Buyers guide
 

Hi all,

Wonder if you can help me?

I'm a driving instructor and I'll be changing my car soon as I'll be teaching automatic in the near future. I've been doing a lot of research on cars and I've decided on a D3. As this will be my office it will be a fairly high spec one, oh and I do like my toys. I was looking for some real world feedback on reliability and running costs. All information would be helpful. Car I'll be buying will be around 2013/14 SE Lux spec if possible.

I have a 2016 model year V40 petrol automatic and in three years and 38K miles I have not had any issues with the car and am still happy with it.
From what I have read on this forum there do not seem to be any particular issues with the V40.
A 2013/14 car will have the older Volvo 5 cylinder D3 engine which from what I have read is pretty much bullet proof and does not suffer from the EGR problems of some of the later 4 cylinder diesels. Hopefully someone with a D3 will be able to give you an idea of running costs. The last main dealer service on my car was just over £400 which included rear brake pads.
Volvo geartronic automatic transmission is a six speed Aisin box and is a conventional torque converter transmission. Volvo say it is sealed for life but if you are buying a higher mileage car I would suggest you consider getting the transmission fluid changed.
Hope this is of some help if you decide on a V40.
Steve

I think you're on the money already.

The MY13/14 D3 is the 5-cylinder 2.0 Volvo engine (originates back to the old D5) which is probably the most reliable diesel engine ever made. On the motorway at steady 70 53-55 mpg is the norm (in a manual car). However round town and constant accelerating and braking do impact the economy more than on the smaller 4 cylider D2.

The box is good but as has been said if the car has 70k or more - get the fluid changed. You will notice the difference...

SE Lux should get you the active Xenon lights (they're brilliant) and the nice TFT instruments. Check it has DAB radio if that's important to you - they were optional early on. Check if it has a space saver - they can be bought cheaply if not but you also need a boot floor kit.

Really good, comfortable, reliable car I do 100 miles a day in mine.

The only thing I would add is the D3 is 150 BHP and very torquey low down - might be too powerful for a learner car?

i used to have a MY11 S60 D3 (163ps) but same engine and it is a cracker. No problems whatsoever. Only thing I can really add to the above excellent advice, (stand to be corrected on this if I'm wrong) is around about 54000 miles they changed the auxiliary belt and tensioner as part of a technical journal bulletin. Not sure how true it is but I was told it was because the originals were Ford parts and they were replaced with Volvo parts for longevity.
Would be worth checking this has been done if at or near the required mileage.

I have a MY13/14 V40 SE LUX NAV 5 cylinder D3 AUTO in which my wife took and passed her test!

I have driven a D2 and the 5 cylinder D3 seems smoother at low rpm. Also when Start/Stop is operating I feel that the D3 has less (almost no perceptible) hesitation starting which is an advantage at roundabouts compared to the D2.

The high window line makes reversing and parallel parking more difficult compared to the usual driving instructor’s car, especially for a learner.

The 150 hp engine makes it very easy to exceed a 30 mph speed limit, unless you use the speed limiter, which is not something that you want to do anytime, especially on a driving test.

With 150 hp it is not the cheapest car to insure, especially for an inexperienced driver.

For the test you’ll need to ensure that your pupils know how to read the electronic oil level gauge. At least they don’t get their hands dirty.

David

We have had an early 2014 V40 D3 Geartronic for 2 years now. It has proved to be an excellent car; my wife uses it for work, which involves a 65 mile round trip a couple of days per week, plus numerous local (3-5 mile) journeys each week: this mixed driving has given an average fuel consumption of just over 49 mpg over the last 2 years/ 18,000 miles.
The D3 engine is a delight; it is quiet and smooth, with just a subdued but satisfying growl when accelerating, it produces a decent amount of power which makes driving a pleasure and the high torque enables the car to accelerate surprisingly quickly.
Our car is the ES spec, which was pretty much the bottom of the range, but it still has quite a decent equipment list, plus it was fitted with the winter pack and parking sensors as extras. The (cloth) seats are very comfortable, even for journeys of 3 hours or more. It is not a very big car, and the luggage space is limited, but the driver and passengers get plenty of room - I am 6’4” and have more than enough leg room, and have even managed to be comfortable in the back seat!
Reliability, so far, has been 100%.

That’s a good point - the rear visibility on the V40 is poor really, especially compared to boxy cars like the Golf. Probably no worse than a Focus or Astra though.