I have an S40 2.0D too. I bought mine 2nd hand at 134,000 and it's now on 180,000. It also makes this grumbly noise. It does this occasionally and pumping the clutch in and out usually stops it. It hasn't got any worse over time so you may well be OK.

My clutch seems to have good bite still (i believe orginal clutch) so I'm not worried about it.

Hope that helps.

It sounds more like the throw out bearing than the clutch itself (but the procedure to replace the bearing is similar to changing the clutch, so the bill won't be much lower.

It's unlucky to have this problem occur at this age. Perhaps the previous owner used to sit at traffic lights in gear with the clutch depressed.

By most accounts the S40 is a decent car. If you have the clutch and bearing changed, there's no obvious reason to change. Tyres and servicing are consumables so can't really be counted against the car. Is this an excuse for a bit of vague virtual tyre kicking?!

Remember that depreciation (roughly) follows an exponential decay curve-so you've got the steepest part out of the way. A newer Ford will shed money at a much faster rate than the Volvo.

I can understand that it sticks in the craw to stump up £1500 on a four year old car. But a good four year old car with a new clutch is quite an attractive prospect.

The long manufacturers' warranties often have wear and tear clauses and exclusions, so not quite as comprehensive as they first seem. Your clutch problem for instance would almost certainly have been rejected.

Well, I guess I will find out tomorrow and will take the decision from there. Just hope it's a small and very fixable issue.

John I took the same advice (actually before you posted) and found a good one that came highly recommended by two guys I work with and went to have a chat with him today. The oil change is actually mainly down to the price of the oil they use and he quoted me £165. Another garage £170 so to be fair the dealer premium at £200 isn't actually that high.

The quote for the clutch from the indy was £950 so again not a lot different as they use standard parts so the differential is their slightly lower labour cost.

I wouldn't be saving that much. That said I was quite impressed with him and will probably give them a shot at the next service interval.

The interesting thing was that after speaking to him I'm now not at all convinced it's the clutch either, as you suggest. The noise definitely starts when you engage the clutch but the description I gave him led him to suggest it's more likely to be 'something' in the drivetrain. This of course could be serious or simple and I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

I hope it falls into the 'simple' category' so I don't have the tough choice to make.

I found the thread in February where you were trying to decide between the S40 and a newer Hyundai i30. I probably didn't help very much by saying:

"You'd like me to come off the (Skoda-shaped) fence, wouldn't you! Difficult as you best know your priorities.

The i30 is the better low-risk bet (unless the last owner sold it because they hated it - or did they get a good deal on a new Hyundai?), being younger and with fewer miles.

The Volvo has plenty of life in it but with your highish annual mileage there will be some repairs and replacements. And as you say you don't know how it was used - as an office hack or by an executive who cruised up and down motorways.

If it were me....I'd test-drive both and go for the Volvo if it turned out to be a lot better to drive and more comfortable than the Hyundai - and wasn't too well-worn (look carefully at the condition of the interior)."

Now, I think in your position I'd give the Volvo at least one more chance, but with your annual mileage your next car should be as new as you can afford (maybe an Octavia 1.9 TDI, Kia Ceed or i30 would be a good starting shortlist).

Age is as much a factor as mileage, so don't go for the ageing Corolla (and Japanese diesels don't have quite the same bullet-proof reputation as the petrols.

Well it's at the dealer today so we'll see what they say. The noises on it today definitely seemed more pronounced though, meddeningly, the new one only happens for 5 mins when it's cold so they are leaving it for a couple of hours.

To be honest they didn't seem interested at all this morning so I fully expect a nonchalant 'can't find anything' as I haven't commited to letting them do any work on thecar until I am made aware of what's wrong and whatt he likely cost will be.

The clutch cost for this particular car has been verified as £1100 by 3 separate Volvo dealers plus a quote of £950 from a good indy so I can't see how it can be done for £500. That's of course if it actually is the clutch at fault - I am no expert.

No its very strange as rattle number 1 occurs when the car is cold and you engage the clutch the first couple of times. After that it doesn't do it as the car is starting to warm up - odd.

Noise number 2 occurs all the time whilst the car is being driven and is a very low hum/vibration that occurs all the time between the rev range I mentioned in my last post, then disappears.

I am no mechanic or expert at all but his logic appears correct that both noises appear to happen when the transmssion/drive train is engaged ergo you would assume that the problem lies therein. I am not sure any more than that as to what the specific component is; neither are Volvo but there is definitely a problem somewhere and the risk is that it could be big or it could be small. However I am not willing to invest around £750+ for them to strip it down only to not be able to find something. I had got my head into a place that said if it's £1k for a clutch I will pay it and keep the car as it will be as good as new but I am not paying that on the strength of a 'maybe'.

My hunch is to run it for a while, let anything that's going to develop develop or that the noises do my head in to the point where it bugs me enough to fix/change. The latter is a strong possibility.

As a slightly humourous aside I read a lot of the posts on here to learn a lot/ read the views of people more knowledgeable than I and one thing I never suffered from was badge snobbery.

Until today I looked at what I could get in terms of as new a car as possible for around, say, £12k and the answers I was getting were Kia and Hyundai. I have had them both before and there's absolutely nothing wrong with either......but for a nano second the notion of going from a Volvo to one of them......kinda hurt (disclaimer to Kia and Hyundai owners - it's me not you :-) ).

How is that helpful?

Pre-existing problems are not covered.

Clutches are not covered, along with wear and tear or consequent failure.

Total waste of money.

"It might turn out be something completely different, e.g. vibrations from a baffle in the exhaust system, or a slightly loose heatshield. "

Good point, John F. Many years ago SWMBO had a lovely old Triumph 1300 which made a noise nopt inlike that described above. A grasping British Leyland garage told her she needed a new clutch, but fortunately that evening she asked me to have a look. I'm no mechanic but I do know a loose exhaust component when I hear it.

Worth a thought.