Faults:

ABS, power steering fault, boot lock jammed, suspension/wheel alignment, oil leak, etc.

Air con never worked, not bothered to repair.

When I got the car it needed a timing belt, but that is just wear and tear for the age and mileage. Kept serviced on time. Full history, no major issues.

General Comments:

A smart little saloon, the S40 is good to drive, even this very basic "S" model. It's grey inside and out, very dull. But a nice looking car generally.

I bought this S40 as I didn't have much cash but needed a reliable car. To be fair it has served its purpose. Never broken down, though some repairs were expensive.

Very good to drive, nice handling, slick gearshift and clutch, strong brakes, the car drives very well. Seats are very nice to sit in.

The 1.6 petrol is not a bad engine, but nothing special either. Lacklustre performance and average economy, about 35 - 40 mpg. Very quiet however.

Just a decent car. Getting older now and high on miles, but shows no sign of stopping. No rust either. Solid Volvo, I like it.

Faults:

Power steering pipes leaked, repaired for about 200 quid at 90K miles.

Air con is dead, not going to fix. Never really worked since I got the car.

Driveshafts worn making awful noise, replaced at MOT.

Headliner sagging inside. No big deal, easy repair. No rust, cosmetically outside it still looks great.

Rest was just servicing and normal wear + tear.

General Comments:

My metallic black 2008 S40 is a very smart looking car with standard Volvo alloy wheels. Love the look of this car, can't believe they stopped making them as long ago as 2012.

Fun to drive, 1.8 petrol is preferred over the lethargic 1.6 petrol engine. I've heard the diesel engined cars are supposed to be good as well, but are expensive to repair.

Interior has all electrics despite being the basic 'S' model. Very comfortable.

Overall if you are looking for a safe cheap modern car, the Volvo S40 is still worth considering in 2022. Look for a low mileage looked after example and enjoy it!

Faults:

Suspension strut and wheel bearing needed replaced.

Brake discs and pads.

Power steering piping leaked, replaced pipe.

Boot motor failed.

Sometimes difficult to engage reverse, though I think this is just the silly gearbox design and not the car's fault, will discuss more in the review below.

Timing belt replaced at 100,000 as a precaution, along with general maintenance, oil changes and so on.

General Comments:

An excellent car to drive, the S40 handles sharp and the manual gear change is very slick, a very precise and short throw, and much more fun than it should be. Only downside is as mentioned above in the "faults", I think the problem is reverse in this car has a rather old school design of having to move the lever into neutral for a second and depressing the clutch perhaps a second time before reverse will engage. It's no big deal, but I haven't had a car do this since the 1980s; all my previous cars had a push down or pull up mechanism and reverse would engage every time with no issues.

Another minor complaint I have about driving this car is the performance - the 1.6 really is adequate at best; I would ideally love the T5 for more performance, but cannot afford it right now. Still, on the plus side I am getting a solid 40MPG out of this car.

The interior is where this car impresses most - stylish and still very modern looking after nearly 10 years. I love the "floating" display and comfort of the seats that really hug you when you sit in them, even after long drives still feel fresh. The car feels very safe - big thick pillars. Downside to that however is there are some blind spots, but you get used to it. If I'm being really picky I would say the climate controls on this are fiddly to use at first, but all modern cars are the same and you get used to it. Also good to note on the interior are the heated seats - bear in mind my car is only the base "S" model, but it is very well equipped, with electric windows and climate control. The heated seats must have been added as an option when new because I have never seen another model like mine with them. R Design and SE are the upper models to go for, but chances are any S40 will be well equipped.

Outside the car looks great in just about any colour, mine is a dark metallic grey, which I did not like at first but has really grown on me. It's better than bright silver, which seems to be the colour of 90% of cars on the road in UK at the moment. Standard alloy wheels look great and are easy to keep clean.

To conclude I would recommend this car to anyone. Given the fact I got it used at a great price and hasn't caused me any major problems in the 2 years I've had it and put decent mileage on it, shows this Volvo is built to last and that is what they have always been famous for. My father had a Volvo 850 bought new in the mid 90s and was only scrapped recently after 20 years and 200K miles! So most of the "faults" above on my S40 are wear and tear, which I confidently spent a good bit of money sorting out when I got the car at a service and MOT test, so I've every confidence it will last another 100K miles and 10 years. Being realistic though I'll probably get bored in a couple of years with its average performance and get the T5 version or go for a bigger faster S60 or S80 model Volvo, but right now I'm loving this S40.