Reliablity of S/V40??

I have heard that the old gen. S/V40 with the 1.9T were based off a Mitsubisi car?? Are they reliable, what country are they produced in? I think the new S40's are based off a Mazda 3 with a T5 shoved in it. What country are they made in?

1st gen S40s were ASSEMBLED at a MItsu plant with components from all over, but engine I believe is Volvo. Since FORD bought part of Volvo, 2nd gen cars share Mazda (also part owned by Ford) platform with Volvo 5 cylinder engine.bj

Just saw a 1 st gen S20 blowing oil smoke from UNDER the car not coming out the exhust on the highway. Seen quite a few broken down on the side of the road up here in New England?? I love them but there real world reliablity is scary??

Not sure about smoke issue,I have a 2002 S40 with 60K showing on clock. Stage 1 chip upgrade, front and rear strut tower braces, 22mm rear sway bar, Enki wheels with Dunlop A2's better brakes, cold air intake, 1/2 inch lower than stock, HEICO exhaust, etc. Car handles great, is fast enough and stone cold reliable. No other issues. BJ

Glad to hear this nice car is working out for you. I just have had issues with Mtsu engines burning oil after the 100k mark. Had two Eclipse's, a Damanite, and a Mirage. All started burning around 100k.

Good luck with it and enjoy, I do like a Mazda 3 which is the same body as the new gen. S40. Maybe I will get new gen. Is that T5 in the S40 a Volvo engine?

Yep. It is a variant of the 5 cylinder they have been bulding for awhile. BJ

Yep. It is a variant of the 5 cylinder they have been bulding for awhile. BJ

What kind of power are they pumping the S40 and how much CAN the pump??

I think the 5 cylinder turbo lite pressure engine in the new S40 is something like 212 horsepower. The 5 cylinder twin turbo engine in the S60 R puts out 300 hp, I believe. You can get Upsolute chip upgrades for Stage 1,2 and hang on that probably add 20 hp per bump to the turbo 5 cylinder. I think the Volvo lower ends are good for most anything but a huge shot of nitrous so you are only limited by your imagination and pocketbook as to what you get. My 4 cylinder 2002 S40 has a Stage 1 upgrade cold air untake andHeico ehxaust and puts about 200 hp to the front wheels from 176 stock. It is very reliable and that is all the grunt I need. It will lite the tires up from a standstill and I am too old for it to do much more than that. Lol.BJ

I think the 5 cylinder turbo lite pressure engine in the new S40 is something like 212 horsepower. The 5 cylinder twin turbo engine in the S60 R puts out 300 hp, I believe. You can get Upsolute chip upgrades for Stage 1,2 and hang on that probably add 20 hp per bump to the turbo 5 cylinder. I think the Volvo lower ends are good for most anything but a huge shot of nitrous so you are only limited by your imagination and pocketbook as to what you get. My 4 cylinder 2002 S40 has a Stage 1 upgrade cold air untake andHeico ehxaust and puts about 200 hp to the front wheels from 176 stock. It is very reliable and that is all the grunt I need. It will lite the tires up from a standstill and I am too old for it to do much more than that. Lol.BJ

That R sounds cool my SAAB 9000 Aero 5-speed has a 2.3 liter four cyl. with e mitsu. TD4 turbo and it is 225hp stock and can go to 400 with exhuast and chiping!!

The R car is very nice but if I had one I would probably get way to many speeding tickets. I think the Volvo and Saab 5 cylinder engines are a lot alike , but I have never owned a Saab so dont know anything about them.I have owned several Volvos and find the newer ones to be very nice cars. Not much in the way of performance parts however. BJ

I think the Volvo and Saab 5 cylinder engines are a lot alike , but I have never owned a Saab so dont know anything about them. Not much in the way of performance parts however. BJ

All Most SAAB
s are FOUR cyl. engines. There are some GM speced V6's though. There is a SAAB perfomance following but you have to buy most parts from Europe.

If you want real reliability and a vehicle that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to maintain, stay away from Volvos. Yes they are safe, and yes they used to be durable and reliable years ago, but the newer models are junk! Unless you intend to buy new and get rid of the car once the warranty ends, you will end up paying thru the nose for service and repairs (example: heater/ac blower went out on my 2004 just after warranty expired, had to replace the entire heater/ac control at a cost of nearly $800!. My 1999 wagon developed a problem with the electronic gas pedal, it was $1200 to repair, and I have since found that the part is poorly engineered and breaks on almost all volvos by the time the car reaches 100K miles, thousands of volvos have been affected and the NHTSA is investigating.) I have owned at least 10 volvos in the past 20 years, the ones I have had in the last 10 have been junk, always something breaking. No more Volvos! (Fords), sticking with reliable Japanese vehicles. Thats my 2 cents!

Interesting observations. I have a 2001XC70 and a 2002S40 and they have both been pretty much trouble free, so I have nothing but good things to say about Volvo at this point.I have owned Japanese cars (Mazda and Yota) since 1975 and have had good ones and some that were not so hot.I have also ownes a couple of Fords in the interim and they have been uniformly not so hot (tranny problems). BJ

Interesting observations. I have a 2001XC70 and a 2002S40 and they have both been pretty much trouble free, so I have nothing but good things to say about Volvo at this point.I have owned Japanese cars (Mazda and Yota) since 1975 and have had good ones and some that were not so hot.I have also ownes a couple of Fords in the interim and they have been uniformly not so hot (tranny problems). BJ

I have hard much of the same as rcolan experince from many Volvo fans. Not the only manufcature messed up by the big Three. I have one of the last SAAB's made by SAAB and not GM/Opel. You could not give me a new GM made SAAB. I think the only manufacture that FORD buyout has helped is Jaguar which were unreliable to begin with!

I just hoped since the S40/V70 are based off Mazda Platforms they would be better than the S60+ junk (aka $$$$$ Taurus). My two cents from a automotive industry insider.

I guess that is why so many different cars are made,so everyone can find one they like.Ford owns part of Jaguar,Volvo, and Mazda. The Mazda 6 platform is being shared by Mazda, Ford, and Jag. The Ford 2.3 liter engine powers the Mazda 6 GT AWD car, and the 3.0 liter v-6 appears in Mazda, Ford and Jag but not in Volvo.The Volvo's are made with parts from all over Europe so ??? do any of us know what we are really getting? NOT. BJ

You are VERY right and that is what scares me. I have NEVER had luck with Ford cars. So is the Mazda and Ford 2.3 the same engine. The Mazda engine says made in Mexico?? Which is BAD alone, maybe I will just go back to Toyotas were it is safe! I had 320k and NO internal engine work on a '93 Corolla 5-speed!

Well, you pays your money and takes your chances. I just cant go to another Toyota. They are good cars but totally uninspired or uninspiring.The 2.3 Ford 4 banger has been around in some form since Pinto days so I think they have it right by now-Lol.I am staying with Volvo for now, and driving my Mazda pickup on weekends. BJ

This post probably comes too late, but I'm sure there are people who could find use for it....


About the Volvo/Mitsubishi connection: The Volvo S40 was built alongside the Mitsubishi Carisma at the NEDCAR factory in Holland, the componentry sharing is limited to the basic chassis and that's really it; the Interior, enigne, most cosmetic parts are all designed and built for Volvo, Mitsubishi used its' own GDI engines in the Carisma.

The 2nd Gen is no longer made in the Netherlands, the factory at NEDCAR now makes the Mitsubishi Colt and smart forfour, the new S40 is built in Sweden, using Volvo engines, but riding on the Mazda3 platform.

Reliability for both versions is fairly good.

Wow Mitsu has a Dutch factory?? I did not know that? So the 1.9 Turbo WAS a Volvo or FORD based engine?

Volvo.