"Since there has been no printed service literature available since 1999 a lot more cars will have no other choice than going to the dealer for much more than routine oil changes, exhaust and suspension work"

Not at all true. Any clown with a wrench can do things like that to ANY car, no matter how new or old and if they can't, they need to find another job. The only real issues with newer cars, ALL newer cars (NOT just Volvo btw) is that for more technical issues that require electrically related diagnostics for example, then yes, a dealer will be the most likely place to go and especially if software DLs are required.

Like all new car manufacturers, Volvo (Ford) doesn't want you to keep your older car for long, they want things to fail eventually by design (planned) so that you're annoyed enough to trade it in for another NEW car. That's how they make money. It's a big gamble if the annoyances aren't so bad that you then opt to buy a different brand of car however and lately, I think Volvo's losing on that one as the newer Volvos have too many costly problems compared to older Volvos.