[martin93]

I would say all the engines on offer were pretty good, although yes I've heard the GDI can be temperamental so I would suggest avoiding that. I would also avoid the 1.6 as these are pretty slow and thirsty compared with the others. Diesel's were well proven Renault units which generally give no trouble. The P1's up to around 1999 did not have variable valve timing, so there were no issues with the VVT solenoid clicking.

The 1.6 and 1.8 Volvo engines were fitted with a Renault gearbox up to around 2003ish, and the 2.0 non turbo had the Renault box up until the P2 was introduced in around 2000. I think the 1.8i GDI had a Mitsubishi box (not sure on that), and the Diesel's were also Renault. The other gearbox fitted was a Volvo unit. Both of these boxes were good, but I personally would stick to a Renault box since these are mated to a solid flywheel, not a dual mass flywheel like the Volvo boxes were. This is speaking from a brief experience with a 2.0 non turbo phase 2, which decided to throw its flywheel away at just 90K. I then managed to buy my phase 1 back. Only issues with the Renault box are that the linkage bushes wear quickly leading to a sloppy gearchange, but this is an easy fix.

The biggest issues to watch out for on a S40 and V40 now is rust, now they are getting to that age. I've just welded all four corners of the sills on my 1998 P1 (it was so close to being taken away by the scrap man that I actually filled it with scrap), and under the back seats where the fuel tank sits. After having these sections cut out I can tell you (on the P1 at least) that these cars are not as well rust proofed as the bigger Volvo's. Rusty fuel and brake pipes are another common issue, the worst being the brake pipe which runs behind the fuel tank and down next to the fuel filter. I recon just about every one of these cars now have either had new pipes, or are going to need them very soon.

Don't let that put you off though. These are excellent cars, and I will certainly be running mine on for as long as possible. It's literally the only car I've owned which has never let me down. Even the air-con still works on mine, and I've never gassed it in my 5 years of ownership!