, you best plan on living with it till the wheels fall off because the car has lousy resale value. The other way you can look at it is, the S80 is a good car to buy used because you can steal it from the unfortunate that bought it as new. Don't believe me? Drive into a Volvo dealer and see what they'll offer you on trade for a S80. My pristine S80 T6 showed a book price of $22,500, so I expected the dealer would offer me $15-17K on trade. The dealer offered $5K because that's all the S80 would bring at auction, because it had too many miles to be sold as a certified used car, and he didn't want it on his lot because the word was out on the streets that the car is a reliability nightmare and he can't give them away. I tried two other dealers and got the same offer $5K, (sight unseen), whether it looked like it just rolled out of the showroom, or ready for the junkyard. (How do you turn $45K into $5K?, ... Buy a Volvo)
For $40K, you can buy a lovely luxury car from a reputable manufacturer that someone else will actually pay you for should you decide to resell it. Investing a little due diligence into the prospect of owning one of these cars will likely convince you to look elsewhere.
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