Janno
New member
Frankly, this is the first time I hear of electrical issues on V40's. Electronic's wise, all I know is that the SIEMENS system is a PITA if you want to tune it and or upgrade turbos.
If I were in your shoes (since wagon seems to be of choice) I'd look more into V70/V70R/XC70/V50 since they run the real deal, non SIEMENS system and they sport a motor that is actually made by Volvo (v40's motors are designed and fabricated by mitsubishi)(if you scout Garaget a little, you'll see a lot of V40/S40 owners swapped with Saab motors or going a bit more hardcore and putting in T5's *which is a hell of a job*).
Don't get me wrong, even when I ran shop I had 4-5 customers with V40's (youngest was 04) and they were all cars with over 250k km. Regular maintenance, one customer had an issue with a rear passenger window that fell because his son was an idiot. Other than weird rust appearing on the trunk lid I really can't say these were problematic cars in any way.
Have no fear, boost is here. Turbo engines are as prone to failure as N/A engines, it's all about the oil man! On my cars, flush or ''pre-lube service'' as garages like to call it, every two changes. I've found out with time and by dicking around that Turboed Volvos have much better fuel efficiency than NA.
Common failures are the flex pipe (at the end of the downpipe) on all Volvos, since it's there to prevent stress hitting the manifold/collector/turbo. But hit up a spot like Federal Muffler or Silencieux Gallo and you can get it replaced for under 60$ (VS going to a garage that tells you you need to replace the exhaust manifold because the flex pipe comes with it lol, woohoo 800$ plus gaskets plus labor plus your left nut).
Being a RWD guy, I've enjoyed T5's in family member's cars, friends cars and bought an 855 T5 Sportswagen last year... I couldn't believe how well it was going considering the mileage, loads of power accross the dial with boost coming in early and keeping up until cut-off. I've seen people mistreat, beat and try to kill these motors with little to no success. Depending on the platform they are in the system that runs them adapts itself very well, they take 12-15psi over stock setting... Completely stock internals/head/intake + exhaust manifold and on the same injectors.
So i figure if in the hands of a nut and it's long lasting: it's more than enough on a DD.
Told my self, If there is ever a gun to my head and I am obligated to get a car newer than 1996, I'd go for a V70R 1998-2007, I wouldn't even care if it was standard or automatic
Best advice I can give you is to go try a few models to see what fits your needs and what brings a smile to your face. If you want to try out some newer models and see certified models, check out Volvo Laval, ask for my buddy Louis, it would be his delight to find you the right car (he deals with a large network, so he can even get an out of province car).
Wow I seriously appreciate all of your help. I was looking at V40s due to their lower gas consumption being a small 1.9T. No performance needed; just a fairly reliable daily for my wife, that I can use on weekends to work, instead of my lowered e46. My e46 already costs me quite a bit in maintenance, so I was hoping to get a reliable wagon other than a Jetta/Passat.
I was looking for a v70 2.4L and passed on a few cause of the bigger engine. I kind of regret passing on the ones I've seen.
