My personal review on 04' Volvo S40 2.4L

Just to share my experience with this 04' Volvo S40 2.4L, this is my first time sitting on the latest S40, I won't say I am a professional driver, but I did tested more than 50 cars in my life, may be I should list them out when I got a chance. The car is not even 54k km for a 5-6 years car, so you can say it is very under utilized.

First of all I would like to thank my friend JP, who gave this opportunity to me to test out her sister's car. Though she said she want to thank me for helping her on driving the car up to Cameron hill; but I told her, you are 'most welcomed', in return, I should thank her for trusting me that I will take good care of the car like my own, which I did. :)

When she handed her car key to me, my first impression is the key looks like a toy key because it is very light (see attached photo), it doesn't comes with a key chain so I have to check my pocket, make sure it is deep enough and I won't drop the key which might easily cost me a thousand ringgit easily.

Before I become the driver of this baby, I purposely sit at the back, because I want to experience the feel being a passenger. I can tell you, I feel a bit cold sitting at the back, don't know why, the cooling is quite okay when you are sitting at the back. It is a different story when you are the driver. You can feel the hot sunlight and I was told that the glasses were not tinted at all as the glass itself already have some UV ray filters. The suspension set up of this car is between sporty and comfort. To me, I feel it is quite okay being a passenger, much better than a 2008 325i sport.

Ok, now let's talk about the ride of this S40. The car is loaded with 4 passengers. 20 litres of water and luggages when I took over the driver seat. For a 2.4L engine, I would say the pickup is adequate yet I won't say it is powerful. Sometimes I wonder why this model of S40 don't want to throw in the 2.0T engine? The gearbox comes with a 5 speed automatic if I am not mistaken, one thing I am not sure if this model is the normal '2.4' model or '2.4i' model, the difference is the 2.4L comes with additional 30hp. This is because when going uphill, I can feel that I am trying hard to catch up my friend's Honda Jazz 1.5L and Toyota Alphard, the only advantage I can gain a bit is when it comes to zig-zag-road. Pick up wise, I don't think the car is as light as the two cars in front of me.

Talk about handling, I think it is above average. My other friend who owns a Honda Civic 2.0L also think that the S40 beats his Civic when it comes to handling. The car is equipped with Michelin Pilot Preceda 2 tires. To me, I think it is a bit noisy, no doubt the grip is good though.

Safety wise of this car no doubt it is good for such a compact car, it gives you the solid continental car feel when you are sitting inside. The S40 comes with inflattable curtains, with the thick door hinges and solid structure, no doubt it is a car with 5 stars EuroNCAP crash test standard.

During my trip back to KL, I also sped the car at the speed of 120-140km/h. I feel that the car doesn't absorbs the minor bumps on highway as good as my 05' Skoda Superb. The meter hits 2600RPM at 120km/h where my car only shows 2400RPM at 120km/h. So I have a feeling that this petrol consumption of this car will be slightly higher. May be the Volvo engineer tend to switch more power to the torque. For a 2.4L 5 cylinders car, I think they should manage it better by making the engine rev lower at high speed.

One thing I found out that S40 have the same problem like most S40, S60 has, look at the plastic (see attached), the color seems to fade away after a few years. A mechanic used to tell me that the Volvo owner have to respray the plastic, after that, then only the car will look perfect. Another problem that my friend told me is the ceiling fabric tends to fall off from the car ceiling, so you will have to glue it back to its' original position. It did happend to my friend's father's 97' Volvo 850 too.

Other than these two quality issue, my friend told me there is no problem with the car. In fact, she told me that Volvo dealer service is very good! She told me she spent around Rm200 on regular maintenance with Semi Synthetic oil change, the most expensive bill is around RM1k+ due to she need to replace some faulty parts. Other than that it was okay. I guess the major service at 60k km is yet to come. One thing for sure is my friend maintain the car very well. I told her to inform me first before her sister let go on this car. Well, I will contact my colleagues, see if they are interest.

Here is the side view of the car, it looks compact, but interior is quite okay for 4 passengers including the driver.

The pic was taken after our arrival.

Okay, here comes the RM170k question... Will I buy this car if I have a budget of RM170k?

My answer is NO for the new S40, to be honest, I rather get the Mazda 6 2.5L which I feel it is bigger, good looking and also fun to drive. BUT, let say after 5 years later. The Mazda 6 is selling at the price of RM100k and the Volvo is selling at RM83k, then I will definitely buy the S40, provided both car are at same condition and mileage. Why pay more for if I can save up my Rm17k to fully recond my car into a tip top condition vehicle? Not to mentioned the safety I can get for a lower price...