Experiences with S40 petrol 2008-on

Dubh Geannain

I'm looking for something from 08-09.

Apart from the tax (€ 636), the S40 reviews I've read seem pretty positive.

Commute is 20 mins e/w on a regional road with.

With work I have to travel a couple of times per month. Work mileage is between 3,000 - 7,000 km per annum. My wife has a 40 minute commute e/w and has the "good car" an i40 Diesel so I can borrow hers if I'm worried about fuel economy on a long haul run to Cork or something.

I had been looking at diesels originally but don't think a second diesel is really necessary.

kirving

Fuel economy was about 7.4-8.2 /100km if I remember. Not great buy not the worst at low mileage.

I sold my 08 SE Lux in February for just over €2000. It did some miles, but was very well minded - but in the end that's all it was worth despite seeing some online for €6000+ :rolleyes:

It was at around €240k km and gave very little trouble over the 130k km I drove it.

Fundamentally a solid car as far as I'm concerned, with an engine that's regarded as reliable, I'd definitely recommend one as a place to spend your commute. Settle for nothing below an SE Lux - it's a big upgrade over the SE for little to no extra money.

Dubh Geannain

Any thoughts on the Flexifuel models? There seems to be a fair few (1.8 Litre) available in my budget. I'm wondering why though. I've not seen any major issue with them apart from a restrictive service interval of 10,000 km.

Any alternative suggestions welcome. Budget is € 3,500.

kirving

I had a FlexiFuel model - which many of them were at the time due to a VRT rebate from the government I believe.

Useless here as E85 isn't on sale, but it was great in France at €0.50 per litre.

10,000 km intervals is low, but I'm not sure why. E85 will run hotter I think so that could be the reason. As far as I know, the FlexiFuel model had some different components in the fuel system and a harder cylinder head and valves to cope with higher temperatures.

I changed the oil at or around the interval myself which was cheap enough to do since I had the tools.

Dubh Geannain

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I had a FlexiFuel model - which many of them were at the time due to a VRT rebate from the government I believe.

Useless here as E85 isn't on sale, but it was great in France at €0.50 per litre.

10,000 km intervals is low, but I'm not sure why. E85 will run hotter I think so that could be the reason. As far as I know, the FlexiFuel model had some different components in the fuel system and a harder cylinder head and valves to cope with higher temperatures.

I changed the oil at or around the interval myself which was cheap enough to do since I had the tools.

If it's just an oil change, I'd be able to do that myself too.

I've been totting up here that driving to an from work alone it's approx 8,500 km per year. Adding 2,000 km for odd journeys in the year then I'd pretty much only hitting just over 10,000 annually anyway. So the car would be due an annual service almost around the time I'm passing 10,000 km. Also, if I'm using petrol as opposed to E85 I might be able to push it closer to 15,000 without doing damage.

The economy doesn't bother me too much either. It's almost a constant 70-80 km/h journey with no traffic.

Am I silly to be considering one of these?

road_high

Always heard they’re thirsty but reliable. Unlike the diesel which was troublesome but frugal! If doing lowish mileage they should be perfect for tipping about and very comfortable well finished cars.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Just a side note regarding backseat leg room in the S40...there is none. Its ridiculous how small they are in the rear so if you plan on carrying passengers older than 10yr olds then you may want to think again.