BLUE - 2017 Volvo V40 T2 R-Design Progress Thread

[Petey80]

Hello all.

Haven't really been on the forum for a while, pretty much since Covid times.

I still had the V50 up until the end of May 2023.... I've update my progress thread here - https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...53#post2901753 - with regards to what happened to her..... Gutted is an understatement.

But onwards and upwards.

I managed to find a fantastic example of a V40 T2 R-Design only 20 minutes from my house.
Went to look at it, test drove it and went away. Then went to look at an S60 T4 R-Design down in Stockport. That was lovely, but just a bit too big and the running costs would've been a bit too much for my pocket.

On the way back from Stockport, I ummm'd and argh'd about which car to go for and the V40 won. So I went to the garage and bought it.

I luckily found the previous owner on the V40 Facebook group, so knew everything about the car.

Here she is on the day I picked her up.















Lovely looking car. Much prefer the Bursting Blue over the Rebel Blue.

Interior pictures;











Half leather interior, which I prefer over the full leather.

She's really well specced and has full service history. The garage I bought it from did an oil and filter change and put it through it's MOT, which it failed.
It had a bad ball joint on the nearside front. They changed the suspension arm and carried out 4 wheel alignment. Drives lovely.

To be continued......

[Petey80]

Before even picking the car up, I ordered a number of bits for her;

A flush sitting USB cig port charger



A set of 3rd party rubber floor mats



With fully installed clips and a little lip round the outside edge



I got one of these for the V50, but after the crash I was unable to successfully remove it, so bought another one



CARMOUNT phone holder. It sticks to the dash/centre console and is magnetic. You stick a thin magnetic strip to your phone case and stick it on.
Really good bit of kit with full tilt and 360' movement/angle adjustment.

Wiper blades and Swedish flag stickers/badges







Really good quality for just a few quid.

Those with some stickers I already had in my posession



The Volvo badge was going to go on the front grille, but it isn't that style. May sell that on, not sure?
The Moose badges that usually go on the front wings I'm unsure about whether or not I want to put them on....???? Still under consideration.

The little Swedish flag badges went straight on though





Located them on the back doors.

The buying didn't stop there. Next up was a new panel filter to help her breath a bit better. I went with a Pipercross panel filter







Shortly after getting the car, I installed the filter



The size difference is crazy, pretty much half as thick



All installed and everything was then put back together



The next purchase was a set of wind deflectors



I usually go for HEKO, but these iSPEED ones were recommended, so thought I'd give them a shot





Came with fitting instructions and 8 clips



Installed those on Monday just gone as I knew I wasn't driving the car until Wednesday and it was advised not to open the windows for 24 hours plus











I know wind deflectors aren't to everyones taste, but I do like them. Give the car a nice look and are actually practical with regards to stopping rain coming in if you have window open and decrease wind noise and wind in the side of your head when you have the window open.

They were fairly close to the wing mirrors when the car is locked and they fold in



Thankfully the mirrors just touch the deflector, there's no pressure on them.

The most important things were also purchased;

Service parts - Oil and Oil Filter





5.9 litres the T2 engine takes!!!??? Quite a step up from the D2 V50 that took just under 4 litres.

I was at a Volvo Dealership today and purchased a set of spark plugs whilst they were giving Blue a look over (Health Check and Software Update/Check).









A bit pricey, obviously coming from a dealership, but atleast I know I have the correct ones and don't need to faff around searching for them.

I'll post a bit later about my visit to the dealership and my experiences with them.

The police took the key I had on me when the V50 was crashed, so I lost the key rings that were on that one..... Luckily I had a second key so those key rings were transferred to the new V40 fob



I have a new key ring in the post to me for the 2nd fob.

Oh, 1 last thing. I got one of those little sticky/rubber swedish flags that I think Swedish Boost Mafia created for Father's Day, so that was put on as well





Nice little touch I think. Like a little wash tab for the car.

That's it for now. I do have a few other things in the post so will update the thread with more pictures when they arrive.

[Petey80]

The day after I got the car home, I gave Blue her first bath.



First job was to remove the old dealer/garage sticker that was on the back window

Before


After


A bit of tar and glue remover made light work of that.

She was washed in the usual way, rinsed, snow foamed, rinsed, wash bucket and wash mitt, rinsed again, then dried off. Paintwork, under the bonnet and door shuts as well





[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oJEREb]



[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oJERE1]

The main products that were used were;

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oJCvwC]

Then finished off with a coat of;



Which I bought at the first #Volvo600 gathering and only use now and again.

Few more clean pictures



[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oJCvj3]



[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oJEo1f]



These were all before I put the stickers/badges and wind deflectors on. I intend on getting some new update pictures tonight whilst I'm at the folks and can park in a nice spot.

I'd hoped that the wash would remove whatever it was on the wheel nut covers



It didn't. I then proceeded to look on e-bay for a new set. Had to stop myself and be "No, stop buying now, just give them a clean with a brush and some APC and I'm sure they'll be as good as new".....

And they were



Saved myself £20 there, which inevitably went on something else.....

Next up, my visit to Ray Chapman Volvo in York and some updated pictures.

[Petey80]

Today I took Blue to Ray Chapman Volvo @ York.

This dealership comes highly recommended to me by a couple of friends that have used them since 2009.

Prior to my appointment, I popped into my local Stoneacre Volvo dealership to collect a Car Configuration print out for Blue as i wanted to see exactly what she had.
I enquired about their records on the car and when the last time she was at a Volvo dealer..... 2019.
I then asked about the possibility of getting the software checked and updated where necessary. They said that alone would be £100. I then mentioned it is incorporated into a service, yes, £330 for a standard service and £530 for a major service.... WOWZERS!!!

Thanked the nice lady for her time and the print-out and went on my merry way.

Contacted my friend about Ray Chapman's, got a few peoples names and gave them a ring.

Nothing was an issue when speaking to the lady over the phone. Free Health Check offered and when I asked about the software thing, she went off and spoke to a technician, came back and said, yes we can look at that for you and do any necessary updates. How much I asked, that would be free as well. WOW!

Booked her in for today at 10am and arrived nice and early.





Very nice dealership and dead easy to get too. They had some lovely cars in their selection.

I also filled the car to the brim before I set off and reset the trip computer, average speed, average mpg, everything I could and this is what I got when I got there





Not too shabby for a 2.0 Turbo petrol. I did drive her down nice and easy though, as I wanted to see what she was capable of. Stuck to 65mph as much as I could and when I was in built up areas, changed gears as indicated and left the Stop/Start on.

Got there for about 9:30am and the car was ready about 11:00am I think it was.

Health Check Report as below;





Nothing surprising came up. Rear tyre wear, front discs in need of changing when the current pads get low. Pretty sure they'll be the factory originals as there's no receipt for discs, only pads.

The brake fluid had a high moisture level and I was advised to get that changed. Asked how much it was and they said it would be £60.00 which I felt wasn't too bad for a dealer job.
No hard sell for it or push to get it done, which I was happy about. Just given the price and asked to call in/up if I wanted it booked in for it.

With regards to the software, little note on the check to say that's all up to date. Happy chappy.

So, overall I'm very happy so far with Ray Chapman Volvo @ York.

Very helpful staff and did everything that I asked. Parts guy came out to see me with a parts list for a general service (should have asked for his printout), asked for sparkies, came back in a couple of minutes with a full set.
The service girl was really nice, polite and happy to answer any questions I had and didn't mind putting a couple of extra things on the Health Check for them to take a look at.

Also asked about my A/C and the possibility of it needing regassing. That was checked as part of the health check and was blowing 5.1 degrees, so no issues there.

I will no doubt be calling them back up in the near future for a full brake fluid change and see how they get on with that.

Little bits at a time with dealerships I find is the best practice.

Had a lovely drive back home and again checked the trip computer and had these results





10 mile difference overall to the remainder of the tank and it used 1 notch on the display.

An average of just over 50mpg for this car/engine I feel is pretty good. Granted I was driving her very conservatively, but I was trying too, just to see what it was capable of.

[Petey80]

I popped to see the folks tonight and again took some pics of the trip computer to see how much it changed driving about on normal A & B Roads, with some dual carriage way.





I again drove nice and easy and the overall mileage to the tank had decreased by 100 miles, but the average was still over 50mpg, so quite pleased with that.

She can be quite thirsty as when I did put my foot down coming off a roundabout or coming out of a corner, the instantaneous MPG figures dropped right down to the 20's. To be fair, totally expected, having the engine it does, but it's good to know it's fairly decent on fuel if driven easy.
The V50 D2 I had before sat at mid to late 40's all the time. But that was a bigger car with a small diesel engine.

Stopped off in a random layby on the way home for some pictures

















Suffice to say I am dead happy with this car. Lovely to look at, fantastic to drive, comfy as hell to sit in and all the mod cons I could ever want or need.

Looking forward to making it my own and adding my own personal touches to her.

[dhr90]

Nice car. Looking forward to the detail of the last thread if you’re happy to keep it up. Sorry to hear about the demise of the V50, at least no one was hurt though.

[Petey80]

Originally Posted by dhr90

Nice car. Looking forward to the detail of the last thread if you’re happy to keep it up. Sorry to hear about the demise of the V50, at least no one was hurt though.

Thank you.

Oh yes, this progress thread will be as detailed, if not more. Updates might just be a little longer due to work and available time.

Luckily I was driving alone. No broken bones, just whiplash, bruised stomach off the belt and bruised coccyx off the shunt.
The Mini driver was also unscathed.

[e123]

Been using Chapmans at York for about 12 years. Never any problems and have sorted things at short notice.

[Petey80]

Originally Posted by e123

Been using Chapmans at York for about 12 years. Never any problems and have sorted things at short notice.

Yes, they were very helpful and accommodating with me, so much so I've booked the car in again for the brake fluid change.

Another little drive out on 4th July.

[Petey80]

The number plate holders I purchased off e-bay came today.





So, of course, I had to put them on.

However, the front one is stuck on with sticky pads, so I only put the back one on for now.





Turned out the back one also had sticky pads on, but just at either end. Popped the plate off and there was LOADS of old sticky pads and glue residue behind it......

Turns out, the previous garage had also attached the plates with self tappers, so both front and back bumper have 2 extra holes. Don't understand it as Volvo install 2 screw holes in the middle of the bumper to fit number plates onto...????

But anyway, once the V5 shows up, I'll transfer my private registration number over and clean behind the plates fully and put everything on properly.