Faults:

I have had every headlight and taillight blow out.

I have had it in the shop 3 times in the 8 months that I have owned it.

Once was a brake pump relay that was quoted at $800.

Another was an air conditioning component, at $350.

Paint is chipped badly on hood; in my opinion, not quality paint for the car to be 4 years old.

General Comments:

Would not purchase another Volvo. Poor craftmanship and way too many problems for this new of a car.

Faults:

No faults with the car so far.

Having said that, the car has covered 32,000 miles so it's probably a little early for the most major problems to crop up.

Only the standard consumables and service items have been replaced.

General Comments:

Relatively high depreciation made this car very good value to purchase at 3 years old. However, this makes it less attractive as a new buy.

Insurance and fuel costs are average for a car of this size. I've found 35-37 mpg is fairly typical for motorway cruising.

Some parts from Volvo dealers are expensive, but not expensive as those for the larger Volvos.

The 2.0 litre 16-valve delivers plenty of power for my needs (and those of most people) and avoids the extra running costs of the turbo engined cars.

The engine accelerates smoothly, but is a little on the noisy speed at motorway speeds. It's also a little louder than expected when idling from cold, but is extremely quiet at warm idle.

Very good manual transmission on my car: accurate, smooth and slick when changing quickly. My car has reverse located below 5th on the selector pattern; I've also driven a S40 with a different layout (reverse to the left of 1st) and the gearchange wasn't nearly so good - it was vague and notchy.

Plenty of extras with the SE trim level: cruise control, climate control, CD player, trip computer, leather trim and electric windows all round as all standard.

Electronic climate control is excellent: cools and heats the car effectively and responds quickly to temperature adjustments.

The seats are very comfortable, but the driver's seat height adjustment does not allow the seat to be lowered as far as in some other cars. Passenger seat is not height adjustable at all, which is disappointing.

Ride is excellent on good surfaces, but only average for a car of this size on poorer roads.

Boot is only average sized and has a large lip, but has plenty of fixing points for securing loads.

As you would expect from a Volvo, lots of airbags: driver, passenger, side and head curtain airbags are all fitted.

Build quality is good, but perhaps not quite up to the standards of the larger Volvos.

Faults:

Several light bulbs burned out within the first 10,000 miles. The headlight reflector broke. The front right strut and strut bumper broke. The motor mount broke. The environmental system control chip malfunctioned and needed replacement twice. The brake rotors needed to be replace within the first 26,000 miles. The oil filter housing leaked. One of the oil seals in the turbocharger leaked oil onto the exhaust manifold. The drivers side seat rocked back and forth, and we were told that it was normal for the seat to be loose. The transmission selector handle broke, and needed to be replaced.

General Comments:

The factory warranty expired, and we thought it would be a good time to trade the car in. We were told at the second dealership we visited that the local Volvo dealer wouldn't pay any amount of money for the car. The first dealership (Ford) told us the local Volvo dealer would only give about $5000.00 for the car. We paid about $27000 for the car 3 years ago. The dealer we purchased the car from was uncooperative, and acted indifferent about helping us, although the mechanic genuinely felt bad for us. We feel that Volvo ripped us off, knew they sold a bad car to us and others, and is indifferent about how it's customers have been cheated by purchasing one of their cars. Our only hope is that someone starts a class-action suit that we can join.