I am going to buy a 2009 volvo s40 in a few days. The car is the T5 model and is an R-design, its at 80,000 miles. How much does the timing belt job usually cost, and should i do the job as soon as possible if i buy the car? Thanks

 

Check the VIN for the engine code. If the 6/7 digits are 38, the timing belt is due at 10 years or 120K miles, whichever comes first. If the 6/7 digits are 39 (same as the B5244S7 engine code on the build plate), you are due at 15 years / 150K miles. Mostly the S7 engines were sold in California/Washington and in the northeast. The 38s are the S4 variant.

The timing belt job should cost in the $600 dollar range. Parts include the timing belt, the tensioner and idler, but its also a good time to replace the serpentine (drive) belt and inspect those idlers. The only complexity with this job is the tech needs to know how to reset the VVT hubs which accounts for an extra hour or so of shop labor vs a non-VVT engine. I'd probabably do the job at the earliest convenient date but that's mostly because of the down side that a failed timing belt leads to a set of bent valves which can cost $2K or more to repair.