2004 Volvo S40 problems
Owners have filed 75 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Volvo S40. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 17% of complaints. After that come brakes (16%) and air bags (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 75 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 53,000 miles 47 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 11 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 9 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 47 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 52,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 6 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Volvo S40 with enough data (44 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
During a frontal drivers side crash the drivers side airbag did not deploy causing injury to the driver. However the passenger side airbag did deploy, but no passengers were present at the time of the accident. The impact of the crash was mostly drivers side. I also believe the braking system failed since my car failed to slow like a car should during braking.
On october 4th I was involved in a car accident in which a driver hit my car on the driver's side pushing my car down a pth in the woods in fairfax, va. My airbags did not deploy although the sensors were activated according to the collision center.
Dashboard went crazy, fading in and out. All panels were unreadable, speedometer, radio, temperature gauge. Car accelerated on its own, without my foot on the pedal. CD was shot into the backseat landing in my child safety seat. All of this occurred while driving on the highway. In all 3 instances the message indicator stated to not drive the car. I had the car towed to 2 different dealers. The first time they said it was the software and reinstalled.
The event leading up to the failure is simply a defective part after some usage due to a poor welding job at manufacture. Volvo has only recalled one vehicle to my knowledge but they needed to recall all vehicles during that year. The failure is the car has a hard time stopping when the brakes are applied the care continues to move and rough engine idle. The parts that were replaced were the vacuum pump and valve at brake booster, hoses, lines and fittings. Repair cost $840.