17th Oct 2007, 03:47

Hello everyone. We own a 2001 V40 with 91,000 miles on her, and have nothing,but praise - a fantastically reliable, comfortable and safe car!

We know 3 other people who have similar vintage S/V40's and love them. In fact in a recent survey in the UK by a weekly car mag, the S and V40 proved to be the most reliable European made vehicle for sale in the UK as of three years ago!!! (Based on owners experiences)

I have noticed that all/most of the problems mentioned above appear to be on the American cars - I wonder if there is a reason for this. In the meantime - Volvo for life - we won't be changing make.

26th Oct 2007, 15:21

I bought a 2000 V40 in Oct 2000, brand new in the USA. I have 76k miles on it already, and I found out mine was actually made in Sweden. I have had no problems in 7 yrs w/my car. I feel sorry for everyone else that has; owning a Volvo has been nothing but wonderful for me. Of course I have to replace the brake pads twice a year, but have you seen me drive? I had to do that with my Honda Accord and my Mitsubishi Galant, too. The only thing I had to have replaced was the brake pump, and that was b/c it was recalled, not because it was giving me any trouble.

One thing, though; I was rear-ended in 2005 and the hatch on my wagon does not close properly unless I hold my tongue to the right, cross my toes, and count to ten. Also, the lights on the hatch door work intermittently. I don't blame Volvo for this; just the crappy Volvo dealer's body shop (which was so horrible it was shut down, and of course shut down before they completely fixed my hatch!) I am sorry for everyone having such horrible dealings with their cars. I feel very lucky to have such a great car...

27th Oct 2007, 02:04

As I already said, Volvo dealers are crappy, and It seems that not only in EU, but in USA too, maybe all over the world...

And as far I read all these reviews, I think that problems you all have with your Volvo's are because you go to those crappy dealers.

On the other hand, Americans seems to think a car is unreliable if a cup holder breaks.

Very happy long-time Volvo owner.

28th Oct 2007, 21:03

Hello All:

I own a 2001 S40 made in Belgium for the US market. Although I've never had the more costly problems others have posted, I have had many of the same small issues; headlights and rear running lights burn out frequently, turbo oil drain o-ring leaking, rear brake pads wearing too fast, both front and rear rotors with deep wear, automatic climate control sometimes goes on and off without driver intervention.

At 100k miles I changed the timing belt (recommended change interval is 110k miles). At that time I also changed the spark plugs as the car was starting to run a bit rough. Shortly thereafter the car developed a miss when accelerating fairly aggressively. I finally traced it to the coil-on-plug connector. The 2 wires of that connector are held in place with a small rubber like substance. The rubber had disintegrated allowing the 2 wires to back out of the connector when you tried to insert it to the coil. After a few miles the normal engine vibration would cause an intermittent connection and the miss. Pushing the wires fully onto the coil pins and some RTV where the wires enter the connector solved that issue.

Now my latest issue has me stumped. The first symptoms were longer than normal cranking before it would fire up. Then one day the car would not start at all without putting your foot on the gas pedal and cracking the throttle just a tad. It would die as soon as you let off the throttle. I first thought it was the Idle Air Control motor as the original IAC appeared to be stuck closed. I removed the IAC and started the car using my finger over the hole to control the idle. $200 later the car started fine... for about a week. Now it's back to sometimes cranking longer than normal, other times it starts on the first turn. The weirdest issue during this period was the strange smell that happened after I replaced the IAC. It did not smell like wire insulation burning (no fried fuses either). It did however smell electrical in nature. (as opposed to fuel or oil).

Has anyone ever had the longer than normal cranking issue? How did you fix it?

Thanks,

Hugh.

Hudini -at- tds -dot- net <== (for spam bots)

6th Nov 2007, 03:56

Hello all:

I have a cautionary tale about Volvo service and the Volvo S40 2000. For the seven years I've owned the vehicle, I had the usual minor inconveniences (brake pads needed changing, cup holder broke, tail lights and other fuses going out, etc.) with only one major repair (catalytic converter replaced under warranty). I was good about doing regular car maintenance and enjoyed driving my stylish little car.

After about 59+K miles, the car underwent a 60,000 mile service and immediately started to have escalating problems. Engine began to skip, excessive vibration became a teeth rattling tremor, overall the car seemed "sick". I returned to the dealer twice with my concerns and they finally diagnosed the problems as related to my spark plugs and emission coils, which they replaced. Car still "wasn't right".

Then one late night returning home, I was at a red light when the car temperature indicator suddenly rocketed to the double red marks and the engine oil indicator flickered on and off. No smoke or fumes, but the fan went crazy.

After limping back home a short distance with the hazards on, I towed the vehicle to the dealer the next day and learned that the radiator hose had "suddenly split open". Service guy said I was very lucky to avoid any engine damage.

Now two weeks later, after I've returned two more times to the dealer for "check engine" indicators, the service team has finally realized that maybe the radiator coolant did some damage and leaked into various parts of the engine. $2100 for a head gasket which "may or may not" fix the problems.

The morale of my story: Check the hoses and fluids yourself because I don't believe the service guys do. And more importantly, read Consumer Reports about a car before you buy because then you'll know beforehand how unreliable Volvo really is.

My next car: 2008 Acura TSX (look into it, you'll be definitely happier)