V40, any good????

[rogerthechorister]

I have 4 7/9 series Volvos and know nothing about these modern things, but I have a friend who has a motability Hyundai that he is due to change and a V40 might be within his motability budget.

Should he do this?

He needs dog-proof luggage area (with the seats up) for he rats (he says they are Jack Russells but my last dog was a Great Dane and the funny little quadrupeds dopn't look like dogs to me).

He needs easy loading of his manual wheelchair in folded form into and out of the back (with the seats up) but not at the same time as the dogs.

He needs 4 decent seats, aircon, a good autobox MIGHT be nice, but he likes to be a boy racer from time to time. Oh, also nice big ashtrays that are easy to empty.


Who makes Volvo these days? For a while it was Ford but now it is someone from India or China isn't it?


What else should I know?

[volvorocks]

The link below provides all the sizes which should be of help in his decision process, along with plenty of photos.

http://www.rica.org.uk/2860

Regards

[tickedon]

Originally Posted by rogerthechorister

Who makes Volvo these days? For a while it was Ford but now it is someone from India or China isn't it?

What else should I know?

Volvo is currently Chinese owned (Geely). The Volvo cars in Europe are still made and designed in the same places as when Ford owned.

As such, pretty much every Volvo variant on sale at the moment has Ford DNA in it. The Volvo 60's, V70 and 80's are based on the Ford EUCD platform: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_EUCD_platform. The V40 shares a platform (albeit tweaked) with the Ford Focus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_C1_platform - and uses some Ford engines.

This is why some call the V40 a 'posh Focus'.

This won't change until Volvo revamp the range on the new 'SPA' platform.

[volvoid]

DNA in a car ! since when was a car alive ?

Anyway, does it suit the person in wheelchair ? Dont know, he will have to see how easy or hard it is to get in and out of. I suspect that as the V40 is a traditional car shape he may be better off with something more upright, Berlingo/Doblo etc is great for load space and access, can get proper dogs in them. So are the myriad mummy busses. Lots of grannies have a honda jazz for similar reasons (great used buys especially in rinse-blue), should be able to fit the rat dogs in the boot. Hyundai do make some very accessible cars, he may be better with what hes got.

[Tiff]

I've had one for 8 months now and find the boot quite small, especially with the optional spare wheel. The rear seats are fairly well inset, and aren't easy for older folks to get in to.No ashtrays in mine either. May not be a great choice for him,but I find the car to be brilliant-just with a family and luggage, or elderly passengers it is on the small side.

[Ninja59]

Originally Posted by tickedon

Volvo is currently Chinese owned (Geely). The Volvo cars in Europe are still made and designed in the same places as when Ford owned.

As such, pretty much every Volvo variant on sale at the moment has Ford DNA in it. The Volvo 60's, V70 and 80's are based on the Ford EUCD platform: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_EUCD_platform. The V40 shares a platform (albeit tweaked) with the Ford Focus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_C1_platform - and uses some Ford engines.

This is why some call the V40 a 'posh Focus'.

This won't change until Volvo revamp the range on the new 'SPA' platform.

VEA engines are beginning to appear in the v40 so limited life in ford engines.

The v40 will never be on the spa it's to small.

[tickedon]

Originally Posted by Ninja59

VEA engines are beginning to appear in the v40 so limited life in ford engines.

The v40 will never be on the spa it's to small.

Given the OP's comment, " a V40 might be within his motability budget.", it is clear that the engines being looked at would be the D2, T2 and T3, which are all Ford engines and that now seems unlikely to change for the rest of this year. The VEA engines are currently only at the higher end of the scale. Indeed, Volvo's motability options on the V40 are all D2, with a couple of V40 cross country options with the D3: http://www.volvocars.com/uk/sales-se...s/default.aspx

You are right that V40 won't be on SPA, my comment was about the wider Volvo range and I'm sorry about not being clearer. Whatever replaces the V40 will use the CMA platform, but that's a good while away yet.

[RoyMacDonald]

I understand Volvo heavily rework the Ford engine, uprating many components it doesn't think are good enough. Still my daughter had a Focus and put over 400k on the standard Ford version before I bought her a V70 to use.

I liked the D2 well enough to buy an XC version with the Tiptronic auto which shifts faster than a human. The torque and 6 speed box give a very responsive drive.