What are Volvo V40 estates like?
- Thread starter Hunders
- Start date
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
The V50 looks good but there's not many around for £3k.
Anything else around this price point that I should be looking at?
EDIT: Also, what exactly is wrong with the V40? Do you just mean it's boring to drive? All I'm after is a reliable car with semi-decent fuel economy and a comfortable ride so as long as it satisfies those needs I should be happy.
Anything else around this price point that I should be looking at?
EDIT: Also, what exactly is wrong with the V40? Do you just mean it's boring to drive? All I'm after is a reliable car with semi-decent fuel economy and a comfortable ride so as long as it satisfies those needs I should be happy.
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Associate
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- 28 Dec 2005
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The build quality is slightly below other Volvo models. They're good, comfortable and a little bit uninspiring. Fuel economy isn't all that great.
Which recent Volvo was worse then?
[TW]Fox;21699981 said:
Lol you didn't write "recent" did you, you wrote worst Volvo ever, so out of the 80 years or so Volvo have been around, is that really the worst ever? It's predecessor would be a good nomination for worst Volvo ever!
I'll open it up to any Volvo then. Comparatively speaking (ie we cant say the V40 was 'better' than something from the 1960's with no AC), which Volvo was worse? It wasn't even a full Volvo - it was more Mitsubishi Carisma than Volvo V70!
[TW]Fox;21700026 said:
The same way we can't say a brand new model is better than a 1995 designed V40. My vote would go for the 400 series (even though I have a soft spot for the 480), mainly being Volvo's were all about reliability, build quality, durability, these cars were poop in most of these areas, S40 on the other hand fares better in those areas and in others. Comparatively older Volvo's were also reliable, great build etc, so the S40 doesn't have any advantage being a newer designed car, (thus those criteria are fair to judge by irrespective of the era IMO.)
Which I'm not. Point to where I suggested he buys a 2012 Volvo? The V50 suggestion was because we had no idea of his budget and they are almost 8 years old now so hardly expensive nor a brand new model.
So perhaps then the V40 is only the second worst Volvo either. Either way the point remains
People with the awful GDi engined V40's might disagree with you on the reliability front, and there isn't much build quality inside a V40.
The big shame is that its actually a really nice looking car.
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I didn't say you suggested he buys a 2012 Volvo. My comment was in reference to you saying we can't compare a V40 with a a 60's Volvo, which I agree, the same way we can't compare a 20 year old design with a recent Volvo, (of course "recent" is open to discussion on the period of time meant by this).
Fair do's mate, your opinion, I just disagreed with it being the worst Volvo, that's all. I personally don't think they are that bad, they are decent a-b run arounds that can be had for banger money. I know someone who has a V40 that they use for commuting and they seem happy with it.
They aren't great in terms of build quality I agree, it's what put me off buying them, but there are other engines in the range to choose from, they won't fall to bits and the later face lifted models are better than the earlier ones. Compared to the 400 series was much worse, they had awful Renault running gear, build quality was just as worse, the heater vents literally broke when you adjusted them, the only redeeming feature was that the shell was rock solid.
They are nice looking cars, I prefer the looks to the 2nd gens (bar the interior).
My dad's currently piling miles onto a 2002 1.8 v40 duel fuel (lpg) estate, had it about 8 months so far and added about 20k miles, it's required nothing apart from a service and a coil pack, seems pretty reliable so far, especially considering its got almost 250k miles on the clock.
Best thing is that these factory fit duel fuels are extremely desirable, they just don't seem to lose their value. Paid a little over 1k for the car and its paid for itself in fuel savings alone.
My biggest complaint is that it feels tiny inside for an estate, there never seems to be enough leg room.
Best thing is that these factory fit duel fuels are extremely desirable, they just don't seem to lose their value. Paid a little over 1k for the car and its paid for itself in fuel savings alone.
My biggest complaint is that it feels tiny inside for an estate, there never seems to be enough leg room.
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I ran a v40 for a couple of years, thought it was a great car tbh.
Interior quality is great too, mind mine was an se, full leather etc.
It's no sports car, but incredibly comfy and a great cruiser.
Intact when I crashed it, I got another Volvo!
Is probably go for the 2.0 petrol though, diesel engines detract from the smoothness!
Interior quality is great too, mind mine was an se, full leather etc.
It's no sports car, but incredibly comfy and a great cruiser.
Intact when I crashed it, I got another Volvo!
Is probably go for the 2.0 petrol though, diesel engines detract from the smoothness!
The quality of the S/V40s isnt terrible. Sure its an uninspiring drive but apart from the very first two model years where the interior build wasn't sorted the build quality is really good. Just look at some Volvo forums there are loads of them going strong with big mileage and there arent too many failure points. They are also really easy to work on if you do need to do your own jobs on them unlike many cars that require specialist knowledge or tools.
Interestingly I just got one of these about a week ago, after getting silly insurance quotes for my old car.
Its a 1999 1.8 petrol auto, 105k on the clock. In fantastic condition, and it runs nicely (for what it is). I find it extremely boring and slow, but that's coming from a Legnum VR4, so not surprising.
It's only the XS spec, so not hugely well equipped (no leather, heated seats, etc).
Seats are very comfortable (what you'd expect from a Volvo), but as 4ndy89 mentioned, they aren't overly spacious inside, particularly in the back seat if the driver is relatively tall.
The dash, and interior in general is quite horribly actually - in mine at least it's just a vast swathe of grey, so I'm in the process of making it a little bit more interesting by wrapping some of it in vinyl - either carbon fibre or brushed aluminium, haven't quite decided yet.
If you like your music, it doesn't seem like the easiest car to fit aftermarket kit to - again I'm in the process of fitting a single DIN stereo (the OEM one is double DIN). Also the OEM speakers are quite small (13cm) and the dash tweeters have very weird mounts. If you're not too fussed about replacing these, try to find one with the premium sound system - has a sub and amp installed in the boot.
In summary, there's nothing particularly "wrong" with it. It seems like a pretty reliable, "does the job" car, looks pretty nice on the outside, but it's nothing special. Depends what you want really - if you just want something with a decent sized boot to get from A to B then you could do a lot worse, conversely, if you want something a bit more interesting to drive, there are many better cars out there (although you may need to up the budget). Also, from what I can see of it, and from looking through the Volvo forums, it does seem (as Dandle has said) like a car which is pretty easy to work on yourself.
Its a 1999 1.8 petrol auto, 105k on the clock. In fantastic condition, and it runs nicely (for what it is). I find it extremely boring and slow, but that's coming from a Legnum VR4, so not surprising.
It's only the XS spec, so not hugely well equipped (no leather, heated seats, etc).
Seats are very comfortable (what you'd expect from a Volvo), but as 4ndy89 mentioned, they aren't overly spacious inside, particularly in the back seat if the driver is relatively tall.
The dash, and interior in general is quite horribly actually - in mine at least it's just a vast swathe of grey, so I'm in the process of making it a little bit more interesting by wrapping some of it in vinyl - either carbon fibre or brushed aluminium, haven't quite decided yet.
If you like your music, it doesn't seem like the easiest car to fit aftermarket kit to - again I'm in the process of fitting a single DIN stereo (the OEM one is double DIN). Also the OEM speakers are quite small (13cm) and the dash tweeters have very weird mounts. If you're not too fussed about replacing these, try to find one with the premium sound system - has a sub and amp installed in the boot.
In summary, there's nothing particularly "wrong" with it. It seems like a pretty reliable, "does the job" car, looks pretty nice on the outside, but it's nothing special. Depends what you want really - if you just want something with a decent sized boot to get from A to B then you could do a lot worse, conversely, if you want something a bit more interesting to drive, there are many better cars out there (although you may need to up the budget). Also, from what I can see of it, and from looking through the Volvo forums, it does seem (as Dandle has said) like a car which is pretty easy to work on yourself.
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Depends upon what you want.
The impression I've been given is that they're as dull as ditchwater to drive. Making up for that, they do have Volvo seats (a good thing) and despite have a plastic interior probably sourced from Mitsubishi, it also got the core underlying technology, meaning that they're generally very reliable.
So if you want something comfortable and reliable, but with a cheap looking interior and an image that makes an Allegro appear interesting, then it's a reasonable budget alternative.
The impression I've been given is that they're as dull as ditchwater to drive. Making up for that, they do have Volvo seats (a good thing) and despite have a plastic interior probably sourced from Mitsubishi, it also got the core underlying technology, meaning that they're generally very reliable.
So if you want something comfortable and reliable, but with a cheap looking interior and an image that makes an Allegro appear interesting, then it's a reasonable budget alternative.
Pretty much this
I'll most likely be posting up a log/pics of the changes I do to the interior in an effort to make it slightly more bearable.