Hello Guys & Gals,

- So I am in the market to buy and I just went and looked at a 2005 S40 T5 AWD with 57,200 miles on it. The selling price is $11,500. Ok, there are the basics... now here is the deal. I know nothing about owning a Volvo. Today was the first time I was even in/drove one. All I know is that I like the way they look and drive (as of today) and I am seriously considering buying this one. Please give me all the advice you have to offer in owning a used Volvo S40. Does this price seem right? Maintenance? Unleaded Gas? Major Problems? Expensive repairs? Reliability? Anything I should look for under the hood? Is the T5 engine reliable? What kind of upcoming service will it need?

-It has 57,200 miles on it but the exterior is pretty darn nice with only a couple minor scratches. The interior was pretty dirty. I don't know why the seller did not make an attempt to clean the car, but it was nothing I couldn't clean up.

- I did check this car out on Edmunds and the private party price was around $14,000 - $15,000 in good condition

- I would greatly appreciate any advice you guys may have to give, as I said I really do not know much about these cars.

Thanks for your time,

Adam

 

a few advices..

- Check if regular maintenance was made
- check if it ran on Synthetic oil
- Check if all 4 tires are exact the same
- With 50K miles the timing chain has to be changed.. See if it was done
- Take this car to an Autozone ( or similar) and check for codes on the ECU.. See if the codes are "clean"

Other than that it is a really nice and fun car !!

 

- How much would the timing chain cost?

- It recently received an oil change according to the Valvoline sticker on the windshield, why synthetic?

- How much would a decent set of tires cost?


Thanks,

Adam

 

To begin, you do not have to go out and buy a new timing belt. Volvo factory service specs for the 2005 S40 T5 state that the timingbelt, it is not a chain,does not need to be changed until 120 K. The price for that car is also a good deal for the mileage and year. In contrast, I bought my 2003 S40in May of 2008and paid 8500 including tax title and all applicable fees and it had 71 K. Volvo cars are solid and very reliable. There are no major problems for that model year that i am aware of and because it is the new body style you can find plenty of aftermarket parts to add to your car if that is what you are looking to do. The T5 engine is a reliable and solid engine and has been used for years by Volvo. Maintenance costs are reasonable and I would highly recommend using Volvo replacement parts for your regular maintenance especially on fluids! Volvo uses its own radiator coolant which is blue. If you mix it with a fluid such as prestone (green in color) you run the risk of the different chemicals "gelling" which you don’t want to happen.

Since you are buying the vehicle from a private seller as I presume, I would do a few things:
1. Get the VIN number off the car and get a carfax history report

2. Take it for a spin around the block. You do not need to take the car to an AutoZone and get the codes read. All you need to do is drive the carfor about five minutes and if there is some kind of error code then the check engine light will appear on the dash. Do notmistake the "check engine" light for the "service" light as the service light only indicated that regular maintenance needs to be performed but does not indicate a problem with your car.

If the check engine light does appear then I would take it to get the code read. If not, your home free.

3. It is good practice to ask if synthetic motor oil was used especially because this is a newer car. This is important because if synthetic was used, you want to keep using it. The same goes for regular motor oil; stick with what’s in it in the future.

Since the car is near 60 K, the only factory scheduled maintenance necessary is to replace the spark plugs. I would recommend you bring the car in to a Volvo dealer to get them replaced especially if you have never replaced spark plugs before. They can be tricky some times and the last thing you want is for the threads in the block to get striped.

 

Thanks for the advice lax.

I asked the owner what kind of oil he used and this was his response, "The last three oil changes were completed at Valvoline and we used 5W30SYND for two of the oil changes and 5W30DBB for the latest oil change." Can you tell me what that means? Synthetic or not?

Also, how do I obtain the VIN # and get a car fax report?

Thanks,

Adam

 

please don't forget to ask the seller about RADIO CODE !!! if the car still use stock radio tape ...... this means a lot someday later (because in my case, dealer cost me about $30 to DECODE the radio while i replace the battery). [X(]
And as far as you can, stay away from RUBBER and PLASTIC things in Volvo ........ that cost too much that other cars parts.

 

I am not too concerned with the radio right now, but thanks for the advice.

Thanks,

Adam

 

AJ

First of all, I just got a T5 AWD in August and I love it... I just cant get used to the turbo lag.

AS for your question, 5W30SYND is 5W30 Synthetic oil and the 5W30DBB is 5W30 Durablend. Its a half Synthetic.

Hope it helps.

 

I'm probably too late for your decision, but if connecting an IPOD or getting satellite radio is important, you might want to consider a different car. There is no way to get either option to work (that I know of). Also, no way to connect an aftermarket auto-dimming mirror. Other than that, I like my S40 a lot. Over 60K miles and no repairs at all!