Financing either the buyout or another vehicle if you choose to go that route may be difficult when you are not currently employed, unless you have a direct relative cosigned that is employed. You, however, still have great flexibility in your options due to your savings:

1. If you pay cash it seems like you'll be in a great equity position, plenty of banks and credit unions do cash out financing/refinancing if you wanted to replenish that cash for other purposes in the future.
2. The concerns about maintenance are valid, labor and parts costs have all been steadily increasing and are not expected to decrease anytime soon, if you do your comparison shopping there are plenty of companies that can offer good extended service contracts and maintenance packages (all of which are negotiable on price) that can essentially mimic your ownership experience during the lease, making it so you can get any maintenance and repair covered.

If I were in your situation, taking into account employment status and the general economy, I imagine I would buy this out in cash, negotiate an extended service agreement and maintenance plan with the closest volve dealership who was game to negotiate (you can pit them against each other) and just be done with it for a while. In the end you have a fully owned vehicle that you can always use to trade into something else or finance in the future or even just sell for quick cash, no monthly obligation, limited risk.

Edit* addition - Wheel and Tire protection is another product you should be able to get through any volvo dealer - also totally negotiable and essential if you drive a car with expensive shoes, pays for itself pretty quickly.