2001 Volvo S40 review from North America

Cruise control replaced.

CD player replaced.

A few minor "plastic issues" - cup holder sticking, for example, etc.

Otherwise fine.

All items were replaced free, as they were under warranty at the time.

I understand many of the comments here. If truth be told, there are good Volvos and bad Volvos. (Not all Volvos, for some reason, are created equal). This car, purchased from a dealer's pre-certified lot, has served us well. In short, it is the reason I'm alive today to write this. I once hit a deer straight on at 65 mph and the car simply knocked the deer out of the way and kept on going. In fact I drove it the next 400 miles home. MY daughter, sitting next to me reading a book when I hit the deer (thus not seeing me hit it) simply asked what happened, and didn't believe it was a deer. She said it felt like, maybe, a squirrel.

Volvos may not be everybody's wet dream mechanically or whatever, but they are sturdy workhorses nonetheless, and while this S40 suffers in the luxury dept and probably costs half again to fix what other "lesser expensive" models cost, it makes up for its shortcomings in that if you take care of it properly, more likely than not it will take care of you when you need it most.