Just to re enforce what everyone else has said. The Original Volvo rotors and pads on the S-V40 are great and give a smooth response plus sharp braking but they are softer than average so they wear out faster. Use third party components. they are harder and longer lasting. The braking will be different but it is tolerable if you want to save money. I did, and have not had any problems at all.

The stock brake pads on the S40 are known for great stopping power but tend to be dusty and have a short replacement life of 20K-30Kmi. All OEM brakes, Volvo or not, are trending toward this because it is easy money to have you back for a brake job more often.

My suggestion is to do the job yourself or go to a good mechanic who will use the pads you supply.

Replaced my original pads at 26,000mi. Rear were near gone. Fronts could have made it past 40,000mi. Got Mintex pads from FCP Groton, they advertize here.

$35 front pads
$25 rear pads
$16 rear rotors turned at a local shop

One afternoon of my time including the trip to get the rear rotors turned and my car stops as good as ever with wheels that are clean enough to eat off of! Best part - they will last twice as long.

mormit
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85 245DL 258,000mi V15cam 'Old and Rusted', 02 S40 'New Hotness'

I've had awful performance from the rear brakes on my S40. My car has already gone through 3 sets of rear pads and I'm only at 53500km!!

I've had the rear pads replaced at 19700km, then again at 35800km, and now I've got to have them done again at 53500km!!! All of the previous repairs were done at the dealer (under warranty....luckily)

Does anyone have any advice/experience regarding this?? The dealership is pretty well telling em that I'm on my own!

thanks!!

$400 for new pads and rotors is a good, non-rip off price for the rear. Could the master cylinder problem contribute to the excessive wear on the rear brakes? Sounds possible.
Any rust accumulation from lack of use will decrease braking efficiency the first couple of times the brake is applied, but will not have an adverse effect on the pads/rotors.
Repairing any car these days will require major $$$, regardless of how different the damage looks after an accident. Body panels are designed to crumple on impact and get replaced, rather than the old cars made out of steel. Those cars could be hammered back out, were not designed to absorb the impact and tough on the people in the cars.

Klaus
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98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 75 164E(173K mi)

I had my volvo's (V40 2001) brakes checked at the volvo dealer at 50 000 km (~31 000 miles) due to breaks "shaking" when applied. The rotors where damaged and caused the "shaking". The pads where so worn that they needed to be replaced. I also wondered why the pads could be worn already at this low miles. The pads normally last arround 80 000-100 000 km.

The explanation I got was that due to that the car has been driven so little the breaks are not kept clean from corrosion. The corrosion makes the pads jam up which causes the pads and the rotors were out a lot faster. I believe this explanation as I have heard it somewhere else before.

The screeching noice which I also noticed before the pads where changed could be caused by a piece of metal mounted on the pads working as a wear indicator. The piece of metal will touch the rotors when the pads are worn out and should be replaced.