2004 Volvo S40 Base w/ Sports Pkg review from North America

1. Passenger power door lock makes whirling noise - Actuator replaced by warranty

2. Driver's power window streaks - Weather strip installed covered by warranty

3. Leaked oil (right after oil change service) ; oil seal damaged by service technician - Replaced by warranty

4. Front body kit damaged due to scrapes; vehicle is extremely low - Not covered by warranty. $26 replacement for center piece of body kit.

This car is the last year from the original style. I'd figure Volvo would have fixed all the issues on the last release of this vehicle. Apparently not. There are a lot of quirks on the car which apparently is normal.

1. If you leave keys in accessory position for longer than 1-2 minutes, the car won't start if you turn the ignition. You have to turn the key to position OFF and ON again to restart. Something about being in Accessory mode draws a lot of ignition power.

2. On very hot days (100+), the climate control may switch off and on. I believe this is due to overheat.

3. Cruising at 20-30mph and releasing accelerator causes vehicle to down-shift which lurches the car forward.

4. Car's driving and shifting style changes and adapts to how you drive it when you first start it up. (i.e. heaving acceleration after taking off from a cold start will result in shifting at higher RPMs, etc)

It's very easy to reset the service light w/o having to go to the dealership. This website: www.s40concepts.net provides a lot of help / advice for owners of this vehicle. Good place to share experiences.