08 Volvo S40 1.6d SE

newby.204 · 27-02-2014 12:39am #1

Hey lads, would anybody recommend/knock this car as a good second hand buy?? I know they have a ford engine but are they reliable, do they give trouble?

bazz26 · 27-02-2014 9:57am

It's not a Ford engine, it's a Peugeot/Citroen HDi engine that Volvo acquired through it's parent company Ford at the time. Same engine is used by Mazda in their 3 also through parent company Ford who get them from Peugeot/Citroen.

Had a 2006 S40 1.6d for 2 years, very temperamental engine that shows no mercy to lack of proper oil and maintenance. S40 while not very big is a heavy car and 1.6d is sluggish in it. DPFs can be troublesome on them and are classed as a consumable. Given that tax on a 2008 is Co2 based I'd find a 2.0d instead. It's a Peugeot/Citroen engine also but a lot less temperamental than the 1.6d, has a more respectable 140bhp and returns only slightly less mpg than the 1.6d.

newby.204 · 27-02-2014 7:36pm

bazz26 wrote: »

It's not a Ford engine, it's a Peugeot/Citroen HDi engine that Volvo acquired through it's parent company Ford at the time. Same engine is used by Mazda in their 3 also through parent company Ford who get them from Peugeot/Citroen.

Had a 2006 S40 1.6d for 2 years, very temperamental engine that shows no mercy to lack of proper oil and maintenance. S40 while not very big is a heavy car and 1.6d is sluggish in it. DPFs can be troublesome on them and are classed as a consumable. Given that tax on a 2008 is Co2 based I'd find a 2.0d instead. It's a Peugeot/Citroen engine also but a lot less temperamental than the 1.6d, has a more respectable 140bhp and returns only slightly less mpg than the 1.6d.

Ah fair enough, the seller has the tax listed at €270?, reasonable considering my Passat was €673. How sluggish is sluggish exactly? My Passat was a 1.9tdi and only had 90bhp in comparison to the 1.6d in the Volvo which is listed at 110bhp.

Im not not taking onboard what your saying, im just wondering is all!!

Henry Ford III · 27-02-2014 8:37pm

bazz26 wrote: »

It's not a Ford engine, it's a Peugeot/Citroen HDi engine that Volvo acquired through it's parent company Ford at the time. Same engine is used by Mazda in their 3 also through parent company Ford who get them from Peugeot/Citroen.

Had a 2006 S40 1.6d for 2 years, very temperamental engine that shows no mercy to lack of proper oil and maintenance. S40 while not very big is a heavy car and 1.6d is sluggish in it. DPFs can be troublesome on them and are classed as a consumable. Given that tax on a 2008 is Co2 based I'd find a 2.0d instead. It's a Peugeot/Citroen engine also but a lot less temperamental than the 1.6d, has a more respectable 140bhp and returns only slightly less mpg than the 1.6d.

By way of contrast I'm now on my 6th Focus (2 of them were C-Max's)
all with 1.6TDCI engines.

I've had zero issues with any of them. The latest of them is a 115bhp version with 500 miles on it from new (1 week old). There's plenty of power, 6 gears, and it's averaging 56.3mpg so far (which will improve with a few miles). The last one averaged nearly 60mpg over nearly 20,000 miles. Road tax is €190 p.a. (with city stop/start).

It's a very popular engine - it's in various Fords, Volvo's, Mazdas, Citroens, & Peugeots. It's smooth, refined and has a linear power delivery. Being a diesel good torque is a given.

The cars were all main dealer serviced - €109 incl.

Maybe an S40 is a bit of a tank - otherwise perhaps you bought a clunker Bazz?

JohnBoy26 · 27-02-2014 8:44pm

Henry Ford III wrote: »

By way of contrast I'm now on my 6th Focus (2 of them were C-Max's)
all with 1.6TDCI engines.

I've had zero issues with any of them. The latest of them is a 115bhp version with 500 miles on it from new (1 week old). There's plenty of power, 6 gears, and it's averaging 56.3mpg so far (which will improve with a few miles). The last one averaged nearly 60mpg over nearly 20,000 miles. Road tax is €190 p.a. (with city stop/start).

It's a very popular engine - it's in various Fords, Volvo's, Mazdas, Citroens, & Peugeots. It's smooth, refined and has a linear power delivery. Being a diesel good torque is a given.

The cars were all main dealer serviced - €109 incl.

Maybe an S40 is a bit of a tank - otherwise perhaps you bought a clunker Bazz?

They are a sh1te engine tbh. You might of had good luck with yours but plenty of others haven't.

Lack of maintenance will be the cause of some of the issues, however even properly maintained examples are suffering from turbo failure as well.

newby.204 · 27-02-2014 8:50pm

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

They are a sh1te engine tbh. You might of had good luck with yours but plenty of others haven't.

Lack of maintenance will be the cause of some of the issues, however even properly maintained examples are suffering from turbo failure as well.

oh right, well i havnt looked at the car yet, going to look at it tomorrow, for a 90bhp the Passat had serious go, and they're not exactly light, im not expecting a 1.6d to light the world on fire, but if its ****e ill know fairly quickly!!

JohnBoy26 · 27-02-2014 8:54pm

newby.204 wrote: »

oh right, well i havnt looked at the car yet, going to look at it tomorrow, for a 90bhp the Passat had serious go, and they're not exactly light, im not expecting a 1.6d to light the world on fire, but if its ****e ill know fairly quickly!!

I wasn't talking about it's performance. It reliability I was referring to.

Henry Ford III · 27-02-2014 8:57pm

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

They are a sh1te engine tbh. You might of had good luck with yours but plenty of others haven't.

Lack of maintenance will be the cause of some of the issues, however even properly maintained examples are suffering from turbo failure as well.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/ford/focus-2011/?section=good

All modern diesels can be troublesome in not maintained properly and on schedule.

Interesting that there's no mention of turbo failure there.

JohnBoy26 · 27-02-2014 9:02pm

Henry Ford III wrote: »

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/ford/focus-2011/?section=good

All modern diesels can be troublesome in not maintained properly and on schedule.

Interesting that there's no mention of turbo failure there.

The 1.6 psa unit can be maintained properly and still give trouble. They just aren't a good unit.

The link you posted above is irrelevant as that focus is a new model and isn't out long enough for issues to present themselves.

It also has a different, updated engine to the car the op os looking at.

Henry Ford III · 27-02-2014 9:04pm

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

The 1.6 psa unit can be maintained properly and still give trouble. They just aren't a good unit.....

I don't agree at all. I've plenty of experience of them. Have you?

Honest John says....

"The TDCI diesels are carried over from the old Focus but have been tweaked to be more efficient. There's no full ECOnetic model as yet but the fuel saving technology is used on various models. So the 1.6 EcoBoost and 1.6 TDCI models get the engine stop/start system while all models get a grille that closes when cooling isn't needed, to reduce air drag.

This helps the 1.6 TDCI manual average a claimed 67.3mpg with emissions of just 109g/km of CO2 putting it in VED band B. It may seem a lowly engine with just 115bhp (a lower powered and cheaper 95bhp version is available which is aimed at company buyers - it's slower but no more economical) but is surprisingly swift and pulls really strongly thanks to 270Nm of torque while there's an extra 15Nm thanks to an overboost function which kicks in if you accelerate hard - ideal for quick overtaking.

It's so good in fact it almost make you think twice about the 2.0 TDCI. This is available with 115bhp, 140bhp or the impressive 163bhp version."

bazz26 · 27-02-2014 9:07pm

Henry Ford III wrote: »

By way of contrast I'm now on my 6th Focus (2 of them were C-Max's)
all with 1.6TDCI engines.

I've had zero issues with any of them. The latest of them is a 115bhp version with 500 miles on it from new (1 week old). There's plenty of power, 6 gears, and it's averaging 56.3mpg so far (which will improve with a few miles). The last one averaged nearly 60mpg over nearly 20,000 miles. Road tax is €190 p.a. (with city stop/start).

It's a very popular engine - it's in various Fords, Volvo's, Mazdas, Citroens, & Peugeots. It's smooth, refined and has a linear power delivery. Being a diesel good torque is a given.

The cars were all main dealer serviced - €109 incl.

Maybe an S40 is a bit of a tank - otherwise perhaps you bought a clunker Bazz?

With all due respect Henry, if I remember correctly most of your cars were bought brand new and in general you rarely keep them more than 2 years afaik with relatively low mileage. In my opinion I would expect the majority of those cars to be trouble free unless you were landed with a lemon from day 1. It would be interesting to know how many of those cars have been trouble free since though.

I had that engine in both a Focus and a S40, both were bought second hand, the Focus was 2 years old with 50k miles on the clock and the S40 was 3 years old with about 65k miles on the clock. I kept both cars for 2 years each, the Focus was sold with over 80k miles while the S40 had around 90k miles on them. The Focus never gave me any problems but the S40 always needed something niggling fixed including a new DPF. So I had a 50/50 chance of either the S40 being a dog or maybe I got lucky with the Focus. My cousin has a Focus with that engine too that now needs a new turbo despite it having low miles and a service history. Someone else on here has a Focus van also with that engine and has had a lot of problems with it. They are far from bomb proof in my experience.

JohnBoy26 · 27-02-2014 9:10pm

Y

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I don't agree at all. I've plenty of experience of them. Have you?

Honest John says....

"The TDCI diesels are carried over from the old Focus but have been tweaked to be more efficient. There's no full ECOnetic model as yet but the fuel saving technology is used on various models. So the 1.6 EcoBoost and 1.6 TDCI models get the engine stop/start system while all models get a grille that closes when cooling isn't needed, to reduce air drag.

This helps the 1.6 TDCI manual average a claimed 67.3mpg with emissions of just 109g/km of CO2 putting it in VED band B. It may seem a lowly engine with just 115bhp (a lower powered and cheaper 95bhp version is available which is aimed at company buyers - it's slower but no more economical) but is surprisingly swift and pulls really strongly thanks to 270Nm of torque while there's an extra 15Nm thanks to an overboost function which kicks in if you accelerate hard - ideal for quick overtaking.

It's so good in fact it almost make you think twice about the 2.0 TDCI. This is available with 115bhp, 140bhp or the impressive 163bhp version."

yes I have lots of experience with them in both the focus and in the 407. I don't have to rely on honest john.

tbh I take what he says with a pinch of salt as he has a thing for fords.

Henry Ford III · 27-02-2014 9:20pm

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Y
yes I have lots of experience with them in both the focus and in the 407. I don't have to rely on honest john.

tbh I take what he says with a pinch of salt as he has a thing for fords.

I think I'd prefer to rely on my own experience backed up by a wide cross section of the motoring community. Parkers has similarly positive experience of this engine too.

Henry Ford III · 27-02-2014 9:27pm

bazz26 wrote: »

With all due respect Henry, if I remember correctly most of your cars were bought brand new and in general you rarely keep them more than 2 years afaik with relatively low mileage. In my opinion I would expect the majority of those cars to be trouble free unless you were landed with a lemon from day 1. It would be interesting to know how many of those cars have been trouble free since though.

I had that engine in both a Focus and a S40, both were bought second hand, the Focus was 2 years old with 50k miles on the clock and the S40 was 3 years old with about 65k miles on the clock. I kept both cars for 2 years each, the Focus was sold with over 80k miles while the S40 had around 90k miles on them. The Focus never gave me any problems but the S40 always needed something niggling fixed including a new DPF. So I had a 50/50 chance of either the S40 being a dog or maybe I got lucky with the Focus. My cousin has a Focus with that engine too that now needs a new turbo despite it having low miles and a service history. Someone else on here has a Focus van also with that engine and has had a lot of problems with it. They are far from bomb proof in my experience.

You're right Bazz my cars were all new, and I don't do galactic mileage either. Not sure that matters too much tbh.

The earliest was a 2004 C-Max which a friend bought and I know it was a reliable workhorse until it was sold recently.

The Focus is a very popular car and I believe they just wouldn't get away with selling a substandard engine. The 1.6TDCI has been around over 10 years now after all.

p.s. Don't they fit a 1.6 diesel to the Volvo S80?

JohnBoy26 · 27-02-2014 9:43pm

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I think I'd prefer to rely on my own experience backed up by a wide cross section of the motoring community. Parkers has similarly positive experience of this engine too.

OK fair enough but you've posted a link to the wrong car and "this engine" you refer to(2012 focus) is not the same engine as what's in an 08 s40. This leads me to question your experience of this engine. Have you ever worked on one?

This is a link to the honest john Volvo s40 review, the car the op is looking at.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volvo/s40-2004/?section=good

16-1-2012: Turbo problem on 1.6TDCI/1.6HDI DV6 appears to be getting worse: Reader reports 1.6TDCI at 56,000 miles: "Car lost power plus growl/whine indicating turbo trouble - drove gently 3 miles to local garage where tech confirmed - pulled inlet rubber pipe and demonstrated wear in turbo bearings. He is quite clued up and knows a lot about this problem. There is a huge amount of evidence of similar cases in the Backroom forum and others, and there is clearly a serious problem affecting this engine. The cure is not just a new turbo, but new oil pipe, pump, pick-up, etc etc. Ford dealer prices for repairs are £1,200 for parts alone. There was a Ford TSB45/2008 about this. Newer engines (2008+) have modified parts. Apparently you can get a new turbo for £350 plus £120 for a "kit" of modified pipes/pick-up unions etc. from Transitpartsuk (International Parts Ltd) to fit next week. eBay supplier TransitpartsUK

sam22 · 27-02-2014 9:50pm

my brother bought a 2007 v40 1.6 diesel in 2012 and it broke his heart, it was a dog, kept it for a year and then bought a 2008 Volvo s40 2.0litre diesel r design, full service history and 100% more reliable

Henry Ford III · 27-02-2014 9:58pm

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

OK fair enough but you've posted a link to the wrong car and "this engine" you refer to(2012 focus) is not the same engine as what's in an 08 s40. This leads me to question your experience of this engine. Have you ever worked on one?

This is a link to the honest john Volvo s40 review, the car the op is looking at.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volvo/s40-2004/?section=good

16-1-2012: Turbo problem on 1.6TDCI/1.6HDI DV6 appears to be getting worse: Reader reports 1.6TDCI at 56,000 miles: "Car lost power plus growl/whine indicating turbo trouble - drove gently 3 miles to local garage where tech confirmed - pulled inlet rubber pipe and demonstrated wear in turbo bearings. He is quite clued up and knows a lot about this problem. There is a huge amount of evidence of similar cases in the Backroom forum and others, and there is clearly a serious problem affecting this engine. The cure is not just a new turbo, but new oil pipe, pump, pick-up, etc etc. Ford dealer prices for repairs are £1,200 for parts alone. There was a Ford TSB45/2008 about this. Newer engines (2008+) have modified parts. Apparently you can get a new turbo for £350 plus £120 for a "kit" of modified pipes/pick-up unions etc. from Transitpartsuk (International Parts Ltd) to fit next week. eBay supplier TransitpartsUK

I've never worked on one thankfully.

The engine is (subject to expert correction) unchanged block and head wise until 2011 when Ford went their own way and went back to an 8 valve head. Same 1560cc lump though. Obviously ancilliaries (turbo, injectors, electronics) will have varied however.

I'd be interested in what George Dalton's view on all this is.

Row · 27-02-2014 10:11pm

I'm with Henry on this one...:)

The dv6 engine is good engine once its serviced before or on time (15k kms or less) and the correct oil (5w 30 low ash/saps) is used.

I have seen many of these engines running up 150k mls and one or two running at 170 k mls on there original turbos.
I'm Running a 407 myself with 130k mls myself and its on its original turbo..:)

But saying that if there not looked after then the tend to cause major problems e.g....Blown turbos/low oil pressure problems/engine failure...:eek:

They are a sensitive engine and do need looking after but once they are they tend run up to high milage.

Op.....if you were to read every fault with every make/model then you'd end up buying a bike...:D

Some people worship Vag group but beleive me they have there own problems...
e.g. failing flywheels/failing oil pumps/injectors (2.0 tdi) the newest 1.6 tdi with egr problems/dpf problems.

I Plugged into a 2010 polo last week with only 50 k kms and its dpf was blocked due to a failed dpf diff pressure sensor and it was also flagging egr valve faults..:rolleyes:...So every make/model have there own problems..;)

Best of luck with your purchase and if you go for it then make sure it has been well serviced...;)

newby.204 · 27-02-2014 10:14pm

cheers lads ill road test it, and see what way im feeling when it comes to handing over the cash!! im now going to see what the service history is like too!! would, if it wasnt particularly well serviced, getting it serviced straight after buying it make any difference?

Row · 27-02-2014 10:22pm

Once it has been serviced every 15k kms or less with the correct grade of oil then it should be fine....If its nearly due a service then it would be best get it done.
Like anyone purchasing a car always get it checked out with a competent mechanic/someone who knows what to look out for..;)
Btw are you buying it from a garage..?

newby.204 · 27-02-2014 10:31pm

Row wrote: »

Once it has been serviced every 15k kms or less with the correct grade of oil then it should be fine....If its nearly due a service then it would be best get it done.
Like anyone purchasing a car always get it checked out with a competent mechanic/someone who knows what to look out for..;)
Btw are you buying it from a garage..?

No the car im looking at is a private sale? Similar cars from garages are nearly 1k-1500 more!! the only difference i can see(without seeing the cars) is they are in garages

JohnBoy26 · 27-02-2014 10:35pm

Row wrote: »

Once it has been serviced every 15k kms or less with the correct grade of oil then it should be fine....If its nearly due a service then it would be best get it done.
Like anyone purchasing a car always get it checked out with a competent mechanic/someone who knows what to look out for..;)
Btw are you buying it from a garage..?

Even servicing them properly doesn't guarantee that they will remain trouble free. They will still sludge the oil.

Removing and cleaning the sump, turbo oil feed pipe and replacing the banjo bolt every two to three services is your only chance to completely avoid turbo failure on these imo. This is way above and beyond normal servicing though but is necessary imo.

The 1.6 TDI that you mention may have troubles of it's own but it's still a much more reliable unit than the dv6, as is other 1.6 diesels such as Hyundai's crdi unit.

Row · 27-02-2014 11:12pm

I bought my 407 with 58 k mls (now 130 k mls) on it and i never needed to drop the sump i only removed the gauze on the turbo feed pipe while i was cleaning my dpf.
Saying that i do run and engine flush tru it every 3rd service.

Its really early days with the 1.6 Tdi's and i hope they are trouble free but if there causing dpf/egr valve problems @ 50k kms then what will they be like at 200k kms...:eek:

Tbh it think manufacturers are pushing as much bhp out of small engines as they can and hoping the oil will do its job.....its not that long ago we used to change the oil and filter on our late 80's/90's Diesels every 3k mls..:)

On newer cars reducing Emissions is another story with egr valves/dpfs/ad blue systems which maybe intended to reduce a hole in the o-zone but there putting bigger holes in there owners pockets...:(

bazz26 · 27-02-2014 11:25pm

Row wrote: »

I'm with Henry on this one...:)

The dv6 engine is good engine once its serviced before or on time (15k kms or less) and the correct oil (5w 30 low ash/saps) is used.

I have seen many of these engines running up 150k mls and one or two running at 170 k mls on there original turbos.
I'm Running a 407 myself with 130k mls myself and its on its original turbo..:)

But saying that if there not looked after then the tend to cause major problems e.g....Blown turbos/low oil pressure problems/engine failure...:eek:

They are a sensitive engine and do need looking after but once they are they tend run up to high milage.

Op.....if you were to read every fault with every make/model then you'd end up buying a bike...:D

Some people worship Vag group but beleive me they have there own problems...
e.g. failing flywheels/failing oil pumps/injectors (2.0 tdi) the newest 1.6 tdi with egr problems/dpf problems.

I Plugged into a 2010 polo last week with only 50 k kms and its dpf was blocked due to a failed dpf diff pressure sensor and it was also flagging egr valve faults..:rolleyes:...So every make/model have there own problems..;)

Best of luck with your purchase and if you go for it then make sure it has been well serviced...;)

You will get no argument from me on that point. I just had a new entire clutch, flywheel and gearbox fitted to a less than 3 year old Passat CC with under 50k miles on the clock. Thankfully I didn't have to pick up the bill.

newby.204 · 27-02-2014 11:33pm

Ok, as a back up to the car i have lined up, how do people feel about 08/09 Mazda6 2l Dsl? its in my price range its a large saloon, its in my tax range albeit higher than the Volvo

bazz26 · 27-02-2014 11:37pm

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Why not look at a Mondeo 2.0 TDCi?

newby.204 · 27-02-2014 11:43pm

bazz26 wrote: »

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. **

Why not look at a Mondeo 2.0 TDCi?

**Not a fan or they give serious problems???

Was told to stay away from the Focus/Mondeo 1.6/2.0 TDCi engines!!

Mondeos were actually the first car i looked at!

bazz26 · 27-02-2014 11:50pm

Mazda 6 2.0 diesel has well documented problems. Plenty of information on the web about them.

What sort of budget do you have?

newby.204 · 27-02-2014 11:52pm

bazz26 wrote: »

Mazda 6 2.0 diesel has well documented problems. Plenty of information on the web about them.

What sort of budget do you have?

yea i just did a search on the forum..... so ill leave them and their bigger 2.2l brother aloooooone!!!

I have ~9k, I can stretch another couple of hundred but not a whole 1k, I'm not in a terrible rush but I will need a car in the next 2-3 weeks, although I had hoped to pick one up this weekend!!

bazz26 · 28-02-2014 12:04am

Something like this interest you?

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http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/KIA/Ceed/1.6-CRDI/39113928084357400/

Not as upmarket as a S40 and will not drive as well as a Focus but they are well equipped, reliable and have decent power for their size.

newby.204 · 28-02-2014 12:14am

Not really bazz, id go for a pro c'eed if anything, but i have a child so its got to be a 5dr, which for me means a saloon!! its just an aesthetics thing for me!! Unless it was a Golf, I had considered the passats but I dont like the many ECUs and push button handbrake!!

bazz26 · 28-02-2014 12:20am

A bit odd as normally hatchbacks are more practical than saloons especially if you have buggies or prams. The boot on the S40 is very narrow btw.

9-3 is worth a look then, 1.9 TiD is a Fiat unit, they are not impervious to common issues but generally they are reliable.

media?xwm=y&id=15259996&width=400&height=300

media?xwm=y&id=15259996&width=400&height=300

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Saab/9-3/1.9-tid/201407221697880/

newby.204 · 28-02-2014 12:27am

toyota avensis, not the new shape but maybe worth a look?

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Toyota/Avensis/TR-D/37313738992118180/

*i appreciate its slightly over budget!!

newby.204 · 01-03-2014 12:13pm

Well lads i had a look at the S40, it was clean inside and out drove well, fsh, price is right enough......

however can anybody tell me when the timing should have been done, i have rang 3 Volvo dealers and received 3 different answers, 150k 180k and 240k(kms)

so can anybody shine a light!!

also it only has 1 key and its €240 for a new one from a dealer!!!

08 Volvo S40 1.6d SE

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