The brakes on this car just don't respond with the force I expect, even
when slammed. In the moring when descending a steep driveway, the
brakes need moderate pressure to come to a rolling stop, especially
during the first couple presses of the pedal.

The car is my dad's and when he bought it used from a Honda dealer, the
pads and rotors were changed by them with original Volvo parts, and it
was also given a complete inspection & tune up by Volvo. The car was
still under warranty at the time and I noticed the sluggishness back
then, but it seems to have gotten worse - it's difficult to slam the
brakes to the point where abs kicks in.

I've bled the brakes and that hasn't helped, and after reading some
postings here, I suspect the brake booster is not working properly.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.autos.volvo/browse_frm/thread/f3fcffab08f9d7b
1/c67cdfe97ed6c501

The postings above specifically talk about a recalled brake booster on
an '01 S40, but the local Volvo dealer insists there are none on this
car. I'd appreciate if someone with access to recall information could
get me specific information on brake recalls from 99-Present.

It seems as if there are widespread S40 brake booster issues, as I've
also read that the 2003-2004 models have had their's recalled. I feel
Volvo should foot the bill for this, on my dad's last visit they
charged $140 to change the rear pads and another few hundred in
overpriced tune up work, after he complained of poor braking
performance and pointed to the brake booster.

Any S40 owners care to chime in?