2000 Volvo S40

Typical pattern

12.5% of complaints about the 2000 Volvo S40 came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2000 vehicle — around the middle of the 213 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 4.1 yr in service. The most-reported system is service brakes, hydraulic (42 complaints), typically at 2.8 yr or about 40,000 miles.

Complaints: 136
Median age at failure: 4.1 yr
Median mileage: 68,000 n=64
Crash / fire / tow: 12.5% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

In owners’ own words

Service brakes, hydraulic mileage not reported 6 mo in service

BRAKES DON'T ENGAGE WHEN CAR HAS BEEN SITTING OVERNIGHT OR FOR MORE THAN 6-8 HOURS

Service brakes, hydraulic mileage not reported 11 mo in service

BRAKE INDICATOR LIGHT FLASHED ON. DEALER STATED BRAKES WERE LEAKING, AND CONSUMER LOST BRAKE POWER. *AK THE VEHICLE WAS SOLD BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. *YH

Service brakes, hydraulic mileage not reported 11 mo in service

BRAKE INDICATOR LIGHT FLASHED ON. DEALER STATED BRAKES WERE LEAKING, AND CONSUMER LOST BRAKE POWER. *AK THE VEHICLE WAS SOLD BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. *YH

Speed control mileage not reported 10 mo in service

VEHICLE WILL SUDDENLY ACCELERATE, AND WHILE TRYING TO BRAKE VEHICLE STILL ACCELERATES. *AK

Other S40 model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2000 Volvo S40

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other S40 model years

How to read this