Hello,
I am looking into buying a 2000 S40.Ijust wanted toknow the good, bad, and ugly about the reliability of the car.Especially the engine.
Thanks!

 

if the engine has seen consistent oil changes when supposed to then the engine itself should be okay...one of the problems i have found with my s40 and im sure this goes for any volvo is that volvo maintenance in general can be very costly unless you can handle working on your car yourself....

 

I agree with mcguij1. However, the S40 has not been produced with a 1.4 engine.

 

What is the mileage on the car? Has the timing belt been replaced (there may bea sticker showing the TB change date/mileage)?

Agree with the other posters, and believe you meant to say it had a 1.9 engine. If so:

The turbo oil return line quite commonly leaks. Dealer can fix it with 1 hour of labor and a couple of bucks in parts. Exhaust manifold studs and nuts are another common problem. They've since replaced the nuts with a redesigned version, but you're looking at a couple of hours labor plus around $100 in parts for this fix if you replace the gaskets too.

These cars can go through headlight bulbs like they're candy - especially if you've got DRL. Same for brakes & rotors. Coils commonly go bad before 100K.

I've got 80K on my '01, and am quite happy with it; enough that I recently replaced my 4Runner with a V70. Had some minor problems but nothing catastrophic. Remember, you're buying an 8-year-old car and it will need maintenenance as it gets older. I'd also recommend flushing the Aisin Warner transmission if you want it to last. I used the Toyota T-IV fluid for about $4/quart instead of the Volvo fluid at $17/quart.

Datapoint: My local dealership charges $100/hour labor - a bit more than the Toyota dealership. Others have reported Volvo dealers charging upwards of $120/hr. You might want to find a good independent shop if you want to get the labor costs down.