First Time Volvo Driver - S40 2004

[cwhaley]

Hi all. Hoping for a bit of advice on purchasing a 2004 2.0D S40.

Traditionally I have only bought Fords. I'd had my last Mk2 diesel Focus for over 4 years and only sold up as I thought I'd trial taking the train to work instead. Now the realities of a 20 mile weekly walk have been realised over the winter, I'm looking to get myself a car...

Always been tempted by Volvos. I'm only 28 but I don't understand the "old man" persona - I like the styling, I like the stories of reliability and from what I've heard the 2004 onwards S40 has a lot going for it.

The one I'm looking at is a '54 plate 2.0D. It has full service history, 4 previous owners and 104k on the clock. Without going into specific details ofit, what are they like in terms of long-term reliability and common problems? Seen a few good things on this forum but also a few tales of woe!

[domhart10]

I had a 2008 S40 2.0D was a great car, absolutly loved it.

- Look out for when the timing is due
- let it tick over and hear out for any metal tapping noises in the engine bay
- Ask to start the car from cold, if not take the car out and turn it of and back on again quite a few times to check it turns over ok.
- Push up against the windscreen and check there is any movement

I dont know much else appart from that, if its been looked after well should be good Im sure others will pop up with a lot more useful points

[cwhaley]

Originally Posted by domhart10

I had a 2008 S40 2.0D was a great car, absolutly loved it.

- Look out for when the timing is due
- let it tick over and hear out for any metal tapping noises in the engine bay
- Ask to start the car from cold, if not take the car out and turn it of and back on again quite a few times to check it turns over ok.
- Push up against the windscreen and check there is any movement

I dont know much else appart from that, if its been looked after well should be good Im sure others will pop up with a lot more useful points

Thanks for that - appreciate the advice! There's paperwork to prove a timing belt change at 67k which seems a good mileage to get it done. I wouldn't have thought about the windscreen though so will check this and will definitely be turning it off (nine times out of ten dealers get them 'warmed up' before arrival).

Really love the design of them. If I had the money and drive space I'd get the XC70, but after a few months' thought the S40 seems like a good choice.

[domhart10]

another thing to keep in mind with getting these vo's are if you are at all interested in how you play your music as they are a bit frustrating to deal with if you have the basic setup and want simple things like aux/usb etc

aux/usb if it has it is in the centre rest by the hadnbrake. My previous S40 2.0D didnt have these and it was incredibly frustrating to try and play music from my phone or other devices in the car .... last resort was fm transmitter but that wasnt that great and too much pi**ing around.

[cwhaley]

Yup got to have my music with me on my drive in to work, not sane when I get there otherwise...

I added an AUX input on my Focus and it just involved plugging a cable into the back of the radio and feeding it to the glove compartment. There were a lot of tight spaces and plastic trim to get by though.

Hoping this has the AUX input!

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by cwhaley

Hi all. Hoping for a bit of advice on purchasing a 2004 2.0D S40.

Traditionally I have only bought Fords....

...So you know you'll kinda of continuing the tradition? ;P
In case you dont - S40/V50 are based on same platform as Focus and use a LOT of FoMoCo parts that are fully interchangeable Its basically a Focus in a suit :P

On 2004 unfortunately you will NOT find AUX input no matter what you do. Simply saying - you are sentenced to use radio/CD off the car or use FM transmitter as getting external signal/mp3/whatever to this audio unit is almost impossible without a pricey upgrade (it runs on fiber optics connection and is integrated into car so addons/replacement units etc wont work unless specifically designed for P1 volvo).

Cant provide any feedback on Diesel itself, but as for bodywork - check if it has sunroof -if so - 90% of them does leak if drains are not cleaned so better if it doesnt Also - if you drive a lot at nights and car has halogen headlamps - be prepared to curse. A lot.

All in all - great cars, just need a lot of love and care.

[Tannaton]

As the S40/V50 platform was built on established technology - there were no major weaknesses even on the early cars.

As has been said though check the obvious, cold start, hard acceleration etc.

Check also:

- Front suspension - the Ford components are weaker than Volvo generally and kerbing puts the tracking out easily and rubber bushes wear. Not expensive to fix but it can wear the inside edge of the tyres rapidly - so thoroughly check the font and rear tyres across the full width. Check also MOT history website for previous tests and if tyre wear was a common theme.

- Electrics - check ALL of them - every door lock, electric window, radio, air con, remotes, lights etc. They are not unreliable but can be expensive to fix.

- Brakes - check the cars stops from speed in a straight line with no wheel wobble. Again not a major flaw but as they are Ford sourced brakes sometime cheap inferior pads and discs are fitted which don't wear well. Again not expensive to fix.

That apart if there are no major faults the car should easily do another 100k with regular maintenance and minor repairs and it will waft you around at speed and in safety and comfort...

[cwhaley]

That's given me a lot of food for thought - thanks Volvo community!

Yes I discovered the Ford connection when first looking into the S40. I think the petrol ones use exactly the same Zetec engine as the first Foci? Can't get away from them... Sound-wise I think I'll have to do the FM receiver option. It could be worse - it could be a tape deck adaptor!

Funnily enough the MoT does state a few issues with worn tyres. The only issues recorded are headlight beam adjustment, thread showing on tyres or bulges on them) so I'll look out for issues with suspension and braking. Luckily there's a lot of quiet straight roads around the seller's lot, so will do a bit of testing out on the roads.

Service-wise on my last car, I did change the oil every 6k, never sat above 65mph and generally drove her like a lady, so all's I can do is pay special attention to the points raised above and hope the past owners were careful. He said there were "stacks" of paperwork and full history, so again will need to look carefully through it all.

Feel more confident going into this now - hopefully I'll be reporting back with some pictures!

[Welton]

It's fair to say that on here the majority of 'problem' threads seem to relate to the diesel models so I would be careful about weighing up how many miles you will do against any potential issues. Rule of thumb seems to be that if you do over, say, 13000 miles a year then diesel should be better.

That said I firmly believe we can make diesel engines more reliable by decreasing the service intervals and changing (or deleting) components that may cause issues later on.

Biggest issue I personally believe is that many diesels get an accidental dose of Petrol through them and then shifted on sharpish. A 'good' diesel should sound nice and smooth, like an oiled machine, if it squeaks and clatters and generally sounds a bit off then caution should be exercised.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Welton

It's fair to say that on here the majority of 'problem' threads seem to relate to the diesel models so I would be careful about weighing up how many miles you will do against any potential issues. Rule of thumb seems to be that if you do over, say, 13000 miles a year then diesel should be better.

That said I firmly believe we can make diesel engines more reliable by decreasing the service intervals and changing (or deleting) components that may cause issues later on.

Biggest issue I personally believe is that many diesels get an accidental dose of Petrol through them and then shifted on sharpish. A 'good' diesel should sound nice and smooth, like an oiled machine, if it squeaks and clatters and generally sounds a bit off then caution should be exercised.

Good points but as the car he is looking at is an early 2004 model I don't think he will run into the problems with short runs and DPF clogging up.