2001 Volvo S40 SE from North America - Comments

Moon roof leak.

Front passenger headlight not sealed - retained water.

Fuel pump replaced at 12,000 miles.

My Senior Year in High School my 1997 Honda Accord was struck in the parking lot broadside and I began driving My Mothers 1998 Volvo S70, I drove this car until I left for college nearly a year later, the only problem we ever had was a heating issue that was repaired in a day. After my graduation we traded it on a 2000 C70 Lease that had no issues. Finally I decided that I needed a four door and with the Lease coming up I thought I'd trade for a little Volvo.

The S40 is comfortable for my six-foot frame with the exception of when I have a passenger behind me. Then the Volvo feels more like a Mini Cooper. I drove it happily for just over four months when I stalled on the weekend commute from my school to my home that averages 150 miles either way. A call to AAA and a trip back to the Dealer later I was driving off in a loaner with promises to have everything repaired by the next day.

Two months later I got out of class in the rain, and ran to the car only to find that it was just as wet, the moon roof apparently decided that it had a three inch area that wasn't going to seal any longer. Took into the Dealer - two days this time, in which the interior was detailed as well as the moon roof repaired. Driving home I opened the moon roof cover to find several little hairline cracks around the front edge of the glass panel. I returned to the Dealer and argued with the service department about the issue and finally had to call Volvo to have the panel repaired. About two weeks later I was pulled over and given a ticket for a burned out headlamp. Upon inspection the front passenger headlamp seal was no longer holding and the moisture caused the lamp to short out. The new housing was paid for out of pocket, I've stopped going to the original dealer for service and have since had no trouble out of the car.

Beware your dealership they may not like warranty work.

This is the first car I've bought on my own and may well be the last Volvo I own, although The XC90 looks inciting.

The S40/V40 can be a bit of a bad advertisement for Volvo. I've found that the Volvo S40/V40's build quality isn't quite up to the standard of the larger Volvos.

Having driven (long-term) both an S40 and a V70, the V70 has much better build quality. This seems to be mirrored in the other large Volvos as well.

It'd be great if you could say what year your s40 was. the 2000s seemed to have had a lot of body quality problems, but everyone says that after 2001 edition, volvo greatly improved such issues.