Hauling stuff is the point of owning a station wagon. Why choose a wagon if the plan doesn't include the occasional baby stroller, yard sale special, Home Depot run, mountain bike, snowboard, or kayak?

With the 2005 Volvo V50, folding rear seats with a 60/40 split help to expand cargo volume, but to achieve a flat load floor the sizable headrests must first be removed. Once that task is complete, a simple latch on the upper outboard edges of the seatbacks drops them to create 62.9 cubic feet of volume. Loading is easy through the large rear liftgate, which features a handy recess in the rear panel to ease closing. And if longer items must be carried, the front passenger's seat folds in half, too.

Interior storage areas are located in the door panels, behind the waterfall control panel, and in the center console. Of course, a glove box is provided, but it's narrow, deep, and lined with rubber, all of which makes it difficult to reach, find, and retrieve items, especially from the driver's seat. Plus, the glove box door was sticky and hard to close on our test sample. Elastic pockets sewn to the front of the driver and passenger bucket seats are particularly handy, creating a great spot to stash a cell phone, and would be a better location to place smaller items that could vanish within the glove box.

As for cupholders, there are large, rubber-lined recesses in the center console designed to grip several different sizes of beverage containers, but a smattering of control buttons between them and the gear selector appear vulnerable to soda pop spills.