Owners have filed 53 complaints on the Volvo V40, covering 2000–2004. The system named most often is Service Brakes (28 reports). Worst years by volume: 2000, 2001, 2004; cleanest: 2003, 2002, 2004. 4 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 4.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Volvo V40
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 53 V40 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 28 Read
On april 13, 2005 at approximately 4 pm, I was backing my v40 volvo 2004 wagon out of a parking space at the kossman garage, liberty avenue,pittsburgh, pa, going slowly because it was a tight space, when my brakes did not work, at all. Despite pushing my brakes as far as they would go, the car did not stop, and…
The contact stated while driving at 55 mph the brakes failed resulting in a crash. A police report was filed at the scene and the driver and passenger sustained minor injuries. The dealership determined on certain vehicles water can enter the electrical brake vacuum pump, causing the pump to fail. There is a NHTSA…
The contact owns a 2004 volvo v40. While driving 15 mph, the brakes malfunctioned. The contact depressed the brake pedal to the floorboard in order to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 44,000
Engine And Engine Cooling 9 Read
2005 (sep/nov/dec): engine check light on 3 times. Dealer repaired all 3 times and following months, which is 2006, having sudden shifting/accelarating at low speed. Dealer fixed 2 times and 1 time couldnot find the issue. Aug. 18, 2007: continued having same problems plus car was jerking on fwy speed. Two days later,…
The contact owns a 2001 volvo v40. The current mileage was 105000. The check engine warning indicator light turns on. The vehicle has been taken to both volvo repair shops and local mechanics numerous times for this failure. They are able to turn the light off; however, it usually comes back on within three weeks. The…
Over the weekend my check engine came on in my v40 wagon. When idle it acted as if it was going to stall. A few times it did, when idle at a stop. It did restart most of the time right away, but a few times it took a couple of tries and waiting. I made an appointment to bring it in for service on 6/28. On 6/27 I was…
Electrical System 3 Read
I have a 2002 volvo v40 and it has 50,200 miles. My daughter drives the car. I have noticed that the car engine stalls while driving at slower speeds. This has happened to me occasionally and I can count like 20 times. My daughter experienced this and I do not have a count. I called carlsen volvo (650 - 493-1515 x…
Electrical system has total failure and shorted within one week of purchase, unresolved problems with brake and dsm warning lights on dashboard flashing on and off
Horn work some of the time
Air Bags 2 Read
In a minimal accident with no passenger in the passenger seat air bags deployed causing excessive and needless damage to the car
The driver's side airbag has failed for no apparent reason. The cost of repair will be around $900.00 the car was purchased 4 years ago. That is a very costly repair for a relatively young vehicle. I asked the service representative at my authorized volvo repair shop if I should expect the right side to fail as soon…
Vehicle Speed Control 2 Read
The contact owns a 2000 volvo v40. The contact shifted into reverse with the brake pedal engaged when the vehicle unintentionally accelerated and drove over a plastic trash receptacle, ceramic pot and then crashed into the side of a nearby house. There was no personal injury and the exterior side of the house…
Vehicle idle increase on braking to about 1500 rpms. When put in park, idle increased to 4500 rpms. I tried taping the gas to see if rpms would go down. Instead rpms increased even higher to over 5500 rpms. Turned the car off. Tried to restart car and rpms immediately went high again. Turned the car off a second time.…
Steering 2 Read
Failure of upper strut mount bushings causing loss of suspension / steering. Replaced for the third time on 2000 v-40 volvo. Recently volvo offered a newly designed heavy duty mount at three time the replacement cost demonstrating that original equipment mount was severely under designed
While driving home from work and trying to pull into the community development, went to apply brakes, and they depressed about 1 inch. Was not able to stop. Had to take foot off brakes, then slammed on them, and vehicle stopped. Also, steering wheel became very stiff, and engine died for a brief moment, and then…
Suspension 2 Read
Rear springs cracked on 2000 volvo v40 with only 63805 miles
Upon returning to the dealership for the third time for a complaint about a suspicious sounding thump or clunk in the passenger-side rear of our 2000 volvo v40, it was discovered that both coil springs had broken. The vehicle at the time of repair has 50,080 miles on it; when the noise was first reported to the dealer…
Structure 1 Read
Dt: consumer states when there is a sun glare on the dashboard there isn't enough illumination. The consumer was unable to see the instruments on the dashboard. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealership and was told there was nothing that could be done about it.*ak the consumer stated a flash light must be used…
V40 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2003 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic | — | — | |
| 2002 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2000 | Electrical System | 2 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 27 |
| Average complaints per series | 2 |
| Worst single series | 5 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.0 years |
A model average of 2 hides a worst series at 5. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the V40?
By complaint volume, 2000, 2001, 2004 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which V40 years are the cleanest?
2003, 2002, 2004 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Volvo V40 have?
53 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2000–2004. Of those, 4 describe a crash and 0 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.