I recently made an appointment with the dealer due to squeaky brakes. He informed me that the S40s have been needing new pad and rotors @19-20,000 miles. Has anybody else encountered this, and is it covered under the warranty? Thanks

I'm having my rear pads replaced by an indy mechanic today. My V40 has less than 17,000 miles on it and they're completely gone. According to the indy mech the front pads are eating the rotors and will get me no more than another 7,000 miles. I'll have to replace the pads and rotors in front. Needless to say - I'm pretty ticked off that these parts are wearing so rapidly on a "high" quality car. Aside from this the V40 has been a great car and the brakes have served me well in Chicago traffic. I'll be talking to my dealer re: the longer wearing pads and warranty coverage for the rotors.

I had my pads done at 17k, but not the rotors. That seems early.

As those who follow the postings over time on this board, I experienced rear brake pad failure at 14,000 miles. All total I am aware of 37 S-40 owners that have experienced pre-mature rear brake pad failure. I was told by a couple of Dealers, and Volvo North American that this was a "wear item" only covered for 12,000 miles, or 12 months, whichever came first. I spent 5 weeks arguing with the local Dealer and Volvo NA, to no avail. Then one day in total disgust, I wrote a letter to Volvo in Sweden complaining about the lack of quality and reliability in the S-40 braking system, stating that I should at the very least have made it to the 15K check point, when the pads are checked, and I didn't even get there!

Volvo is keenly aware of the problem and as of two weeks ago they have released a longer wearing rear brake pad set. I don't have the part number here at work, but can get it at a later date.

To make a long story short, within a day of receiving my letter, I got a call from the local Dealer wanting to replace the pads and rotors immediately. I informed them I had an independant replace the parts, so they gave me a full refund, and they removed the "stock pads" the independant had installed, and put the new pads on. We'll see how long they last.

with the amount of brake dust i get on my front wheels, i wouldn't doubt it. i have never had a car put out this much dust. i'm considering using shields behind the wheels (even though they look like $#!t). i'm glad to know this, i just hit my first oil change.

Wheel shields may help reduce the dust, but will decrease the safety margin of your brakes in terms of sustained braking effort (for example a long downhill descent with a fully loaded car and repeated hard braking).

Most wheel shields will decrease the cooling capacity of the rotors, and if the brake fluid is relatively old, brake fade is likely to happen (it is not fun to press the pedal and feel it goes all the way down in a spongy way). That is why more and more cars are coming with ventilated rotors. Wheels shields block this airflow.

I don't know about the brakes going so quick but as for warranty good luck. You might be able to talk them into new rotors under warranty as they should last at least 50,000 but as for pads, every warranty explicitly negates coverage of those because they are considered a high wear item.

Mine went out at 21,500 miles-front AND rear. The rears wore out unusually fast. Many S40s have the parking brake adjusted too tight which causes premature wear of the rear pads. It would behoove all to have the parking brake adjustment checked.