CarCostCheck

Volvo V40

Reliability, running costs, and MOT data across 17 years from 177,228 real MOT tests.

Avg Pass Rate

76%

Total Tests

177,228

Best Year

1996 (95%)

Years Covered

17

How reliable is the Volvo V40?

vs national average-6% (82% avg)
vs Volvo brand average-11% (87% avg)
Best to worst year spread29 percentage points
Reliability trendImproving over years

Volvo V40 by Year

YearPass RateTestsAvg Mileage
201988%13,55737,595 mi
201885%21,56046,813 mi
201784%23,48057,396 mi
201682%27,15267,465 mi
201580%28,59079,222 mi
201480%30,22289,093 mi
201380%20,97099,522 mi
201276%4,370105,566 mi
200466%1,585125,049 mi
200366%1,843125,362 mi
200268%1,201124,584 mi
200170%959121,513 mi
200066%547116,773 mi
199967%544104,983 mi
199867%33697,373 mi
199770%27497,758 mi
199695%3892,559 mi

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About the Volvo V40

The Volvo V40 has been tested 177,228 times in 2024 MOT data across 17 model years (1996 to 2019), with an average pass rate of 76%. That's 6 points below the national average of 82%, so check the year-by-year data carefully before buying. Available as diesel and petrol and LP.

Best and Worst Years

The 1996 model is the most reliable with a 95% pass rate from 38 tests. The 2003 model has the lowest at 66%. With a 29 point spread, choosing the right year makes a big difference to reliability.

Reliability Trend

Newer VOLVO V40s show better MOT pass rates than older ones, with an average improvement of 14 percentage points.

Mileage Across Years

The oldest model in our data (1996) averages 92,559 miles, while the newest (2019) averages 37,595 miles.

Compared to the Volvo brand average of 87%, the V40 is 11 points lower, placing it among the less reliable Volvo models.

Click any year in the table above to see detailed running costs, individual reliability data, and comparisons with similar cars.