Suspension Parts, how long should they last?

Hi everyone. I own a '89 GMC truck with 245,000 mis., a '96 Monte Carlo with 210,000 mis., a '02 GMC Envoy with 100,300 mis., and a '03 Volvo S80 with 55,000 mis. that I purchased from CarMax. It had about 45,000 miles on it at the time I bought it. I have never replaced any suspension parts except shocks on the truck. Thats it. I took my Volvo in for the VA state safty inspection and was told the brakes needed replacing and the rotors turned. I have no problem with that, it sounds about right. Tires were close to failing but he would let them slide at that time. I made an appointment at the local specialist on foreign cars to have the brakes replaced. In the mean time the car quit and wouldn't start. I had it towed to the specialist. He called and said this; The car needs a fuel sending unit causing the "no start" problem. He can't pass the car's inspection unless I replace the upper torque arm bushing, the inner tie rod, front tires and brakes. My question in all this is, since I never owned a Volvo, do parts like that wear out in 55,000 miles? The car is street driven, mostly in town.