Hey everyone! just found this place, and im looking for opinions.

Im looking at an 01 s40 with about 150km on it (90k mi) the price is reasonable, but im wondering what the common problems are, and what to look out for (sounds, rust prone spots, etc...) Im fairly resourceful when it comes to fixing things, so ill be doing my own maintenance, etc... so far it looks like the parts arent too expensive, just the dealership labour rates...

thank for sharing your insight

 

great cars if maintained well...the transmissions can cause problems if the oil isnt ever changed...other than that just general maintenance things come up...

 

The '01 had many issues fixed over the '00 model so things like poor paint are not an issue anymore. Never heard of any rust issues either. Volvo does recommend changing the timing belt, tb tensioner, and water pump at ~100K miles. You can do this yourself for about $100 USD with the proper tools. The dealer will charge an arm and a leg though. I would not drive any car with an old timing belt much past 100K miles on a non-clearance engine. Could use this as a negotiating point.

Things to check (for me): Have all the recall fixes been done? Dealer should know by VIN.
Hook up a scan tool and read the codes.
Do a carfax report on the VIN. Helps verify the sellers story.
And if you have time, a thorough over and under car inspection.