2005 Volvo S40
Complaints about this year name fuel far more often than the model's other years — 22% of them, about 56× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 81 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 16 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- fuel pump — 12% of complaints, 31× usual
- stalled — 16% of complaints, 5× usual
- day — 9% of complaints, 22× usual
What owners wrote
FUEL PUMP CONTROL MODULE (PEM) FAILS DURING WET CONDITIONS. CAR WILL CRANK LIKE NORMAL BUT WILL NOT START. LET CAR DRY OUT FOR A FEW DAYS AND THEN THE CAR WILL RUN NORMAL AGAIN.
WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE FUEL PUMP ELECTRONIC MODULE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT IN…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 10V566000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 06V137000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 08V033000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volvo S40 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Volvo S40? What happened to yours?
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