Just bought an S40 - reassurance welcomed!

[Barnsey]

Hi everyone,

First post but a reader for a while now. Have just departed Japanese for Volvo and quite quickly wobbling. The S40 was the 'sensible' option whereas my heart was actually going towards a diesel Alfa GT. Needless to say, I went for 'reliable' and safe and chose a low mileage 2005 1.8 S with a full dealer service history in very good condition. Paid a little above it's worth for those reasons and for the Volvo dealer warranty. Test drive was uneventful but since buying some negative feelings are arising and I'd appreciate any advice or reassurance even that these are good cars if looked after.

2 weeks later I'm 900 quid lighter for various steering and suspension components, the car still pulls to the left at speed despite a 4 wheel alignment. Little things such as the lack of a trip computer and cruise control are a shame but not a major issue. I am however struggling to get comfortable which is surprising as the seats get highly favourable reviews, I'm only 5ft 10" but find the high biting point uncomfortable in stop start traffic. Another issue that I'm not sure is common is that the steering does feel pretty heavy despite tyre pressures being OK and fluid level fine? The suspension seems no better than my beaten up 2001 yaris too, feeling far too many little bumps in the road. Where's the left foot rest plate? There's not a great amount of storage, and the handbrake is in an awkward place if you want to use the cup holders.

I must sound so ridiculously grumpy, I do really like the car, its stylish and the most solid car i've driven. I just think it'll take time to get over these teething/financial issues. Looking forward to becoming more involved in the forum. Things can only get better...

Thank you everyone :)

[Orca2]

Once you get on top of teething issues you are gonna love these cars , build quality is great and they are really comfortable on long trips, plus this forum is full of good helpful folks . Be reassured ! And enjoy!

Gatos is the go to guy on all matters 40 what he doesn't know about them ain't worth knowing.

[julianps]

I have a 2010my "S" trim car and I too don't have cruise or trip meter; didn't have them in my last car either so not sure why I should worry. The handbrake is standard ford focus design and I chucked by cup holder as we use bottled water/coke and they (plus supermarket-trolley pounds) fit better without. Yes storage is low, you can feel the bumps and it takes time to get the seat position right (when you do you'll find the clutch less of an issue). Steering toe-in is almost zero making the car slightly skittish (I had a Mk2 Golf GTi which was much the same) but I can't say I find mine heavy to handle.

If it's pulling when the geometry is fine do you have a binding brake, front or rear?

I'm coming to enjoy driving mine more and more so hope you end up feeling the same.

[Barnsey]

Think i'm getting there with the seating position which is now quite low and far back with the pitch propping up my legs a bit, it's fine on long journeys it's only when I have to start using the clutch that I seem to get a bit uncomfortable, if only the biting point was much lower. I find if I try a high seating position I'm trying to push vertically down on the clutch pedal and leap frogging all over the place!

Gradually growing to love the car, other than the slight pulling to the left (i'll get the brakes checked thanks for the tip) it did really well over this weekend up to York and back, got about 450 miles on motorway (60-70) and country roads before it got close to the fuel light coming on. Really enjoying the 1.8 engine and it being a chain instead of belt is a relief, one less thing to worry about in the near future.

The fuel cap "strap" has broken but can't figure out how you'd get a new one around the fuel cap, have seen a few on ebay. Also picked up a couple of replacement alloys for the front as one is buckled on the inner rim and another damaged on the outer but I doubt that has anything to do with the steering issue?

The wipers also need replacing, have read good things about Bosch Aerotwins but to be safe online should I go for the OEM Volvo ones if not too much more? Finally, would it be worth changing the gearbox oil as the gear selection is quite notchy, probably normal but thought maybe worth doing, along with anything else that isn't normally changed during a dealer service? Recommendations more than welcome! :thumbs_up:

[Orca2]

Not sure . Is yours an auto?

[Barnsey]

Manual so only saw top up required on the service checklist

[julianps]

Volvo wipers will be cheaper if you call Volvo Swansea (FRF) and quote Volvo Owners Club code "C3"; I'll bet they beat Halfords' by a tenner and then some.

My dealer told me the fluid in the MTX75 manual gearboxes stays in for life and that they've never had cause to change it, ever. There are threads here where members have and they report positive results (and on Ford forums they swear by changes; but that maybe because Ford owners swear a lot more than Volvo owners do). If there's no sign of leakage around the drive shafts I'd say you're probably okay.

Volvo dealers offer one free safety check per car, and then charge £45 for subsequent checks. You can always ask your local dealer if the car's had it's complimentary check and if so what they'd charge to give it the eagle-eye and see if they can see anything out of the ordinary.

I'd be interested to know how your wheels go so badly knocked about and where you got the geometry checked (was it camber+castor+toe both front and back, with a print out?) because accident damage or heavy kerbing could account for the directional instability you mention.

[Clan]

Volvo wipers will be cheaper if you call Volvo Swansea (FRF) and quote Volvo Owners Club code "C3"; I'll bet they beat Halfords' by a tenner and then some.

My dealer told me the fluid in the MTX75 manual gearboxes stays in for life and that they've never had cause to change it, ever. There are threads here where members have and they report positive results (and on Ford forums they swear by changes; but that maybe because Ford owners swear a lot more than Volvo owners do). If there's no sign of leakage around the drive shafts I'd say you're probably okay.

Volvo dealers offer one free safety check per car, and then charge £45 for subsequent checks. You can always ask your local dealer if the car's had it's complimentary check and if so what they'd charge to give it the eagle-eye and see if they can see anything out of the ordinary.

I'd be interested to know how your wheels go so badly knocked about and where you got the geometry checked (was it camber+castor+toe both front and back, with a print out?) because accident damage or heavy kerbing could account for the directional instability you mention.


The wheel rims buckle when pot holes are hit with low tyre pressures , very expensive to rectify ..
Use ECO tyre pressures ( 38 psi) to protect them and stop the tyres collapsing and the rim hitting the edge of the pot hole ... You get a bonus of more direct steering and handling , longer tyre life and better fuel consumption .

[julianps]

Good point about tyre pressures; mine is the first car I've done this with and I can recommend it.

[Barnsey]

Got to admit my tyre pressures are low to soften the bumpy ride (standard 30psi as stated on fuel flap), so I'll pump them back up to see how handling improves. Most dissapointing thing is that I purchased the car from a Volvo dealer just north of London and it came with a new MOT with no advisories and the 9 yr service, nothing reported to me and went ahead with the sale. It's only when I paid for an Indy to do a full inspection that these issues were found. I have a warranty from the dealer but that only covers "mechanical breakdown" where the vehicle becomes unusable due to a fault.

The alignment was carried out post work being done at the same Indy, no print out, have contacted them to see if they can recheck otherwise when I get the rims changed I might try to get an alignment with Hunter equipment

Thanks for the very informative replies.

[Welton]

I am the same height as you and I've never been able to get comfy in the seat. I think I've got it right and then there'll be loads more adjusting for days afterwards.....

The suspension really needs adjusting on a Hunters machine, I used to get front wheel tracking done but it was only when I had a 4 wheel Hunters alignment that the car really sat straight and true, they cruise along lovely when the alignment is correct. There's camber adjustment on the rears which needs to be correct. These cars seem very sensitive to these things.

I guess you've just had the front wishbones changed? this is quite a common failure, the main bushings are oil-filled and the originals only last about 5 years or 50K miles.

I changed my gearbox oil when the car was 5 years old and the gear change did improve a tad. For what it costs though I'd rather have fresh g/box oil any day in fact I'm changing it again soon.

I also bought Volvo Wipers from FRF and they last very well, they even have a nice VOLVO emblem on them.

[Barnsey]

Indeed! The car is on 57K, had front wishbone arms, rear suspension tie bar link arms and O/S inner and outer track rods replaced, all genuine parts for £371 + 4 hrs labour (+VAT). Have just noticed that the remaining tyre tread on the rears are very different from each other so they obviously weren't changed as a pair despite being the exact same make. Perhaps this difference is contributing to the left pull becoming gradually more noticeable as you get faster?

Will definitely get some wipers from FRF after the recommendations :thumbs_up:

[sfstu]

The wheel rims buckle when pot holes are hit with low tyre pressures , very expensive to rectify ..
Use ECO tyre pressures ( 38 psi) to protect them and stop the tyres collapsing and the rim hitting the edge of the pot hole ... You get a bonus of more direct steering and handling , longer tyre life and better fuel consumption .

I was wondering about tyre pressures myself yesterday. Couldn't work out which one i needed from the info sticker by drivers door. I picked the middle ground with 32psi but should I go with the 38psi above?
Car is a 58 V50 2.0d R design with the 18" alloys by the way.
Thanks, rgds Stu

[Clan]

I was wondering about tyre pressures myself yesterday. Couldn't work out which one i needed from the info sticker by drivers door. I picked the middle ground with 32psi but should I go with the 38psi above?
Car is a 58 V50 2.0d R design with the 18" alloys by the way.
Thanks, rgds Stu

Yes with 45 profile tyres , ECO pressures they are yesterdays racing tyres and not much room between the rim and the road with these , If you decide to do a few laps of a racing circuit with those tyres 45 psi is more like what is needed .

[sfstu]

Thanks Clan, 38psi it shall be...:thumbs_up:
On the subject of tyres, do you know if 225/45/18's would fit in place of the 215's?
Just curious, selling the wife's car in next couple of weeks and have 2 brand new pirellis on there whilst mine are wearing "joyride":eek:
Oh the shame of it...:rolleyes:
Stu

[Clan]

Thanks Clan, 38psi it shall be...:thumbs_up:
On the subject of tyres, do you know if 225/45/18's would fit in place of the 215's?
Just curious, selling the wife's car in next couple of weeks and have 2 brand new pirellis on there whilst mine are wearing "joyride":eek:
Oh the shame of it...:rolleyes:
Stu

no the 225 will be bigger diameter which will raise the gearing if used on the front affecting speed readings also the unequal rotational speed of the wheels will give you ABS problems .

[sfstu]

Can't argue with that...:thumbs_up:

[Barnsey]

Final issue discovered more recently with all the sunny weather we've had, there are numerous relatively light windscreen wiper scratches along with many more noticeable long scratches in the side windows, have tried using a drill with buffer attachment and cerium oxide to little avail (partly through fear of warping the glass) so thinking if it's best to replace at least the driver side window and learn to live with the ones on the windscreen.

Are these cars particularly prone to glass scratching easily or was the previous owner just driving through dense vegetation every day?

[Welton]

My windscreen has numerous wiper scratches too, I saw a Video on you-toob where a guy 'polished' the glass by hand using very fine wire wool, looked like it did a good job. I might check it out on more detail and try it.

Do not try this without research as I don't want you to scratch the glass or something.

[sfstu]

Final issue discovered more recently with all the sunny weather we've had, there are numerous relatively light windscreen wiper scratches along with many more noticeable long scratches in the side windows, have tried using a drill with buffer attachment and cerium oxide to little avail (partly through fear of warping the glass) so thinking if it's best to replace at least the driver side window and learn to live with the ones on the windscreen.

Are these cars particularly prone to glass scratching easily or was the previous owner just driving through dense vegetation every day?

My windscreen has numerous wiper scratches too, I saw a Video on you-toob where a guy 'polished' the glass by hand using very fine wire wool, looked like it did a good job. I might check it out on more detail and try it.

Do not try this without research as I don't want you to scratch the glass or something.

Guys, do a google search for "windscreen polishing detailing world". There's a wealth of info on there and seen quite a few posts on this subject.
Barnsey, if it really bothers you could you not get a replacement windscreen via you car insurance, obviously having to pay a excess but still relatively cheap at around £75 excess...?
It would need to be cracked for a replacement though... ;)