2000 Volvo S40 from North America - Comments

Trunk won't open (latch broke 4 times).

Windshield wipers quit working (7 times).

Traction control quit working (2 times).

Electrical malfunctions (10 times).

This car is very unreliable and has been in the shop many times. Volvo aftersales support do not care about their customers. Volvo on Camelback service department (Phoenix, Arizona) couldn't complete a paint by numbers picture if they tried.

After starting a lemon law lawsuit case against Volvo, and their stalling, I sold the piece of junk at a loss to an unsuspecting dealer.

Hi,

I currently own a 2000 S40 and have been experiencing many of problems with it. In brief, the car has been in for repair 4 times in the past 6 months because the engine won't start or simply stalls. In total, it has been repair for over 40 days. The last time this problem happened was about a week ago.

Volvo claims its fuel pump problems. I am very concerned about this situation and have turned to the Internet and people who have posted messages like yours about this car. I have done a bit of investigation and have read of people with similar problems and they claim that Volvo is redesigning the fuel pump.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide me with some feedback on your Volvo S40/V40 experiences (if any).

Thanks for you for reading this message and hope to hear from you.

Volvo Owner.

EMAIL ME NTCORP@VERIOMAIL.com.

I am an owner of a Volvo S-40 2000 model.

Okay what has gone wrong...

1st, I had to take my car back and get my car aligned the day after I got it.

2nd, I had to take it back and get my brakes done. They said it was some kind of pump that had gone out and I had only had the car about 2 months.

3rd, my brakes just do not feel right and when I have taken it to the dealership they try to make me think it is all in my head.

I am quite sure if it were their son/daughter they would not have let this go on.

Things I am happy about...

Body and style looks great.

I picked a very nice color.

I have gotten to know some of the people in the service department and I cannot tell a lie and say they are not the nicest people ever.

Though I would like to get rid of this car, I am willing to go with the Volvo S-60. I think I will give the Volvo guys one more time and if it does not work out, then I will move on to another car and you can best believe it will not be a Volvo.

I have a 2000 Volvo S40 and have experienced all the same troubles. The first week I had to take the car in because the alignment was completely off. The car only has 20,000 miles on it now and I have had to have the car taken in for a faulty airconditioner (stopped working on my honeymoon), the car has overheated, the center caps on the wheels have all fallen off twice, the rear brakes are already bad at only 20,000 miles, the trunk wouldn't unlatch and the dealer dented the trunk trying to fix it. I could go on and on but I am getting to upset.

Hi, I own a 2000 Volvo V40. I am getting rid of the car. In the 18 months I have owned it the following has happened:

1. Check engine light has come on 4x. Each time it is the same software problem.

2. Sunroof broke.

3. Driver side window broke.

4. The paint is awful!

Volvo does not care about these problems and will not stand behind their product. Not only that, my husbands aunt works for Volvo North America Customer Service and that has not helped us at all.

The car is going and I will never buy another Volvo.

Save yourself the grief.

Volvo S40 2001.

We currently have 2800 miles on our new S40. This car has been in the shop for 15 day since purchase. Volvo has had to replace the transmission. The transmission repeatedly failed to shift from 1st to 2nd and required three trips to the dealer before the problem was fixed. In the past week the engine failed and the car had to be towed to Volvo for replacement of the RPM sensor and grounding problems. The speedometer doesn't work on cold mornings.

So far we have not received satisfaction from Volvo and are about to trigger the Lemon law.

I own a S40 T4 00',32 K and so far NOTHING has gone wrong with it. I travel a lot and the car has been there for me and I am very happy with my choice and the cars performance.

Thank you Volvo.

Stefan Larsson.

M_isha@hotmail.com.

The Volvo S40 like it's predecessor, the 440, has a few quality problems.

Since in Australia we get cars a bit later than Europe, we do get news about quality problems along the way.

Of interest, I think within 6 months of release I believe Volvo made 200 changes to the car, some of which were (I can't remember, this has been many years now)

1) Brakes were changed due to loss of braking ability after repeated hard stops as complained by customers.

2) Transmission was changed due to unreliability.

3) Sound deadening material was placed in the firewall due to excessive noise.

4) Remounting of the engine due to rough noise etc.

5) Rear parcel shelf was modified.

6) Brake lights fixed.

7) Suspension retuned.

This are only some of the changes. Remember 200 changes were made. I recall this information from Wheel Magazine of Australia which I think the article was written by Peter Robinson who I believe may write for AutoCar in Europe.

However, since Volvo is now owned by Ford, perhaps issues such as manufacturing on a large scale is better understood.

Let the buyers of a used S40/V40 beware that the early models with these problems and before the 200 changes will probably attract a lower price due to reliability problem. I would suggest perhaps the 2nd series (with 5 speed auto) could solve more of these problems, but not all.

V40.

This car is a total loser, software problems several times, air conditioner malfunction, electrical system malfunction, brake malfunction, wheel nearly came off, wipers broke, taillight loose, all within 14 months.

Volvo service is unhelpful, I'm going to take a big loss trying to get out of the lease.

Jlevy1@cinci.rr.com.

I just got a 2000 S40 off the lot for 23,000 because it was last years model. I have had the car for about 2 months and so far have a couple of problems with it:

1.) The wheel caps came off within 2 weeks

2.) The radio muffles itself for a couple of seconds at random

3.) The paint job was absolutely horrible. Within the first month it began to haze/oxidize. The red paint started having a white glint to it and the dealer had to repaint it.

4.) The wipers skip when being used on the windshield.

5.) One of the factory tires that came with the car randomly got a "bubble" in it due to a "tire defect" as stated by a Volvo technician at my dealer. Plus, the tires are constantly losing traction and squeal every time I make a turn.

6.) A couple of times the car has been having shifting problems. Like one time I let go of the accelerator to slow down and the car was stuck in gear.

That's about it. But yeah, I've had my share of problems, but none as bad as I've read above... yet.

I've noticed that that almost all complaints are coming from US owners. It seems that the cars are being manufactured with the same quality as Ford, Chev etc. My dealer has reported very few problems with their vehicles as they are either assembled in South Africa or imported from Europe. The SA assembled ones are definitely of better quality.

Just had my Volvo rear brake pads replaced at less than 20,000 miles (at my cost!). At inspection the rear pads had 0% remaining, while the front still had 70%. When I told the dealer that this was unacceptable, they said "this is normal for the Volvo S40". So my response was, and still is, "If it is normal to have to replace brake pads on the Volvo S40 every 15,000 to 20,000 miles, then the the Volvo S40 is unacceptable". Volvo refused to cover this abnormal wear under warranty.

Bill.

I have had both an S40 and a V40. I purchased my s40 1.8SE in September 1996 from new. I had the car for 4 1/2 years and during that period I had one or two minor niggles, but nothing to gripe about. Volvo after sales service was excellent. With regards to the comments from the gentleman above about his brakes, brake wear can be attributed to driving style. When I sold my S40, it had covered 43000 + and during that period the only brake maintenance that was required, was for me to replace the brake fluid. Therefore, if you drive at a speed and distance appropriate to road conditions and lift off the accelerator sooner you won't need to keep using your brakes.

After I sold the S40 I moved up to a V40 2.0T. Very nice! I think that the sports pack improves the look of the car as well as the handling. The black paint helps too. One thing that I noticed about both cars is that the rear suspension sometimes makes a twanging noise when the front wheels go over any hump at a forty five degree angle. Like I said earlier a minor niggle. With regards to the comments about wheel alignment, it took a Volvo approved wheel specialist 2 attempts at aligning the wheels on the S40 and it needed sorting once out of warranty after about 40 months. The V40, which I purchased 2nd hand has also needed to have its alignment checked twice in 12 months. I can only assume that this is an inherent fault - any comments Volvo? Overall a nice car. I will be buying a new V40 Phase 2 in the near future, hopefully a T4. Though if the opportunity arose and the price was right, I might purchase a V70 T5.....

Hi. I am really glad I found your site. I was looking for validation, and I found it here. We currently lease a 2000 Volvo S40. I must say things have gone pretty well with it, with few complaints. That is until last week, when my brakes starting pulling, making a grinding noise, and just did not feel right. We took it in, and were told it was running metal to metal, and had to replace rotors and pads. I, too, was told that this is "normal" for this particular model, and we had to pay for the repairs. I called Volvo NA, and was told they had several complaints about this model, but that, at this time,"management is choosing not to reimburse customers". This is the last Volvo I buy or lease! We have owned/leased a Volvo for the past 12 years, and have gone 35,000-40,000 without any problems with the brakes. The 2000 S40 has 15,000 miles on it. Something is wrong with this picture! I was told that in later models of the S40, they changed the braking system, so Volvo obviously knew the braking system was substandard. Thanks for the validation. Kath.

Defintely the problems refer to cars destined for North America. I bought my S40 in July 1997 and have had no problems whatsover with the car. The handling, suspension, acceleration and braking have been great. The dealership is a bit expensive, but it is worth it, they even send you a bottle of wine on your birthday.

I am switching to the new S40 or S60 this summer and am planning on being a Volvo owner for a long time. I'm sorry to read all the problems the North American version has had.

My wife and I just purchased a 2000 V40 with 30,000k. This after winning a Lemon Law with Hyundai which I received a 2002 XG350 and immediately dumped for the Volvo. I am a bit taken back by all the problems by other Volvo owners, but I have talked too many mechanics over the past few months and I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what car you own, all manufacturers are prone to problems. There are just too many variables when it comes to building a car. With that said...I'm still keeping my fingers crossed... Hope I made a better decision with the Volvo.

Cole597@earthlink.net.