Volvo S40 - 2006 Review

"Luxury" car is sort of brand-name issue rather than the actual luxury that is within a car. As such, you'll find the S40 not too dissimilar from much cheaper models like the Acura, Accord, Camry, etc. I'm talking about $10K cheaper here.

The luxury features are, number one, the safety feature. Volvo is well-known for these and you'll get plenty of airbags, smart seats that can sense the type of crash, steel bars in doors, etc. Beyond that you'll get water resistent glass (nice, but glass is water resistent anyway, though not to the extent of the Volvo), anti-lock brakes (common these days), and then some things that are nice, but not really all that important like real wood in various places, nicer than average leather, a superior lighting system activated by your keypad when you approach the car, and really strong glass, making the car hard to break into. You also get the famed fall-down headrests that help you see out back and are supposed to be good in a crash.

You'll probably get a traction package as well and I'm unsure about that. It sounds great but seems like I'd only use it in the rare event of high-speed crash. Nice to have, I think.

The handling is really good. It picks up well and stops on a dime. It's quiet inside for the most part, but Volvo isn't ready for hot climes. I need tinted windows (extra), a sunroof (extra), and some kind of superior technology to keep the car cooler than it is (for a luxury car) when sitting in the heat.

The car is built for cold. It has butt warmers as standard and may include a "climate package" that defogs, waterproofs the glass, wipes the headlights, or some some such. Unnecessary and unused in hot climes like mine.

Trunk space is good. Storage around the car is poor. The cup holders still (I've wanted a Volvo for 3 years!) are chintzy and insufficient. None in back. In front they're too small for larger drinks and look like they'll break. Side pocket storage is just half of the door length.

The rear seat is useless for adults - and I could submit this exact same review for the S60! There is almost no legroom back there.

The front seats are quite comfortable. There are some blind spots, but no more than any other compact car.

The dials and controls are easy enough to see and at last we have the 6-CD changer! You can preset a few seat preferences so your favorite position can be electronically stored. I like a lot of the on-dash options like outside temp, mpg, distance to empty, etc. The mpg was especially nice as I learned to adjust my driving habits to get the best mileage. I was thoroughly confused on how to use the "message" system. I would get in the car and see it tell me I have 1 new message or some such but couldn't figure out how to read/see it. The dealer found it and it was just about an oil change. For a luxury car, I expected not just a message about oil change based on mileage but a message based on whether the car actually needed it.

Common to Volvos are warranties that cover a lot of your maintenance for 3 years or so. That's great, but you have to go to the dealer who isn't generally open on Sunday and if open on Saturday, you wait around forever. I'd rather spend the $30 on standard maintenance at Wal-Mart or Jiffy Lube or some such to be done with or at least shop while waiting.

Annoying and well-known issues with Volvos are expensive repairs. My wife has an S60 and the sunroof we paid so much extra for has failed and they are telling us we need new rails to the tune of $930.

Another issue is the durability of the inside components. You can easily scratch the black plastic around the front console with a fingernail and leave a permanent and very visible mark. Likewise the dashboard area which is a polymer of some kind with a black underside. Simply scratch your fingernail around the radio, for example, and reveal a black undercoating. Very visible and not expected from a luxury car.

As mentioned, the cup holders are fragile as well.

I don't know about you but I was roundly disappointed. The safety features, I'm sure, are A number 1 but beyond that I can't quite figure out the "luxury" I'm supposed to be getting. I'm not much interested in a wooden car or waterproof glass. I'm interested in a practical and durable car.

The S40 is, if I were to guess, extraordinarily durable. Volvos last forever based on history, even if the inside looks bad and is easily damaged. They also retain their value over time.

The bottom line is that I don't consider this a luxury car. It is likely a durable, very safe, and rather cramped car selling itself as a luxury sports car.