Anti-freeze leak -- 7600 miles.
Right headlight bulb blown - replaced -- 9510 miles.
Check-engine light/software upgrade per tech. DCS 28-21 -- 10600 miles.
Check-engine light again at 10960 and 11375 miles -- download software upgrade again per tech. DCS 28-21, and installed swapped mass air flow sensor.
Left low beam headlight bulb blown -- replaced -- 16170 miles.
Loosing coolant -- leak at reservoir bottle -- replaced hose clamp -- 16840 miles.
Check engine light -- 19960 miles; replaced faulty turbo boost pressure sensor.
Check engine light -- three separate times between 20000 and 23700 miles -- finally diagnosed as a faulty catalytic convertor -- replaced at 23708 miles. Rear brake pads replaced at this same time along with the rear caliper mounts on the owners request.
Getting a cold-start stumble immediately on start-up with a reduction of RPM's to the point of stalling; no cause found. Problem has never returned -- 24230 miles.
Am using a top-cylinder high temperature upper cylinder lubricant (Marvel Mystery Oil) for the turbo, and being a user of this product for over 30 years, it definitely adds to the good reliability and performance of the S40 turbo engine.
Have installed a larger (22mm) rear sway bar for the factory 9mm unit, and the handling is outstanding. Was great in original equipment form, but it is now terrific!
Very comfortable for long trips -- best since driving my 1978 Saab 99 Turbo.
In all the 28000 miles plus as driven with a 65/35 distribution of miles on highway vs. city, I have averaged over 27 miles per gallon, and not with a soft foot; the transmission stays in sport mode constantly!
The seat adjustments for my six foot one inch frame are adequate for my driving comfort and pleasure. I keep the lumbar adjustment on full tilt.
The DSA (Dynamic Stability Assistance) option feature can be "over-driven", and requires common sense in its application in the wet and in snow via the accelerator.
Have only praise for the optioned headlight washer-wipers (Cold Weather Package), and the fat Sport leather steering wheel as optioned in the USA Sport Package.
For a person who wants a sports car with four doors, and is used to wrapping such a vehicle around oneself for driving enthusiastically, the S40 fits the bill to a "T".
Wow, that just amazes me that you had A LOT of problems with your car that cost well over $20,000, yet you consider it a reliable vehicle? You must have owned some terrible cars in the past. My old $2500 Volvo 240 with 160,000 on it has had less trouble in the past 30,000 miles than what you've had with yours. Shop around before you buy...Jeesh!
Having light bulbs burned is not what I'd call a faulty car. From what I read, he had only one problem with the check-engine light and a plastic tube that was leaking (probably the plastic got dry and failed). For a turbo car that's not a diesel, I'd say that he had a clear history.
The faults listed are similar to those experienced by me in the 1st 2 years and 20,000kms. Now 12 years later the car runs like a dream, ever reliable and relishing the regular 3-5000km trips made each year. Now registering almost 210,000kms on the odometer.
I put the Volvo S40 T's reliability down to the quality of the product, 'Mobil 1' oil changed every 10,000km and keeping the car well away from mechanics, performing all scheduled maintenance by the book personally.
If you want comfort, try my Citroën C5.
1999 Volvo S40 1.9t, just bought the car with 96,000 miles on the clock. Volvo service up to 80,000.
The main problem I have so far is engine coolant temp sensor FAULT. Bad starting when hot, running poor, i.e. low turbo boost etc, caused by the etc, as the ignition, plus fueling is all over the place, and the air con fan and radiator fan are on all the time, due to faulty etc.
Going into Volvo next week, to have it sorted! When it's fixed, I'll have the smile back on my face, LOL.
Otherwise it's a nice car. Handles great, fast go cart really ,with air bags and sips, LOL, LOL.
Back to the Volvo S40 T4, lost power again completely. Due to the recent rich fueling problem caused by the engine coolent temp sensor faulty and bad MAF sensor!!
Volvo had the car for 3 hours and could not find out why my car was lacking boost pressure and power!! And I told them it was blowing black smoke at high rpm. So I did some research myself!!.
Car was blowing black smoke from exhaust!! No engine check light was on the dash, poor acceleration, lack of turbo boost.
I scanned the ECU with my obd11 reader, to find that the front lambda sensor was switching really slow, not only that the car made more exhaust sound from the front rather than back! I also noticed that the exhaust gas was weak from the tail pipe!! This was because the catalyst was partly blocked, causing too much pressure to build up back to the outlet manifold, slowing down the turbine wheel on the turbo, also leading to burnt gases going back into the engine.
Now after spending 500 pound on a new catalyst and front and rear lambda sensor. My Volvo S40 T4 is a flying machine again!!
So next time you have problems with your car, spend more time with it, learn about it. Listen to what the engine sounds like. and check exhaust gases.
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