I had a 2000 S70 for two years. It was a great car. FWD but fantastic in snow! We had several snowstorms here in DC and it did just fine.
Some people call it a boring box, but I personally liked the look, clean, sharp.
The only reason I sold it was I really wanted a BMW when we bought it. BMW dealers were closed that day. We drove the Volvo and liked it. Especially my wife since it was replacing her Nissan. When we moved, she thought we needed AWD (it hasn't snowed much since) and I took the opportunity to get the BMW I wanted. But not 5 speed.
I heard a lot of stuff from coworkers, but I bought it with 29K miles and sold it with about 49K miles. I had an alignment and tires and the power mirror switch fixed. Mine was the non-turbo base model. Very sturdy, comfortable. More comfortable than the BMW, and more room.
Check out Swedespeed.com. They have some real fans over there.