Hi,

I may be lucky enough to get my hands on my dad's 2000 Volvo S40 - he has bought a new car - for my first car later this year.

It's a non-metallic white, 2000 S40 2.0T (the light pressure turbo) with grey leather and just under 200,000 kilometres on the clock. It's a good honest car but there are a few issues, just wondering whether anybody may be able to answer some of them.

1. Leather upholstery

The leather is looking very tired especially in the front row. The driver's seat is a little saggy and both the driver's seat and front passenger seat have developed a lot of cracks and have an overall "distressed" look. My idea was to have the seats reupholstered but we live in Australia and I doubt there are any local Volvo leather specialists.

Are there any options here to improve the appearance of the seats and/or prevent any further problems?

2. Backlighting for the audio system

A few years ago the green lights behind the radio/CD player stopped working; our service rep told us it was not fixable. Is this true?

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Also I have two basic questions about adding different parts; later S40s seem to feature 'chrome' door handles - are these easy enough to add on? Also, is it possible to change the standard headlights to Xenon?

Any answers would be appreciated,

Tom
Sydney, Australia

 

The lights behind the radio cannot be fixed. My dealer told me the same thing $650 for a new radio.

 

Thanks for that info. I think I'll stick with the current unit.

 

Hello 2000S40. About the bulb repair needed for your radio. Check out this link. It contains the instructions and photos to show you how to change out the bulbs. I did it last year, cost me $8 in bulbs (I used Honda bulbs), radio has been working fully lit since then with no problems. I also have a 2000 S40, stock, and the repair was easy to do, took me 30 minutes. Good luck.
http://www.volvo-forums.com/index.ph...7&st=0&p=46880

 

I replaced my radio/CD player with a Sony Sony CDX-GT450U head unit. The OEM was 2 DIN and the Sony 1 DIN so I put a 1 DIN tray below it. It looks great and gives me a place for my garage door opener and my mp3 player. I changed it so I could play my mp3 player through the car stereo.

 

I was watching uk wheeler-dealers.....they showed a "leather-restoration" service refinish the existing leather seats in a car they were restoring....looked great at a fraction of the cost of replacement.