2003 Volvo V40 Consumer Reviews

I purchased this vehicle from a private owner while doing some work in Tucson, Arizona. I already owned a 99 V70 and fell in love with this car at first site. I loved it even more after the test drive. It's quick and is fun on the highway and the gas mileage is good. I travel a lot so it's small enough to be economical yet roomy enough to take with me what I need. I have but one complaint against it and that's the turning radius. I think it could be better but the fun factor drowns it out. Mechanically, it's been sound even after the drive home to Vermont from Arizona. This little car has earned it's stripes with me and gets a heated garage in the winter where she won't leave until the weather is nice again. I mean, moon roofs aren't fun in the cold!!!

I got this car at just shy of 100,000 for fairly inexpensively about 5 years ago. I put in a new timing belt, and the car ran wonderfully when I ran it sparingly. For the first 3 years, I had barely tacked on 15,000 miles, because I did a lot of walking. But when I moved out of the city, I began to use the car more. In 2 years, I racked up 20,000 miles, which should be about average for a commuter into the city. During this time, I developed an oil leak, which only worsened each time I patched it, with increasing price tags each time. In the end, when everything was patched, the increased pressure from my turbo without the alleviation of the oil and pressure leaks caused oil to burst out of the dipstick, and without oil, busted one of my pistons without warning, crippling the engine. In less than 200 miles from fixing the oil, the car had totaled itself and lost 2,000 bucks in revenue, not counting the repair costs. I was still able to sell it to a Volvo dealership for pennies (though better than the wave-goodbye from a scrapyard), as the car was only made for a few years, and parts are rare, but it did discourage me from wanting another one of these cars. It's still a fine car, and if replacement engines weren't the entire car's value, I'd have repaired it and been on with my day, but the truth is that the value of this car is in a cheap turbo engine that is not incredibly uncommon to fail after a while. I would recommend this to someone who isn't going to drive a ton, but still needs something safe for a few years without needing a long commute -- like a senior man who wants some umph to his drive in a safe car, or a new high school student who isn't going much of anywhere besides baseball practice, the movie with his friends, and occasionally out to dinner. This cars safety features are on par with the Volvo name, and despite getting t-boned by a Fiesta and rear ended by an F-150, never had serious frame damage, or personal damage besides some whiplash. However, to those of us who drive to work every day, and work is some distance away, be wary of the engine-- as there was a reason it was made for as short a time as it was. Be wary of expensive parts, oil leaks, and the turbo beginning to decay, but don't ever worry about getting hit by an idiot on his cell phone. I miss this car, but I wouldn't get another.

its good car, no issue in this car to bother me other than its low car since I live in Wisconsin. parts is easy to found, I love this model and I save $$$$$$ since I drive it. I wish I drive it for ever.

I have had this car for around 3.5 years now and I loved it at first. It was very reliable and a smooth ride, however the older it has gotten the more and more it is in the shop and I am out of a car. This past year has been the worst for my car and I have put thousands of dollars into a car that is just not worth it. It has died on me in the middle of the road before and had major oil leakage issues and now my alternator just went. However, it is an older car with lots of miles so I guess I can understand. I would recommend staying away from this car now unless you can get one with little mileage on it because apparently once the miles add up the car just dies or is in need of constant repair. I am looking for a new car now and am learning towards an Acura.

I bought my 2000 V40, from someone who was not honest in what the car need, slowly making the repairs and it is wel worth it. on the high way I get 37 mpg, the turbo is fun! and for some one who is 6'1 fit realy well inside, it may not be for every, try it you might like it!

When I first got my v40 I was in love. I paid $3,800 for it last year and So far I have mad about $4,000 dollars in repairs. once you fix one thing, another goes wrong. Its a lovely car to drive when its in good condition or before it starts giving trouble. it is luxurious though, so repairs are NOT cheap!

THe car has lasted 11 years to date and has not had any major repair requirements. I have used this car for many things and it has been great. THe power has worked great especially getting onto highways The only negative commment is size of car - not a problem -but on the smaller size and got used to it I will look at volvos again when i need my next car

So I bought this car in July and it had 123K on it, timing belt done, new cv axles, main seals and top end seals replaced, so I thought I was getting a great deal for $3000. BUT I have put around $2500 into it over the past 6 months. It ran well for a few months, and then it threw a check engine light (CEL) code for the temperature sensor. We cleared the code to see if it would come back on and then the radiator cracked. I figured this was just bad luck and it ended up costing $600 for the temperature sensor, radiator, and thermostat plus labor. A month or so later, I went to start it, turned the key all the way on and nothing happened. It didn't try to turnover, everything was working, so I figured the battery was dead. I tried it one last time, and it started normally but threw another CEL. It threw an ignition CEL. I still haven't fixed this because it only happens once every few weeks. Battery, terminals, and wires are great. The mechanic thinks its the antenna key (recognizes the key for the security system). Next a few months later, I go to warm it up on a cold morning and it starts and idles very rough until it's warm and throws another CEL. Now it's a misfire code, so I replace both coils (luckily still under 1 yr warranty). It runs good for a few weeks, and then I hear a knocking radomly in the suspension but not everytime I go over a bump so it's not a blown shock. It's the anti-roll bar and the the lower part of the bushing is gone so it was knocking on the subframe. Additionally, the right front shock was starting to go (could hear it knock over speed bumps). Well the strut assembly is ridiculous on this car, it needs special "spring seats" with the new shocks. So the total with the anti-roll bar bushings, two new shocks, and the spring seats was around $620 (w/o labor). To avoid labor costs, I changed the struts myself (had pulled my 1989 Nissan 240sx engine apart twice, and made a couple suspension modifications a few years back). The anti-roll bar bushings are in the dumbest locations that it takes 2 hours (quoted by the mechanic) to change, I didn't bother. I just shot some windshield seelant under the anti-roll bar when changing the struts; still working for 2000 miles. My Nissan 240sx anti-roll bar bushings would've taken me 30 minutes to replace at most. The bushings are extremely bad designs as well. My Nissan 240sx and most other cars have a one piece, rubber bushing that have a slit in them to get over the bar. The V40's are two pieces that are held together by little clips and to keep the bottom part from sliding, there are opposing knotches in the rubber bushing; so if those knotches wear down, oops, there goes the bottom part of the bushing (what had happened to me). Just after I finished the struts, the CEL comes on when I'm driving. It's the misfire code again! So now, 6 months after I bought the car @ 130K, I'm replacing the spark plugs ($60 with labor) and hoping it's those. Furthermore, there has been a kind of grinding noise developing. It turns out the bearing on the alternator has gone out and the pulley is grinding into the alternator. So for $400 (with labor), I have to replace the alternator ($175) and the serpentine belt (which is $40!). In conclusion, this car is comfortable, relatively powerful, roomy, and looks good for a Volvo. But, it is a low end Volvo, poorly designed, and from what my Volvo mechanic says, was rushed out the door. It is a nice car, but has many issues that were never worked out and very expensive to maintain.