2002 Volvo S40 review from North America

After two weeks of owning this S40 Volvo, my transmission failed. I called the dealer and a tow truck was sent for my car. A replacement wagon was sent for me to drive. The service department quickly fixed the fuse for the transmission at no cost. They even washed my car for me to pick it up. About six months after owning the car, my child spilled a drink on the cloth seat. I remembered that the salesman had comforted this fear by saying that a cleaner would remove a stain from these seats with no problems. I insisted on leather, but I changed my mind due to his persistence that these seats were easy to clean. I tried to clean the seats as directed, but I soon found out that cleaners left a water ring on the seats. I paid someone fifty dollars to clean the seats. They looked brand new until the seats dried. It left water and dirt spots all over the seats. This car now looked like it was 10 years old! I still haven't gotten the seats straighted out. Recently, the trunk latch jammed and I could not get into my trunk. This has happened twice. I even had to crawl through the trunk to get my teaching supplies. My fourth problem came tonight as I tried to refuel. The fuel door won't unlatch. I called the service on-call number, but they said that they could only tow it to a dealership.

For a new car, I have been stranded twice since May. We originally bought this car because of its safety features, but I will never buy another Volvo. I have tried to trade this car with the dealership that sold it to me. I paid $25,000 for this car and the trade-in value was only $17,000. How can a car lose value that fast from April to November? This was my first big clue that I had given away a lot of hard earned money to a dealer that didn't care that I was having problems with the car they had sold me. I even tried trading for another Volvo, but I quickly got the message that a trade was not what they had in mind. They made the trade in value so low that I left the lot. The great customer service in the beginning seemed too good to be true; I found out the hard way.