Yes, I know, a bold statement but I have really grown to hate this car. At 6,000 miles the front struts went out (it took three trips to the dealer for them to figure this out - twice telling me that there was nothing wrong with it), the headlights went out at 10,000 miles (told that this was normal), front and rear brakes replaced at 12,000 miles (at this very moment - also told that S40s need their brakes replaced every 12,000 miles), wheel emblems fall off at will, dash lights go off nearly every fill-up, what's next? Am I the only one experiencing this?

Don't forget the whining fuel pump, whining piston cooling valve, window regulator, rocking & squeaking driver's seat, whistling mirrors, poor paint quality, endless software upgrades, interior rattles & squeaks ... where should I stop. Those are just some of the ones that I know are commonly known probelms.

And of course the ever helpful Volvo North America Customer Service (LOL). The complete incompetence of my dealer (and others from what I have seen here) is just the icing on the cake.

If you figure out how to get rid of this car withouth loosing your shirt, let us all know!

My 2000 V40 has just turned over 20,000 miles. No problems...yes NO PROBLEMS!!!..It has not seen the dealers shop once since it left it when I bought it....I do all the oil changes and regular maintenance and have seen nothing out of the ordinary...The brakes are worn on both front and rear to about 60% left...that is normal.... I am a really picky car owner and I would be the first to be depressed about it if something was amiss but...there is nothing. My office mate has an Audi A4 (a model I considered when buying the V40) and he has lots of nagging problems...it even left him stranded on Hiway 1 on a Sunday with his In-laws.

Soooo..if you hate it, get rid of it...but...for those of you who love their S/V40s like I do, drive on and enjoy....

Sure the X40 models do have problems, but what car doesn't? If there was a perfect car everyone would have own it! Yes the fuel pump makes more noise than other cars. Why? Your talking about a Turbo charged car here, it take more fuel to run these babies without running lean. Lean mixture can cause pining! Without this loud fuel pump the car wouldn't have any potential to increase in power without added an after-market fuel pump. You can run 230BHP+ on the pump. No comments on the piston cooling valve, I don't hear it. If that tapping you hear, I don't know of any car that doesn't have some kind of noise that makes decent power. Rocking & squeaking driver seat, hmm mine doesn't do that any more. Self healing car maybe? Endless software upgrades? I never had one upgraded on mine, I know of only one or two upgrades. That should take but one trip to the dealer under warranty. Interior rattles? Have you tried to find out what it is? I know of two things that might be a botched installation, first the front left side

dash speaker was not seated correctly at factory installation, just pop the cover and bend the little tabs on the speaker out some and no more rattles. Second could be the stereo clips that seem to rattle, mine quit rattling. Now the paint quality I totally agree with you there! Very thin! Could be color choice that was selected, I got blackberry! I though it was black from the book color. I was sorta surprised the first time I saw it, but it grew on me. I'll just paint it Jet black one day! The metallic black was too gray for me....

Buy an Audi S4 and love it.

There is literally nothing Volvo makes for the driver to love today. Yes, it's a safe car and the coupe is ok (I don't care for the interior compared to say an Audi A6 but that's Versace vs Sears taste) and the performance is ok if harsh and the cost is high and the maintenance is ridiculous, but other than that get rid of it. Especially if you hate it.

You can't fix it.

Buy a $40,000 to $45,000 car and love it?

I think your talking to the wrong car category! First, I paid half as much as the S4, second how could an S4 be cheaper?

S4 has two turbos, quattro, and still the import expenses of getting parts to the US from Europe! If you really want details, how about the 17/24MPG! V8 consumption, with higher insurance price. Don't get me wrong! I would love a S4 if I wanted to spend that kind of money on a car. Those colored seat rock and the performance it not bad either. But with the hazards of every day driving, cars are not a good investment to have other than your safety on the road! Right now I got my safety, an only want to spend 2-3k more for some extras. Now performance and fun factor can be had with a simple Chip. If a road rocket is wanted,(less than 6. seconds to 60mph 1/4 in 14's) it could be had for chump change compared to the cost of the S4 stock.

My views.

US S4 250BHP? Why do we get safted with the weak stuff here when there is so much more that could be had? For the people in Europe you know what I'm talking about!

That's right the RS4 with 380BHP 0-60 4.* and the ESP stuff. Now that's what I would buy. But since they do offer that here, I'll sick with my S40 :)

> there is so much more that could be had? For the people in Europe you

> know what I'm talking about!

Yup. Ditto for the BMW M3.. The US version was 200-something HP, while the euro M3 was 320 (current model 343hp).

Did BMW neuter the M5 for the US market or not?

Of course we're usually not getting most 'fun' Japanese cars like the Nissan Skyline GT-R, unless you do a 'grey' import in the UK.

And then there are all the other brands which are not or no longer sold in the US.

I cant say that many people here are waiting for US brands to come over (chauvinists? Perhaps..). Most are present in some form or other, but really play a minor role. And I guess some models are different (eg. turbodiesel engines) than 'native' in the US.

Bye, Arno.

But since they do offer that here, I'll sick

> with my S40 :)

I ment Don't (doh) Try this if you don't know what I am talking about.

http://www.cst.net/~dat/mpgs/rs4-driven_full.mpeg

No.

All cars suck, it is just a matter of degree. It sounds like yours is one of the worse offenders. You may want to look into lemon law stuff or just think that Volvo is paying for all of this and not you so don't worry. Every mile we put on is one mile closer to total mechanical failure. Enjoy it while it lasts!

The struts are definitely weird though. Do you have particularly harsh roads or something?

Each issue was brought up with the dealer who explained that all this is normal. Maybe for Volvos but not for the last 3 new cars I've purchased (and all counting 8 other cars I've owned). Of course this is the same dealer that during my 7500 mile check forgot to put he coolant cap back on - in July, in Phoenix. Of course by the time I realized it, I was having it towed back to the dealership a week later. They said they were sorry.

I drive 6 miles roundtrip to work, smooth driving both ways. I've read on this posting that others have had the same problem (sounds in the front suspension). In fact, it was from a posting that I learned that it may be a strut. When I took it into the dealer they claimed that everything was better, they tighted the suspension. Next morning, clunk! I took it back, they said they'd check it out. Later that day they called to tell me that everything appeared fine and after 2 road test, there was no clunk. Leaving work (boss not happy), I went down there and took the service manager for test drive - 25 feet later, driving over a speed bump, clunk! He looked at me in total shock, "wow, what was that?" I suggested that he check the strut (based on my readings). The next day they called me saying that the strut needed to be replaced (of course it was back ordered for two weeks).

Of course much of this is the dealer and not the car. But I'm finding it hard to write that car payment check each month when the car is usually sitting in a service bay at the dealership. Arrgghh.

Hum... there's a pattern here. You're not the first to mention of major problems with your car and getting them fixed, and who happens to be in the Phoenix area. There have been other posts here of S40 owners in Phoenix who've tried 2 dealers there with similar results as you... BBB time maybe!?

I hope you get the probs fixed (then again many of them shouldn't be happening so soon. Your car reminds me of how much I hated my Integra (until I stopped taking it to the dealer once it was out of warranty--same kind of problems as you, mostly suspension). I still have it and still can't wait to get rid of it but I'm so close to paying it off that I want to enjoy no payments on the thing.

On the other hand our 01 V40 is solid as a rock (8months old with 13kmi)! Fun, beautiful, and only complaints are minor rattles and vibrations. I've isolated a major culprit, haven't decided how to address it. It's where the roof sheet metal meets the inner frame around the sunroof... there is a rubber pad between them but it's not thick enough to dampen the vibrations coming from the sunroof console area.

Good luck!

Alberto

I sympathise with you. I absolutely loath mine.

Today I collected my car after another week at a dealership, it is an earlier s40 which is really poorly built. My car has in the 18 months of ownership had in excess of 20 repairs - luckily all under warranty. This weeks faults were central locking, and yet more suspension knocks. Anti Roll bar bushes were replaced (the last ones went for 3 months and 5000 miles before a knock returned)

So far suspension/steering repairs have consisted of :-

rear struts (both)

rear bushes (a known fault with s40's)

front control arms (a known fault with s40's)

antiroll bar bushes (twice)

reseating of the wheel bearings (a known fault with s40's)

steering rack

the list of other faults is just as long - switches, warning lights, oil pressure, seized brakes etc, etc.

Frankly the suspension on the car is so unreliable that I cannot put up with it for much longer, I am amazed my patients has lasted this long. Nowadays I wait for 2 or 3 things to go wrong at a time before taking the car in, as inevitably they will.

It really makes me wonder if these cars are really fit for the purpose they were intended, as like yourself none of my previous cars have had any such recurring problems despite covering 3 or 4 times the mileage in each.

Cheers

Chris Woolley

Ps if anyone from Volvo UK reads this board, then I would love to hear from you on this subject and welcome the opportunity for you to see my car and its history for yourselves.