To S40 or not S40, that is the question....

Have had a Ford Focus for two-and-a-half years now and want to go back to something bigger. The Focus is the smallest car I have owned in eleven years having had an old 2.0RXE Laguna and a 1.8 LagunaII before it.

Considering several options from Mazda 6 to SAAB 93. Dismissed BMW 3-series becuase they're very common (in a two mile drive last night my wife and I saw 29!). BUT then saw the S40.....

Took an S40 SE 2.0D out for a good run - the dealer was bored, had no appointments so we did a 35 mile test drive. Love the simplicity inside; love the shape outside; 2.0D was quieter than my Focus's 1.8TDCI (115) but TDCI was more 'peppy' and found the S40 'raspy'. Still love the car and because my wife is a Geordie we can do a 700 mile round trip several times per annum (we live in south Essex), I could see us being comfortable in the S40.

Now to the meat of this, could I please get thoughts an opinions on the S40 2.0D SE and also:

1. how does the diesel stack up against others in its class?
2. how does the cream leather wear?
3. when did the electric seats come in as standard?
4. what are the servicing costs like?
5. is the euroIV diesel better (other than emissions) than the euroIII?

I thank you all for any help you can provide. Never ever thought of a Volvo but am serioulsy impressed.

[4 forty]

visit the volvo site, you will get the full specifications there.
http://www.volvocars.co.uk/ heated seats and leather upholstry are standard on all "se" models.

paul

[Rooster]

Get a euro 3 if you get one less to go wrong and service costs will be less cos you won't have to replace the particlate trap in the exhaust and top the adative dosing thing up every 36k.

[Alec Dawe]

I bought an S40 2.0 diesel (ex demonstrator with just over 6000 on the clock) in December 2005, (to replace a Saab 95 diesel.. lovely car, but the service costs, dealer attitude, and unreliability couldn't be lived with...£900 for a 54,000 mile service, new discs all round at this service too etc etc!) and have done almost 8000 miles in it since then. I love the car, especially the seats.

The diesel is fast, economical and quiet, gets quieter as it gets hot. 110 mph will come up on a mile straight road with no problem. I have averaged just over 47mpg since I bought the car, this includes all driving, local lanes/town/motorway. Run from Norwich to Northumberland will see well over 50 mpg (56 mpg one round trip) unless you drive in the upper 80's (not possible on the A1 with all the cameras!). If the roads are quiet enough to be able to use the cruise control, I estimate that is worth about 3 mpg extra.
Performance and economy have improved since I got the car. Oil consumption, not measurable so far, maybe 0.25 to 0.5 litre at mid point between services?
The diesel is the same engine as in my wife's Ford C-Max, which has also run without a problem, The C-Max has slightly worse fuel economy, probably because of the less slippery shape.
The S40 and Focus chassis are identical, even down to things like brake pads having the same Ferodo part number.
Tyres are easily available (not like the Saab... to order only!) and I think I should get 20,000 plus out of the fronts, and 30,00 out the rears.
Handling/roadholding are excellent, ride firm but comfortable (for me at least).
Cream leather seats should wear fine, I clean mine every time I clean the car with a leather cleaning wipe (Mr Sheen for leather!), takes about 5 minutes, lifts off the dirt, and feeds the leather.
I think electric seats came in with the 2006 model year cars, mine is a 2005, and has the manual adjustment.
Dealer service costs for me 12,000 mile was £330, but I bet your local Ford dealer can do it for about £140 (its a Focus remember) if you are willing to possibly have arguements about warrenty should anything go wrong.
I think the euro III engine would be the better bet, as has been said, less to go wrong, and there is no tax or road fund advantage in the euro VI.
Road fund has just gone DOWN in the last budget £110 now I think.
Seats excellent, radio superb (better sound than my Hi-Fi at home!), 6 disc CD player works well if a little slow to change discs.
Light coloured interior picks up marks easily, but so far there have all come off easily, no scratching to the trim itself. Interior 'extra' mats are an essential for me to preserve the footwell carpets.
Gripes... Rear seats legroom is a bit tight, but I am 6'1" and my teenage children are 5'11" and 6'2" tall, so seats are probably fine for those of a 'normal' height.
Access to the boot can be a little difficult because of the shape of the opening, and the depth of the boot, but as the back seats split/fold, this isn't a real problem.
Final gripe, a little lacking in odds and ends space in the cabin, and the map pockets in the seat backs won't take a standard book form road atlas.
I would recommend the car, I love it, love the shape, like the comfort and ambience, performance and economy.
My teenage daughter says the front of the car looks like a crouching tiger???? Now that one looses me!

Originally Posted by 4 forty

visit the volvo site, you will get the full specifications there.
http://www.volvocars.co.uk/ heated seats and leather upholstry are standard on all "se" models.

paul

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for that. I've also used the Volvocars.co.uk to find Volvo assured used cars. It's just nice to hear from people who are not saleman and actually own the vehicles.

Rgds

Simon

Originally Posted by Alec Dawe

I bought an S40 2.0 diesel (ex demonstrator with just over 6000 on the clock) in December 2005, (to replace a Saab 95 diesel.. lovely car, but the service costs, dealer attitude, and unreliability couldn't be lived with...£900 for a 54,000 mile service, new discs all round at this service too etc etc!) and have done almost 8000 miles in it since then. I love the car, especially the seats.

The diesel is fast, economical and quiet, gets quieter as it gets hot. 110 mph will come up on a mile straight road with no problem. I have averaged just over 47mpg since I bought the car, this includes all driving, local lanes/town/motorway. Run from Norwich to Northumberland will see well over 50 mpg (56 mpg one round trip) unless you drive in the upper 80's (not possible on the A1 with all the cameras!). If the roads are quiet enough to be able to use the cruise control, I estimate that is worth about 3 mpg extra.
Performance and economy have improved since I got the car. Oil consumption, not measurable so far, maybe 0.25 to 0.5 litre at mid point between services?
The diesel is the same engine as in my wife's Ford C-Max, which has also run without a problem, The C-Max has slightly worse fuel economy, probably because of the less slippery shape.
The S40 and Focus chassis are identical, even down to things like brake pads having the same Ferodo part number.
Tyres are easily available (not like the Saab... to order only!) and I think I should get 20,000 plus out of the fronts, and 30,00 out the rears.
Handling/roadholding are excellent, ride firm but comfortable (for me at least).
Cream leather seats should wear fine, I clean mine every time I clean the car with a leather cleaning wipe (Mr Sheen for leather!), takes about 5 minutes, lifts off the dirt, and feeds the leather.
I think electric seats came in with the 2006 model year cars, mine is a 2005, and has the manual adjustment.
Dealer service costs for me 12,000 mile was £330, but I bet your local Ford dealer can do it for about £140 (its a Focus remember) if you are willing to possibly have arguements about warrenty should anything go wrong.
I think the euro III engine would be the better bet, as has been said, less to go wrong, and there is no tax or road fund advantage in the euro VI.
Road fund has just gone DOWN in the last budget £110 now I think.
Seats excellent, radio superb (better sound than my Hi-Fi at home!), 6 disc CD player works well if a little slow to change discs.
Light coloured interior picks up marks easily, but so far there have all come off easily, no scratching to the trim itself. Interior 'extra' mats are an essential for me to preserve the footwell carpets.
Gripes... Rear seats legroom is a bit tight, but I am 6'1" and my teenage children are 5'11" and 6'2" tall, so seats are probably fine for those of a 'normal' height.
Access to the boot can be a little difficult because of the shape of the opening, and the depth of the boot, but as the back seats split/fold, this isn't a real problem.
Final gripe, a little lacking in odds and ends space in the cabin, and the map pockets in the seat backs won't take a standard book form road atlas.
I would recommend the car, I love it, love the shape, like the comfort and ambience, performance and economy.
My teenage daughter says the front of the car looks like a crouching tiger???? Now that one looses me!

Not sure where the crouching tiger comes from but sounds good! Truly appreciate the comments.

Have always had hatchbacks but seeing that this was a 60:40 split and should, I think have a passenger seat which folds down, I was not too worried about that. Despite actually liking the Focus, it has a tiny boot and I miss the luxury of being able to 'throw' just about anything into the boot which I had with the Lagunas.

I noticed the leg room but found it more that head touched roof (I'm 6') but mhy wife and I decided (she's only 5'6") that there's enough in the back and could see little difference between the S40 and S60 on visual comarision.

This sounds to be more economical than my Focus which unless I am on the run to Northumberland has never been brilliant on the fuel side. It really depends on the engine management system and mine's been re-programmed a number of times to deal with minor faults. On one occasion, one change led to a 60 mile per tank increase in efficiency.

I am glad to hear about the S40's comfort as I am more worried about that than roaring around the streets

Again many thanks. That Barents Blue with 12,500 on the clock (plus a winter pack and sunroof) sounds to be just fine....... Now to have a word with the dealer !