[Oldwoodworker]

I was like you just after I bought mine 4 years ago and have been waiting for the event ever since. I had the "free clean" done at the local Volvo dealer 2 years ago and all went well till just before Christmas 2011 - odometer reading 114k miles.
When the orange engine management light came on the car still drove perfectly normally - no dramatic limp home that so many others have suffered - no prior symptoms at all.

Went to my local independent garage who read the codes and told me I'd have to go to Volvo or a Volvo specialist as their machine couldn't give a specific code reading. Their machine said "Internal ETM fault".

The local Volvo independent couldn't fit me in for 3 weeks (i.e. in early January) so it had to be the local Volvo garage. They read out 2 fault codes, either ETM or Lambda sensor. They started by clearing the codes and reloading latest software (£35) as I had no other symptoms suggesting major expense!
Drove fine for a few hours but then the light came on again so next day they changed the ETM (£ £440 all in).

Again drove fine for a few hours but the light came on yet again so the following day they replaced the lambda sensor (£256 all in).

So, it's cost me £700 but it had to be done as I needed it over Christmas, and at least I know that that fault won't appear again! Also, I love the car and know why I bought it. It's sad that Volvo (Ford?) created this problem by going for cheap parts and then denying it outside the US but it is still a superb car to own and drive.

It will happen to you one day, probably within the next 20k miles, but you won't necessarily have a drama - mine was quite a "polite" failure.

Good luck going to Austria, there are Volvo garages everywhere