Saftey, hey it's still a Volvo.

Garbage quality. It this car wasn't under warranty it would break my bank account.

I Lemon Lawed a 1995 Ford, I should have known better than to buy another Ford associated product. This car is garbage and after a few more trips to the dealer I will Lemon Law this car too. By the way, I found out from a mechanic friend (after buying this car) that the S40 has a Mitsubishi engine. Mitsubushi supplies the 1.9 Turbo engine to Volvo. I expect to get rid of this car before the engine goes though.

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Ford. This car is equal to Ford quality.

Beautiful interior and ride. This is the only reason I still have the car.

Everything electrical, paint scratches very easily, Volvo Corporation Customer Service

I truly believe there is a problem with the 2000 v40/s40. I have had 4 check engine lights come on for know reason. I have had 3 software downloads from Sweden to fix the problem, and last week a new spring-loaded fuel valve installed to fix the 4th check engine light. Volvo admits that the electrical fuel valve is causing problems with the '40's. On top of that, I have had a broken driver window, sunroof, and somehow my suspension bolts came loose on the right front end of the car. The car has been fixed 8x in 18 months. I am giving it one more chance, then I get a toyota.

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Acceleration, descent handeling, smooth highway ride.

Build quality, wind noise.

While I still enjoy driving this car, I have had several minor problems & 2 major. Small things like rattles, seat back that wouldn't recline, deffective power door lock, etc. are simply a pain because they require a visit to the dealer, but... A stalling problem when turning left (in traffic) is downgright dangerous and now, the rear brakes are gone after only 16,000km! (10,000mi). Volvo also refuses to cover the repair because they are wear & tear items.
This would have been a great car if it weren't for the brakes. Now it's only average.
In retrospect, I migth have been happier with a Maxima, but there's just too many around. (Maybe because they ARE good cars?)

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Nissan Maxima, Audi A4.

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I love to read the reviews of this car from people you have less than 6 months expierence with it. They are so upbeat and positive. Exactly like I felt when I first bought my car in Sweden. But, I tend to get upset when my 28000 car spends as much time in the shop as in my driveway. To all the new s40 owner, make sure you get the Volvo of North America phone number, the Volvo of Sweden phone number, and don't forget your lawyers number either. Unfortunately, you will find that the car has many safety issue (like front end suspension bolts coming loose), as well as small annoyances, that will make those calls necessary. Although I really love the styling of my Volvo, I bought the car for safety and reliablility. Post 'Ford' Volvo cannot provide those anymore. Some people don't like to hear honest comments. I guess they will just live and learn (and pay!) for their mistakes. I wish you all good luck with your cars, and I hope Volvo will make improvements to the '40 line in the future.

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styling, handling, acceleration is decent, value, durability, safety

small

for some reason i hate toyota cars. maybe its because everyone has one, maybe because the design is generic, but in any case the truth is that toyota is probably the best deal for a car. but toyota lacks something that volvo has- when i see a volvo i recognize it as a high quality car, i dont even see the toyota. toyota feels like a toy to drive, and doesnt give the same feeling as driving a volvo. its not concrete, but it is distinctive.

the s40 is perhaps the cheapest of the volvos, and i must defend this car from all the negative comments. perhaps the 2000 model had problems but the 2001 s40 is an excellent entry level. to make comments of paint scratches and other superficial problems can be applied across all brands- all cars have paint, and all paints can be scratched. the 2000 s40 seems to have been a disaster of a car, but the 2001 model has been an excellent car within its price range. the moonroof is perfectly fine open at speeds up to 65mph and the stereo is enough for a car audio- today's audio decks are too fancy and distracting for a driver. i have driven lexus gs and is series cars but volvo cars come back as the durable, no nonsense cars.

if you want a car with the more "durable" paint go get a saturn.

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lexus gs and is- excellent cars with appeal to a broader public but lacking the durability of a volvo (230k with 87 740GLE!)

Great Euro styling inside and out. Good acceleration and handling (when working)

Where shall I start? Electrical system failures, brake problems, wheel nearly fell off while driving, aircondition and wiper failures, software malfunction, taillight failures etc. Dealer and service people are instructed to lie.

Volvo V40 is a real piece of junk, it's not a Volvo, the electrical system is a disastor, workmanship extremely poor. Styling great but a real nightmare to drive becuase of electrical and safety issues. A wheel nearly fell off for unexplained reasons and the brakes were leaking fluid.
Total electrical failure twice while driving it!

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Similarly priced vehciles should all be more reliable, pay a little more and get a BMW

Great steering, good handling, very comfortable seats, great braking, amazing windshield cleaning spray, attracts a lot of girls!

Don't even try changing a CD with a drink in the cup holder. Rear cupholder keeps breaking, it pops out to easily. Horrible stereo design but great speakers, small wheels. Why only power drivers seat and not passenger, no rear leg room, door locks dont go all they way down which makes it uncomfortable to hold arm out window, and did i mention, who designed the front cupholder???!?!?

Worth the money. A little small and light. Quick accelerating. The best 4 cylinder car out there. Very safe, but expensive to fix. The way the radio and air conditioner looks is horrible, who designed it. The minor weaknesses are made up for by the great value. If you can afford it, buy it.

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Beats new Accords, Maximas and Acuras

Looks, seats, handling, engine, driving pleasure. The very good results when I fitted an open air performance filter.

A bit noise inside the car when doing 130Mph or more.

Wonderful seats makes up for a joyride everytime. I keep comparing this car to my moms Audi A4 2001 and it comes out victorious every time. Her Audi is a complete disaster. My s40 is a good looking car. Silver metallic with 16" BBS rims on goodyear tyres. Also came with a sports chassis for better handling because its lowered. Fully automatic aircondition and loads of other stuff.

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Audi A4 1.8T is a nice car. Quality at its best, or atleast thats the first impression you get when you drive it. The Volvo is faster more comfortable and kicks Audis butt all day everyday! I love my Volvo S40 2.0T

Good looks. Quick, sporty ride. Comfortable seats, fairly ergonomic design.

Poor brakes (wear out after 16000 miles), emblems missing off alloy wheels constantly, ever present CHECK ENGINE LIGHT coming on (6 trips to fix, they may have gotten it this last time). SUPER easy to scratch paint job - you look at it funny, you develop a scratch, or pit in the hood paint.

This is a fairly sporty, fun-to-drive, comfortable car, if you can look past the problems that you should not have on a $27000 car. Premature break wear, Check Engine Light on Constantly, and the easiest to scratch paint job I have ever seen in my life. I have also gotten very poor service from the local dealer (Lee Volvo - not the dealer I purchased from).

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Looks Good. Feels sturdy when driving. Peppy!

Cup holder blocks CD Player when in use. Headlights blow out after 10,000 mi. Rear Brakes need replacing after 15,000 mi. Ships with Gremlins that turn numerous dash lights on. Air conditioning fails during HOT weather conditions.

This is the first Volvo I have ever owned. Wow! What a disappointment. "Volvo for Life" is the motto. It should be "Service it for Life". We were very excited about our first Volvo. It looked good, it felt sturdy, and it was peppy. Well, first impressions can be deceiving. It's been in the shop at least 5 times for dash lights that kept coming on for no apparent reason. Perhaps the serious problem was the intermittent braking failure (We were told that it was a broken valve). When coming to a stop the brake pedal would intermittently go right to the floor and the car would slowly coast to a stop. Luckily no one was hurt. I should have bought a VW Passat.

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VW Passat