general problems of the 2000 Volvo S40

The car has problems starting and takes a few tries before starting up. Have also had a problem where the car was in park with the parking brake engaged and the car was revving on its own. There have also been problems while the car has been slowing down on the freeway, specifically when the brakes are being engaged the car will attempt to move forward as though it is trying to push pass the fact that the brakes are being engaged. As well as the car will accelerate faster than the gas pedal is being pushed e. G when the gas pedal is slightly pushed the car will accelerate quickly as though the gas pedal was being pushed upon firmly.

It was close to 9pm. I had exited the freeway to stop in a parking lot to check directions. I had been driving for about an hour, so I got out to walk around and buy a cup of coffee. I came back a few minutes later and drove out of the lot. The on ramp was about 200 yards away and there was a red light at the intersection, so I was only moving at around 20mph. I was the only car in my lane, so about 100 feet away from the intersection I pressed down on my brake pedal, but the for some reason it the car kept rolling. I tried again, but the brakes were no help as I kept rolling. Frantically, I stomped hard, floored the brakes, and my car started to slow down a little, but that time it was too late. I tried to turn to the right to avoid the flow of traffic, but an instant later I had hit an oncoming car. I don't know what went wrong. I am pretty good at maintaining the car and it had been serviced at the Volvo dealer fairly recently. It's only garaged about half the time, but I live in southern California so it's never been exposed to an extreme climate or anything. There was a thunderstorm that morning, and the roads were very wet earlier in the day, but the storm broke around noon: 7 or 8 hours before I left home that night. By that time all of the roads had dried.

Bought a new 2000 Volvo S40 in April of 2000. The car now has 60,000 miles on it. . . . Light driving by most standards. At 18,000 miles rear brakes and rotors were replaced at a cost of more than $400. Front and rear brakes have been replaced another time since then. On 9/21/05, I have now also had to replace the alternator at a cost of $600. This car only has 60,000 miles on it. I have read a lot of other discussions online from other 2000 Volvo S40 owners who also complain about the car running through brakes every 15-20,000 miles.

The driver noticed while in cold weather when the vehicle warming up the brake pedal went to the floor. There were times when the vehicle would not when the brake was applied. The consumer drove to the dealer. The mechanic was unable to duplicate the problem. Please fill in additional information.

2000 Volvo S40 would not stop when applied pressure to brakes. The consumer felt that she have plenty of distance between her vehicle and the other vehicle to stop but the vehicle just wouldn't stop. As a result the consumer's vehicle crashed into the other vehicle. Six months after the accident the consumer received a recall notice on the brake pump which described the failure the consumer experienced. The consumer request reimbursement for all expenses incurred.

When the brakes were applied, the vehicle experienced extended stopping distance.

Vehicle serviced for brake noise. No action taken by dealer.

When engine is cold, and the brakes are applied driver has to apply a lot of pressure to brake pedal to stop the vehicle.