After reading some of both vehicles it seams like more folks had more trouble with Outbacks but...they sold way more Outbacks too. Everybody has had trouble with head gaskets. Many have had leaky AWD units. Most have complained about the cheap feeling of the Outbacks.
The Volvos seam to have some issues as well but from what I gathered most people were put off by the cost of repair rather than the occurance of problems. Most seamed to love the car but didn't want to pay to have the Volvo stealer do the work. I would be doing the work myself so I don't see too big of a problem there. Many just plain hated the car because they said it felt cheap compared to older Volvos.
From what I'm reading on the two....They both have issues but the owners of the Volvo said it drives solid and gets up and goes.
Don't get sucked into this type thinking when considering a Volvo. I too thought I could do most of the work myself. I was able to do a fair amount of work ie Timing Belt/WP etc.
I don't think newer Volvos are really a DIY type a car. Original owners rarely MOD their vehicles and have most maintenance done by the dealer. The orig owner gave me all his receipts...he took it to the dealer for everything..even light bulb changes. Also, Volvo makes it difficult of independent shops. I think the latest version of the their maintenance software is only available via the internet.
What finally killed me was the xmission. The dealer said the only fix was to replace it....6K...more than the car was worth. Even If I found another xmission, I would still need to take it in to have it programmed. I flushed it and got another 20k from it before it started to slip again....another flush didn't help...ended up trading it in and losing about 3k =(.
If I was going to buy another used European car it would be a BMW. They have more DIY'ers and tinkerers thus more places to get help online.
btw...it was nice when it ran, but fit/finish on the interior was subpar to other luxury cars.
