Confused about what year and series my S40 is!

Aussie_S40 · Post by **Aussie_S40** » 30 Apr 2011, 17:22

Hi all!

I recently bought a car advertised as a "2000 Volvo S40 SE T Phase 2".

The rego slip says its year is 2000 and the VIN seems to suggest it is 2000. (YV1VS2526YF483211 -- I think the "Y" in the middle means 2000)

But the weird thing is the plate under the hood says: "Built OCT 1999". I've attached a photo of the plate here.

Which means now I don't even know if the car is a phase 2 or not, since my understanding is that they weren't produced till late 2000.

Can someone help me out here? What are the distinguishing features of a Phase 2? And is my car a 1999 or a 2000 model?

Thanks in advance,
Michael.

Post by **jimmy57** » 30 Apr 2011, 17:51

Volvo has standard model production breaks at week 20 which is late May. October is well after that and well within 200 model production range. I was under the impression all 2000 MY are phase 2 as the 96-99 of the NedCar S40/V40 got lots of updates for the 2000 model, second generation of that platform.

Aussie_S40 · Post by **Aussie_S40** » 30 Apr 2011, 18:37

Ok cool thanks!

Are there any obvious distinguishing features of the Phase 2? It'd be nice to know for sure.

Also, if it is phase 2, then I'm not sure if this is 5 speed or a 4 speed auto, since both seem to have been produced. Any idea how I check that easily?

Post by **jimmy57** » 30 Apr 2011, 21:44

2000 is the 4 speed.

Aussie_S40 · Post by **Aussie_S40** » 30 Apr 2011, 23:35

Sorry -- I'm just a little confused. Information on this page suggests that only after August 2000 were they Phase 2... Is that info wrong? It's a pretty reliable site, I think.

Aussie_S40 · Post by **Aussie_S40** » 01 May 2011, 01:41

I've done some more research and it's definitely a 2000 model -- which makes sense.

But I think it's a Phase 1. From what I can tell, all the phase 2s were 5 speed. But from the VIN, it seems I've got a AW50-42 automatic gearbox.

It'd be great if there was some definitive and simple way to tell for sure whether this is a phase 1 or phase 2.

kotkaste · Post by **kotkaste** » 09 May 2011, 02:44

Aussie_S40 wrote:It'd be great if there was some definitive and simple way to tell for sure whether this is a phase 1 or phase 2.

What about the exterior changes? As fas as I know, phase2 has a slight facelift (e.g. yellow lights from the side of the bumpers are considerably bigger in P2 comparing to P1. The headlights' "blinking" part (sideways) looks like it "covers" the yellow lights from the bumpers, while in P1 it doesn't.

Aussie_S40 · Post by **Aussie_S40** » 28 Jun 2011, 03:00

Hi Kotkaste -- sorry, I didn't notice your reply.

I've been trying to search google images to see if I can see examples of these differences to compare to my own. Can you see examples of the two exteriors? It'd be an enormous help!!!

Aussie_S40 · Post by **Aussie_S40** » 09 Aug 2011, 23:10

Sorry to bump this... I'm still trying to figure this out. I can't find any examples of differences between the series 1 and 2. I'd really like to know!