Used Volvo V40 cars for sale

Used Volvo V40 pros and cons

Is a second hand Volvo V40 a good car?

You might find this hard to believe, but the Volvo V40 is essentially a Ford Focus MkII in an expensive Scandinavian suit. No, it’s true — the V40 was designed and first put on sale back in 2013, when Volvo was still owned by Ford, and under the skin it’s basically the same as a then-current Focus. It’s a bit like Kenneth Brannagh in Wallander — a Brit cosplaying as a Swede. 

Even so, it’s still very much a Volvo, with the Swedes moving lots of stuff around under the bodywork to make it even safer than the Ford it was based on. It’s also a very handsome car, with quiet but classy styling that gives it the same sort of kerbside appeal as the BMW 1 Series or a Mercedes A-Class. 

There’s also the V40 Cross Country , which is a rugged, all-wheel-drive, off-road inspired version.

A big update in 2016 saw the V40 get sleeker headlights — with the ‘Thor’s Hammer’ LED light signature — and a revised grille, plus some improvements to the cabin and the infotainment system.

That infotainment system is, by today’s standards, on a pretty small screen that’s set into the top of a rather gorgeous ‘floating’ centre console. This being a pre-touchscreen Volvo, you get lots of big, glove-friendly buttons for everything, and while it might be dated now, the V40’s cabin looks like a paragon of simplicity and ease-of-use compared to more modern setups. You can forget Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but you do get Bluetooth hands-free connection so that’s OK. 

As ever with a Volvo, the front seats are gloriously comfortable, and there’s a good driving position to be found. Space in the back isn’t overly generous, but it’s about as good as you’ll find in any rival product. At 335 litres the boot is smaller than what you’d get in a VW Golf, but it’s reasonably well sized. 

Thanks to a relatively long production life — the V40 stayed on sale up to 2019 — it came with a broad choice of engines. Some of those were, of course, shared with Ford such as the 1.6-litre EcoBoost turbo petrol, and even the same 1.6-litre diesel that was not only shared with Ford and Mazda, but also MINI, Peugeot, and Citroen. 

Later in life, the V40 was updated with Volvo’s own home-grown 2.0-litre turbo petrol and diesel engines, and it’s these which are the best to go for. Volvo even tried to take on the VW Golf GTI with the T5 turbo version, which had 245hp, but the V40’s relatively soft chassis settings just never seemed to lend themselves to being truly sporty, so you’re better off going for a 150hp T3 or a very economical 120hp D2. 

While it was never as sporty as the Golf GTI, nor the BMW 1 Series, the V40 was always a nice car to drive, with excellent comfort as long as you stayed away from large alloy wheel options and didn’t pick the sports suspension. 

The V40 is compact enough to be easy to swing into and out of spaces in town, and although it has chunky rear roof pillars overall visibility is good. The soft ride (again, avoid models with the sports suspension) means it’s also comfy. 
That comfy nature means it’s not as good on a twisty road, but on motorways the V40 comes into its own thanks to those wonderful front seats, and the effortless performance of the Volvo 2.0-litre engines. The drawback here is that the V40 suffers from excess road noise, which can be wearying on a very long journey. 

The Volvo V40 was always a well-equipped car though, with even entry level V40 Momentum models coming generously equipped with climate control, alloy wheels, DAB digital radio and a comprehensive range of safety systems. It even has a dedicated airbag for pedestrians, which pops up the bonnet for a softer landing in case of disaster, while the rest of the V40’s safety performance is everything you’d expect from a Volvo. 

What to look for when buying a used Volvo V40

Volvo’s central locking systems, especially from the early 2000s onwards, always seem to be a problem and the V40 is no exception. Check to make sure that the car comes with both keys, as they’re a failure point and may not have been replaced. The adaptive cruise control can also have sensor issues, which will send a fault up to the dashboard. Also, the 2.0-litre diesel engine was recalled for a potential fire issue so make sure that work has been done. 

The Volvo V40 didn’t turn up in the most recent Driver Power Top 50 Cars To Own list, but the distantly related Volvo XC40 did — in 32nd place — and received good marks for quality and reliability. Volvo as a brand finished in a solid mid-table 16th out of 32 brands in the Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, with 26% of owners reporting faults.