Faults:

Not much, battery needed replacing, ball joint, brake discs and brake pads at approximately 175 000 km.

Right side mirror adjustment mechanism is broken.

Leak in the tailgate.

Some rust here and there.

Small oil leak in the transmission.

It is starting to show some signs of wear and tear; the quality is about average.

General Comments:

Negative aspects of the car:

This car does not have many strengths.

It is really underpowered, the transmission is not a good one. I believe it is a Renault transmission, but that is no excuse, Volvo should take responsibility and put in a better one.

The cabin has some cheap plastic that rattles at different speeds.

It is not very spacious. The tailgate is not very well designed; there is a loading threshold.

The ride and handling is average at best.

Positive sides:

Not too many faults, considering the age and the mileage on this car.

It has got climate control.

It looks quite modern for a car of this age.

Simple mechanics; makes it easy to work on.

Conclusion:

The 1.6 is not up for the job; it is slow and quite thirsty for such a small engine.

There are better estates from this era, which cost about the same as the V40. But if you really want a V40, get a bigger engine.

Faults:

Ceiling's material collapsed (Most, if not all European cars owners in Hong Kong would encounter this I suppose) and I spent HK$1500 to get it re-mounted.

Save as the above, simply nothing!

General Comments:

This is my 2nd Volvo (the previous one was a 850 T5). Out of my expectation, the T4 engine is quite powerful providing 1st class driving pleasure and I can say "Hello" to a my friend's stock Mk V GTi easily with this tedious looking wagon.

As I have mentioned in my previous review here, drivers would not even make a glance at this wagon unless and until the V40 vanished from their site.

Really wonder whether the car is designed for those people enjoy picnicking with an extreme tight schedule….@__@

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with the car.

General Comments:

This car is unbeatable.

The handling is 100% and the power is amazing.

The auto transmission is like a 4.6 litre engines would be, The best.

Faults:

Front brakes sounded like they were rubbing, dealer aid stone found in them. Still sound the same only at low speed.

Front suspension sounds like it's knocking. Dealer replaced front drop links, still sounds about the same.

General Comments:

Paint marks very easily.

Exhaust sounds noisy on tick over.

Fan very noisy.

Only does about 20-22mpg around town.

Annoying noise from body vibration when pulling away.

Air con works OK.

Seats are nice and comfy.

Faults:

Very hard to select 1st and 2nd gears.

Rear brake pads required replacement at 20000 miles.

I've had to replace the headlamp bulbs four times to date.

At 45000 miles the constant velocity joints required replacement at a cost of some £500 per side.

General Comments:

After no joy with the Volvo dealer, I had to take the car to a local independent garage to correctly diagnose the faulty CV joints. The Volvo selling dealer could find no fault with the drive, blaming corroded brake discs which they could fix for £270 per side. The independent garage quote £200 for both sides, but on inspection said there was nothing wrong with the brakes and therefore refused to charge me for work that didn't need doing.

Later another Volvo dealer in another area confirmed that the CV joints indeed needed replacing.

After weeks of correspondence with Volvo Cars, they offered a 35% discount to have the offside drive shaft replaced. The bill would still come to some £400 with the discount, which is 10% of the value of the entire car.

I have arranged to get the problem sorted at another independent garage... quote is less than £300 to get both sides drivelines replaced.