FWIW, my aunt has a 2021 T5 r design bought in 2021. Zero problems until today - the Volvo patented false TPMs light.

 

Our t4 has 47k miles. Been good so far. Mileage is 28mpg. We run 87 octane. Turned off auto stop start way too annoying so that may have affected mpgs.

 

Solid cars. They're mechanically almost identical to the T5 except for the lack of AWD. The XC40 sounds perfect for your needs. It's like if a Subaru Crosstrek was actually a good car.

 

Thanks guys…so auto SS can be permanently shut off on the t4 like our xc90? Even in the loaner b5, with its more seamless auto SS, it keep shutting off engine and AC even though hot out and in the car. Shifting to manual mode doesn’t help so I just keep creeping forward a few inches to restart engine so my toddler doesn’t cook in the back seat.

 

Yes it can be turned off and won't come back on until you want it again.

 

The T4 is a lower pressure turbo which is why it is ok on 87. In Canada we only had them in AWD, but from the few customers I have with this variation the cars have been as reliable as the T5s.

 

Is it possible that the T4 has the same/ similar turbo, but runs on the Miller cycle? I know the US-market VW Tiguan has a 2.0T with a relatively low output, owing to the Miller cycle (basically the turbo equivalent of the Atkinson cycle). I believe the B5 cars have now all moved to the Miller cycle but there may have been a difference there in previous years.

 

Im finding that it’s not easy to locate decently-equipped t4’s out there, and they are basically in the same price range as t5 awd models with more equipment. Since it’s going to end up being my daughter’s first car and into college, don’t want to saddle her with something that costs an extra 60-80 cents per gallon for fuel (91 octane in CA). Only car I’d make an exception for would be a rebel blue p3 xc60 t6.

 

3 years ago, I bought my then 16 year old daughter a 2019 XC40 T5 Momentum. Very bare bones, but AWD, and the 18s, with beefy sidewall were great for her developing parallel parking skills... She put 50k miles on it in the 3 years, and just totaled it the other day (someone hit her). All the airbags went off, and she walked away without a scratch. Honestly, a perfect first vehicle for a teen.

 

Will you be replacing it with another Volvo?

 

When a dealer swaps wheels vehicle to vehicle, they are essentially doing a modification on two vehicles - it is seriously a problem on leased vehicles and because a significant portion of Volvos are leased, it is a real problem for a Volvo dealer to do so.

 

Recently a well-equipped ($45k msrp) used 2019 t4 RD with ~100k miles popped up. Carfax shows consistent dealer service every 7-10k miles and no reported damage. Need to find time to go check it out.

Anything in particular known to need attention around 100k miles or to look out for on these xc40s? Pretty familiar with the engine as we have a xc90 t6, but not so much with the xc40 or cma platform. Do these have any not uncommon crazy expensive repairs like the xc90 evaporators?

 

These are very solid with the exception of the front strut mount bearings (a familiar failure for any P3 owner). Around 100k you would probably need struts anyways if they hadn't been done already.

Otherwise, if you can keep the sunroof drains cleaned and you change the oil every 5-10k miles, you'll be just fine.

 

So I’ve been reading more about these, and one issue that keeps popping up is related to key fobs not working due to water intrusion under shark fin and causing all kinds of trouble. Is this a common issue?

Are sunroof seals & drains a problem on these like the SPA cars? Do these suffer from AC evaporators like the SPA?

 

Not sure about the AC. I haven't heard of that on a 40-series car myself.

Like anything with a pano roof, the drains must be cleaned every year or two. We had a leaky shuttle / loaner for several years – "the rat" – an otherwise spiffy early XC40 that had been torn apart for dampness remediation. Funnily enough, it drove fantastic! Once we were certain that it had been waterproofed, I believe we retailed it, by which point I think it had more than 40k on it. But I digress...

I think the TCAM module issues were on early Google cars, and that there was a recall or TSB to fix it. The leaky sharkfin would hopefully have been resolved on any XC40 you were buying now.

Like with most of the newer Volvos, the electric tailgate struts will occasionally crap out. Those aren't cheap. Usually you can still operate the trunk manually with bad ones.

 

Not sure about the AC. I haven't heard of that on a 40-series car myself.

Like anything with a pano roof, the drains must be cleaned every year or two. We had a leaky shuttle / loaner for several years – "the rat" – an otherwise spiffy early XC40 that had been torn apart for dampness remediation. Funnily enough, it drove fantastic! Once we were certain that it had been waterproofed, I believe we retailed it, by which point I think it had more than 40k on it. But I digress...

I think the TCAM module issues were on early Google cars, and that there was a recall or TSB to fix it. The leaky sharkfin would hopefully have been resolved on any XC40 you were buying now.

Like with most of the newer Volvos, the electric tailgate struts will occasionally crap out. Those aren't cheap. Usually you can still operate the trunk manually with bad ones.

Correct on the TCAM ... and the cause of the failure was really that the techs weren't trained properly on the PDIs on them. Once that was sorted the problem went away.

I don't know if the keyfob thing is related to what you say.

We've had more problems than usual this year with dampness from the sunroof rails because we've had a harsher winter than we've had for a while. People need to clear the snow off of their cars completely because the drains can only handle so much and when they're overtaxed, the water has nowhere to go. This was a big problem when we had a thaw after two big snowfalls in a week.

The rear tailgate struts sometimes wonk out on 40s and 60s, but I don't really see it happening on 90s oddly enough.