hi guys. so i'm looking at getting my first car next year, and i'm really impressed with volvo, my dad has an 2001 xc70 cross country, he bought it second hand, and now it's got 250000km on the clock an we've never had any engine or mechanical issues on it.
the thing we've had was the techtronic gearbox packing up, the first time just from wear . the second time from overheating.

now i'm looking at getting a Volvo S40 either 2002 or 2005, 2.0 or 2.0D.

these are them
https://www.automart.co.za/cars/volv...002-id-6326030
and the 2.0D
https://www.automart.co.za/cars/volv...005-id-6326053

my question is mainly for the 2.0... is 180,000km on the clock too much to buy it second hand?? anything less than that gets really expensive and these 2 are really well priced.
i will be getting my learners next year and i ant my own car then. so i'm only looking at manual cars with decent specs.

what do you think??

 

it doesn't seem like it's too bad... what is your opinion??

 

The first one is the gen 1 a 2 liter low pressure , so if well maintained a good car for the price
The other is a Gen 2 (a ford basicaly) and being a diesel needs even better maintanance records .
I personaly think the gen 1 was a better buit car its older so may have some 'time' issue problems , I used to have the 2l one non turbo for 5 years was great never a problem and changed to the Gen 2 T5 in 2005 , it never gave any major issues but Its a spare car now but servived every year thats over 16 services . head lining replaced , disk need replacing. coolant bottle replaced, one CV boot changed , fuel pressure sensor replaced, engine mount changed, and coolant hose quick disconects changed as they were leaking, front dampers ( one was leaking was ok but changed to adjustable Koni ) thats above the mormal services , I did most my self
I assume you are in RSA spares are not expensive (only from the dealer) but I dont like when people change wheels , on a diesel ? whats the point unless you damaged them and the originals are hard to find in the used market and ridiculous from the dealer
In your case I would look at the Gen 1

Just for comparison Gen 1 owned for 5 year milage when sold 160k
The gen 2 owned for 16 years is now on 135k
But the gen 1 had 103kw so was ok but the T5 was another level 162kw so one should expect more repairs

 

so if the gen 1 has service history, and is in good shape then it's a good buy👍....
Yes I'm in RSA.
The only advantage of a diesel to me is fuel is cheaper, and it's a bit more fuel efficient... Although currently diesel is more expensive than unleaded.

I really hope that I'll be able to get the gen 1, as I really like the look of it..

Thanks a lot for your reply 👍👍

 

Good luck I do like the look of the gen 1 and not sure what the power output of the 2 l T was but I am sure its a lot more than the diesel one so nicer to drive , the gen 1 ones are realy solid cars and much more robust than the gen 2 ones , Volvo had an accosiation with mitsubishi for the gen 1 which changed to ford for the gen 2 , so lots of cheaper spares from both parties as volvo direct here in RSA are crazy , for example the front dampers on my T5 volvo R12k for the 2 , aftermarket Koni yellow (adjustable and servisable) R4k that was some years back