2001 Volvo V40 T4

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After being car less for a few months due to moving in with my girlfriend I have had the chance to go out and purchase some wheels! I had originally gone for a Skoda Fabia estate 1.9tdi which was a bit of a dog but I thought that it would be a good wee fixer upper. I had fully intended on getting all the issues sorted out with it and running it for a while but I just never really connected with it, too dieselly and too plain, add in that I paid too much for it I suppose I kind of resented the poor wee thing. So whilst looking for parts for the Skoda I spotted a Volvo V40 T4.

Now I remember seeing not very good reviews back in the day and checking around seemed to confirm that whilst comfy they were decidedly average, but time I feel has been kind to the looks and anything with 200bhp and dog carrying ability can't be all that bad, right? So I pop in what I thought was a very low bid for a car with a reasonable service history a great mot history (mot'd until June) and most importantly no reserve. Okay so that makes it sound great, in reality it was taken in as P/X at a garage over 400miles away from me and they wanted rid of it so there was no guarantee, no warranty, and they were very clear in the advert that it was totally buyer beware.

I thought about phoning them up and asking a few questions but I didn't, I didn't even get quotes for transporting it to my location or really adequately see into the logistics of retrieving it myself. In fact if you are going to buy a car this is most certainly not the most sensible, or even remotely close to the most sensible way to buy a second hand car. So bid placed I went off to the gym reckoning that there was no way my bid would secure the car, you can imagine my surprise when I found that I had been succesful! So here it is, the £481 Volvo V40 T4 in all its unwashed glory!:















Getting it home was achieved via Uship and a very reasonable quote of £220 from a company based in Dundee who I would most certainly recommend for service alone

So far I'm very happy, it is quick enough to keep me happy, comfortable and quiet enough to please the gf, big enough to swallow the hound and doesn't smell as bad as the four seperate air fresheners would have me believe!

So to the really important bits. Is it a pup? Well first impressions say no, it appears to have been quite well loved up until 2013 with a small but comprehensive record of work done, nothing however afterwards which would explain cheap tyres and no cleaning having been done for some time. It is rust free which was a massive surprise as in the advert photos it looked like the front wings had gone (Turns out it was mud!) the brakes are spongy but look clean so hopefully its just pads. Due to the lack of history a service will be undertaken but the engine is very smooth and pulls as expected, currently the trip computer is reading 31.5mpg which is decent. The washer bottle is full but the warning light is on which is odd but hardly the end of the world and the cigarette lighter doesn't seem to work, all in all not bad.

When it arrived on the back of a lorry I spotted a soft front tyre so when that went totally flat a day after pumping up I decided that four new ones would be a good plan as I don't like mixed tyres, especially not dodgy ditch finders. 4 Toyo Proxes CF2s fitted and the ride and noise levels are greatly improved! The only thing worrying me at the moment is that the battery seems a touch reluctant so will probably swap that out for a shiny new one.

So in closing, it seems to be a good buy, it won't win awards for well anything but I like the way it looks, goes, and does everything pretty well. For under £500 what more can you ask?

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mooseracer said:

Ahhhh so it was you that outbid me! This was the one in/near Kidderminster? I was at the cinema at the time it ended or I would have bid a little higher.

Hope it serves you well

Wow that's quite the coincidence, two PH'ers bidding on the same car. Weird to think that I could be reading this topic from your side. I hope so too all seems pretty decent so far, it's getting a good wash today so I'll post up photos afterwards.

MrC986 said:

I had a 2001 version about 6 years ago as my daily driver. Understated cars & I found it reliable with the only non service items being a breaks calipers & a suspension joint needing a new bush. Choice of tyres is key on these. Enjoy

Cheers mate, I think this will need a few bits as it's been run on a budget for a while, but hopefully not too much. The proxes seem to be good so far, I had the CF1's on a car before and thouroughly enjoyed them.

andyastrasri said:

I had a S40 T4 about 2 years ago, I really enjoyed it, it was certainly much quicker than I was expecting (I seem to think 0-100mph in the mid 16s), although wasnt too great on fuel, even on a longer run

Hope you enjoy it

I am enjoying it so far for sure, it does have a good bit of poke, quite surprising in fact. I'm not expecting great fuel economy but into the low 30's when cruising along would be nice!

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Paul S4 said:

I am sure that there was a thread on PH somewhere about a T4 Volvo... These are a hidden secret apparently as they have a powerful engine that can be tweeked to give really impressive performance ?

Is it the same engine as the Ford Focus ?

IIRC it was a bit of a sleeper as it looked standard

Yeah I've been looking at that thread for a little daydreaming about what I may do to this if I can save up enough, cant seem to find the link right now. It's not the same engine as the ford, that was the next generation, that would be loads of fun if it were

V40Vinnie said:

Ive got one of these, a 2003 car and probably one of the last T4s built as they only went to 2002. Soft brakes are partly as good as they get, but check the quality of the fluid and replace if neccessary. Single piston front brakes can suffer from seized sliders but a refurb kit is inexpensive. The T4s can be fussy with their servicing and it is recommended to use only genuine Volvo parts. Finally 235BHP is only a remap away. with 250 total availble with remap, exhaust and airfilter assuming it is the B4204-T5 engine and not the earlier B4194-T2

Cheers for the info, I had heard that the brakes were pants to begin with but hope that a refresh will improve them, if not I may look at braided hoses as well. Yeah the Volvo stuff isn't too expensive so I will be sticking with that or better if possible. Not sure about my engine code atm but will look into it. First things first will be making sure it runs as good as whilst standard as I am planning some serious trips this year in areas with less than ideal access to 98RON so a remap is not going to be worth it yet. If I ever mod it, the suspension will be where my money is spent first as the torque steer is pretty bad and I wouldn't mind a little more confidence inspiring body control for when I'm on a twisty back road.

So a quick update, got the car washed and it came up great! a few scratches and it has highlighted that the wings have been poorly resprayed at some point along with the front spoiler but it's only noticable if you know what to look for. The cleaning also uncovered a little rust at the bottom of the front wings so I'll need to keep a close eye on that.

The car has been on quite a few long trips which has highlighted just how comfortable and capable it is, in fact it has become a family favourite. My dad is very impressed with the speed and the quiet smooth engine, though he too feels the torque steer is a little much. My mum had to take it to visit friends and so enjoyed it I'm surprised to get it back, which considering she normally hates my choice in cars really says something! Even the dog seems suitably enamoured, which keeps the GF happy too!

The only issue that is spoiling things at the moment is that the throttle is very sticky making smooth progress at low speeds impossible and maintaining motorway speeds a little more difficult than I would like for economy's sake. Once my dad's car is back from our friendly mechanic I will be getting that sorted out. The other problem appears to be either a faulty thermostat or thermostat sensor as it never gets above 1/3 on the temerature gauge. Neither of those parts are expensive and it's easily done on the driveway so I'll get both changed asap.

Fuel economy has been the biggest surprise, it has been managing a comfortable 33-34mpg and I reckon 35 is possible once I get the throttle and thermostat sorted which will be more than I could have hoped for.

I will keep this updated when I manage to get the wee jobs sorted out or if anything changes but so far I am really enjoying the Volvo it's been quite the revelation.

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Pete-mojsh said:

I like this a lot more than I thought I would, it actually scrubs up pretty well all things considered. What's the performance like when you're on the move? I find that more real world than 0-60.

It really is quite nice isn't it? Performance on the go is really good, 50-70 is dispatched quick enough in top for a well sighted pass but if you want to get the job done quicker shifting down to 4th makes a big difference and you'll find yourself up at 80-85 without much effort.

AdamIndy said:

That's a cracking buy for sub £500! Amazing what little money can buy these days. Top shedding!

Cheers mate! Yeah it's a real winner in the £/bhp calculation never mind the practicality and useability stakes.

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egor110 said:

Any idea when the cambelt was last changed?

Are you going to bother when the car cost under £500 ?

Done in 2010 at bang on 100k so still has a year or so and a fair few miles left in it as I read they are 8 years/80k so will leave it at the moment, but given that it cost the previous owner just £200 to get it done it will be replaced when necessary.

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BenjiA said:

It is soo wrong and just the essense of Pistonheads that I have 4 cars, including an M2 and now find myself itching to buy a T4...well done Sir, thanks for posting.

Haha, yeah that's definitely PH in a nutshell! Funny enough if the gf hadn't come along I might well have been in a M2 as a move up from the M135i but a need to free up cash put that to rest. I'd certainly recommend a T4 if you need something quick, absurdly cheap and good at moving fridges about the place

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Well, time has flown and I still have the Volvo. It has been incredibly faithful not grumbling on long trips or being taken down definitely unsuitable roads.

I've not done very much to it as time and money have both been rather tight, the termostat and sensor were an easy fix for me so that sorted out the very low running temperature I fixed the cigarette lighter so that charging things was acheivable, it's been serviced, It failed an MOT on brake pipes and a caliper so those were changed and that is the sum of all the work that has been carried out so far.

It is going to my mate to get the front brakes sorted and to finally sort out the sticky throttle, plus we are going to try and trace the source of a knocking sound from the back left corner (Hopefully that won't be serious) That will leave fitting winter tyres and an alignment (It's a bit wobbly at speed) needed before I take it on a 2-3 month long tour through Europe starting November 14th!

Since I got the car in February it has covered nearly 10,000 miles, which is the highest mileage I have ever covered in a year. By the time I have got back from Europe it will likely have done 15,000 in the year I have owned it. It has been great, not the most inspiring drive but comfy, fast and capable, typical Volvo really. It was taken on a trip to the Czech Republic in July, covering 2,800 miles in 4 days of driving (2 there, 2 back) it never faltered, provided damn near 35mpg on average and other than a bulb going nothing went wrong!

Hopefully, nothing pops up when getting things checked out and the brakes fitted, and it will continue to provide it's usual excellent service.

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Well the brakes are done, what a difference that has made. The rattling from the rear is a drop link so I've got some quality replacements coming. The throttle cable has been adjusted but still isn't perfect so will need to find a replacement which is bloody hard by the way and a couple of bulbs need changed but I'll do those myself. The car got a clean bill of health from my mechanic and he said it seems to be in great nick, all set for the next adventure! Can't wait to be on the road again and munching miles in the bargainous Volvo!

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V40Vinnie said:

Try SKANDIX
http://www.skandix.de/en/spare-parts/engine/fuel-m...

Sorry for the late reply, unfortunately they were OOS as well. Turns out Volvo themselves were the ones to go to, £26 later I was all done.

So I shall use this moment to do a little update on the Volvo. As we left it all that was needed to be done was the throttle cable, some winter tyres and a drop link before my girlfriend and I undertook an epic trip around Europe.

Unfortunately things were a little more complicated, the drop link I ordered was wrong, so that added time, then once we got the right part we found a previous mechanic had welded up the bolts needed to remove the old part. This led to my mechanic having to get new camber adjustment bolts ordered and fitted mere days before we left. Not to mention the friendly tyre fitting guy going on holiday three days before we leave and saying he didn't have time to fit the necessary winter tyres, we managed to convince him otherwise thankfully! So the car did get fixed and was ready for the trip two days before we left! Squeaky bum time for sure, especially when the other half was breathing down my neck.

So how is it going?

Everything is good, the old bus has now covered 4,500 miles since we set of on November 14th, we have traveled through Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro (Where we rested for a month) then onto Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and currently for a wee while The Czech Republic.

It has been an epic trip and in the most part very enjoyable. I am currently writing a full travel report but it is taking time. The car has needed nothing other than some regular oil top ups, given the mileage and the sort of use it is getting I'm not surprised, it still pulls well and is returning about 35mpg from my calculations which is excellent.

Everyone I spoke to about the trip really doubted that the old Volvo would make it but it's still going strong, filthy dirty, but strong. I can't see me replacing it anytime soon, but I fear that the heavy use may end up taking its toll. The suspension is well past best, the rear brake discs and pads need replacing, I was told that the clutch is on its way out and the timing belt is up for replacement so time is against it. For now I will keep going and hope for the best, we will see what is really needed when I get back to the UK and start earning some cash again.

Hope I have covered everything, if anyone has any questions I'll happily answer them.

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Paul S4 said:

Since it has turned out to be such a good car and it seems that you really like it, perhaps it would be tempting to go through the suspension/tuning route that was on that other T4 thread ? IIRC that car ( albeit a saloon) was made to be a very capable 'Q car' as it looked so standard.
I have a 2005 Alfa 156 JTDM 150 that I want to keep, and to that end I have spent a lot on underneath rust proofing, suspension upgrades and of course (!) I had it remapped a while ago. I also removed all the badging and replaced the fragile OEM 17" GT alloys with a set of 16" Alfa 156 Teledials from my previous 156TS. Even a friend who is an Alfa fan ( he owns several!) at first thought it was a standard 156 Tourismo ( ie base model!). The Alfa specialist who now looks after it was very impressed and liked the 'subtle look'.

I am very envious of your European Trip having done several myself: (a couple to Mont Blanc, 2 to Switzerland, and a couple to Monaco ), but nothing like your epic journey ! Hat's off to you !!

Thank you for your kind words, it has certainly been epic, but easier than expected, most of the roads have been okay and the other drivers are fine as long as you give them plenty of room to be suicidal. The only exception is Albania which is equal measures of terrifying, awful and hilarious.

As for the car, you are right I do like it and so does my other half, so I am very tempted to go down the repair/upgrade route. I am just a little concerned that the spend may get way over what it's ever going to be worth even taking into account sentimentality. Right now if I were to start a list of things needing done to get it up to scratch it would be: Rear brakes, clutch, timing belt, full suspension overhaul and there's some pretty bad driveline shunt going on at the moment which is a bit concerning. Never mind finding out why it's using so much oil and that the drivers seat desperately needs re-foamed. I am notoriously bad at diagnosing issues as I am definitely no mechanic so it could need less but probably has many other issues that will need attention in the next year or so.

I hope not but I fear it will be the case.