2001 Volvo V40 SE review from UK and Ireland

Practically nothing so far. The steering makes a very subtle squeaking sound when being turned if the car is stationary, but this does not bother me at all.

I downgraded from my 2.4L S80 because although it had the comforts of a ballroom and the solidity of a tank, it was consuming too much fuel since I was doing mostly town driving.

The V40 is obviously less spacious in the back seat and the interior trim is nowhere near as posh as the S80, but it is much more practical.

The fantastic estate boot is functional with belts and nets to secure cargo. It takes my Large dog comfortably and I recently carried a 6ft Christmas Tree in there. Very practical.

The 1.6 being the weakest engine in the range, it accelerates a bit slow when joining large roads, but if you do not want racy driving, it is perfectly adequate. It has carried 5 adults and a dog and the only thing is that you'd have to drive in 1 gear higher than what you usually would.

The good thing is that it it is very economical and my weekly fuel spending has gone down to between 1/2 and 2/3 of what it used to be with the S80.

Insurance and Tax are also lower.

For a car of such high mileage for its age, it is behaving very well - almost like new. And the service history indicates all the repairs were very minor - bulbs etc.

Overall: manoeuvreable, responsive steering, easy to park, decent handling, loads of bolume in the rear, but poor back seat legroom, cheap and practical to run... in one word - workhorse.

... and for £4500 off ebay it was a real bargain.