I have a 2001 S40 with about 132,000 miles.
Car runs well, but I was wondering how often I should change the oil.
I drive 80/20 highway city, about 350 miles a week.
65-75 mph on the highway.
I use 10w30 Mobil1 synthetic oil.
Is it okay to go the 7500 mile interval?

Also, what oil brand would you recommend? My mom's car, a 2008 G35x, is much quieter when using Pennzoil Ultra vs Mobil1 synthetic.

 

Yes.

Both are good oils. I doubt that it's "much" quieter. The relative noise level is subjective and means nothing. I have tried Pennzoil Ultra but will probably stick with Mobil 1 in the future as the Pennzoil Ultra appears to reduce my gas mileage a little.

 

I would also say 7500 miles is fine and that both brand synthetic oils will serve you well.

 

Thanks! I meant on cold start the car is much quieter. With M1 the engine ticks for a few seconds. With PU there's no tick on cold start.

I just changed the front brake pads to OEM Roulunds yesterday. AutoZone had them for about $50, much less than Volvo's price. It's nice having bite with cold pads and rotors. I had Wagner ThermoQuiet on before and there was no bite when cold, but they worked pretty well once warmed up.

Stopping power is awesome with OEM. Should have gotten them from the start. My wheels are already covered in brake dust but so are all the other Volvo's I see. Lol

 

If your car is NOT turbo, you can likely go 10,000 between oil changes. Check the owners manual.

OEM pads from AutoZone??? Is that the name of the brand or do you think it's the same company that supplies Volvo with pads? I only use high quality ceramic pads from www.iPdUSA.com or somewhere like that. They are a lot cleaner. Almost killed myself with some cheap O'Rieley pads once. I was about to take a road trip and didn't have time to order pads. Tossed them on there for the trip and during the trip I had to do some hard braking because of some jackass in my way. After a few seconds with some heavy braking I started getting some serious brake fade and almost hit a moving truck. Really scary.

 

It is turbo so I can't. Would be nice though considering how gentle I treat the car. It's all for better gas mileage.

Yes that is the brand that supplies some of Volvo's pads. I researched oem pads for the first generation S40 and the manufacturer was Roulunds. In fact, the instructions in the box used an S60 for their directions. The directions weren't in English at all either. Lol

 

European Line/Brake Pads - Front (EUD837) | 2001 Volvo S40 4 Cylinders 1.9L Turbo DOHC | AutoZone.com

Here they are. They are also called Dan-Block. I read on 30forty50.com that they're one of the manufacturers Volvo used for brake pads, as well as Textar and TRW.