VOLVO Complaints

Driving at highway speed and a sudden loss of power. Vehicle has a history oil consumption. Seems that engine has a major defect. Waiting on a second estimate, seems a known catastrophic issue with pistons issue causing major engine work or possible replacement.

The car is only a few months old with less than 10k miles. After parking the car for about 2 hrs, came back and the battery was completely dead. This left me and my family stranded unexpectedly. After jumping the car, a warning displayed "Stop Safely, 12 V Battery Critical Charging Fault". I decided to try to make the short drive home as I was stranded with my family otherwise, the vehicle was in a limp home "turtle mode" which was not safe. The acceleration was surging unexpectedly and without warning. I realize that there was a warning not to drive, however I didn't have a lot of good options given the electrical failure. Also, in thinking back, there was a warning sometime in the last month regarding collision detection that needed to be fixed, but warning went away. In researching this issue online, seems that there are other complaints similar in nature (11472450, 11469166).

Very frequently (4-5 times a week) the charging cable will not release from the vehicle. Pushing release button resolves to flashing yellow, red, or green lights, but does not release. Sometimes will release from console, but not always. Locking and unlocking the vehicle, repeating all the above several times will eventually release the cable. This may be related to the erratic charging process where the car may or may not charge after being driven or left overnight. Dashboard may show initializing, or show that it is not charging when it is charging, or vice versa. Dealer stated could not duplicate, but software update would fix it. No code, no problem as they say in Sweden. Driving the 15 minutes home from the dealer resulted in the car failing to charge, and the cable refusing to release. This problem has been duplicated using a home Chargepoint charging system cable, and the supplied Volvo charging cable on two different 50amp outlets in the garage. The inability to remove the charging cable quickly in an emergency may lead to serious or even fatal consequences. A quick Google search shows that this is a known problem. There are other erratic system problems in the vehicle which by themselves may not be serious or fatal, but lead to increased driver distraction which could be serious or fatal.

Side impact curtain air bags only deployed on right side (side of impact), causing head concussion from hitting driverside window on left side. Vehicle has been towed for repair, but may still be available for inspection for a short time. Fire department stated airbags tried but failed deployment. Contacted dealer. Dealer said contact Volvo North America. Volvo has yet to connect me to the right person or department.

Backup camera fails intermittently at least a dozen times, error message "camera unavailable". Camera icon disappears from dash. Took to dealer. No code, no problem. Backed up and worked, did not understand intermittently?! Asked tech to report to Volvo, got push back. I advised I was reporting as safety failure to SaferCar and they report to Volvo. Suspect was not reported to Volvo. When camera fails other rear safety systems are inoperable.

The front windshield was not properly sealed during manufacturing and is now leaking when it rains. Water drips down the inside of the windshield in front of the driver resulting in distraction and poor visibility. I also fear that in an accident the windshield would not perform as it should and would be a safety issue. I brought it to the Volvo dealer and they just said I had to have it replaced but they do not provide that service. I brought it to a windshield service center and the technician was able to push on the windshield with only his hand and confirm that it was not sealed and showed movement. They also mentioned that have seen this issue many times with these cars. There were no warnings other than the leak which started a few months ago.

The google android automotive operating system is unstable. It will reboot while driving. During this time all Settings and functions of the car including safety systems are rebooted as well. For about 30-60 seconds the cars systems are unavailable even the HVAC. I’ve had it serviced twice and they have been unable to fix the issue. The cars data/cell connection also does not work and is required for the SOS and Volvo On Call systems. It is currently at the dealership with no estimated time of when they can fix as they have exhausted all possible ways to fix. A case is active with Volvo to work to find the issue to the problem. They replaced the cars modem but data is still not working and updated the software but the glitches and issues with the android automotive remain.

In September 2021 on 3 occasions, my car's steering locked up while driving. I could not unwind my wheel from a turn. Each time nearly resulted in a collision with a garage ticket booth, a median, drifting into an oncoming lane. II slammed on brakes each time to avoid and accident or collision. It was frightening. This happened at low speed (approx. 10 mph), I had no warning indicators, and the wheel released after I stepped off the brake. I took the car to the dealer who could not replicate it; they suggested I keep all lane keeping aids off. They have since been off. This month of July 2022, this began to happen again: 4 times in one week. The last time I could not correct out of turn in the road and nearly resulted in a head-on collision at about 32 mph and I ended up in the approaching traffic lane. I was terrified and very shaken up. I returned to the dealer. This time, I googled the problem and found two instances of this SAME issue here: https://www.carproblemzoo.com/volvo/xc60/steering-problems.php I shared this page with my dealer. Again, they could not replicate it. Also, the dealer could not find the Volvo Advisory about it. They did take me seriously however and replace the sub-battery to my power steering. Its been a week since this repair, and it hasn't happened in this time period, but I am still concerned. The dealers said they "can't report it to Volvo" as "no warning code [issue] was indicated in the software/computer/system." (As no signals popped up on my dash). This is also disconcerting it can't be reported to the manufacturer. This may be related to power steering, electrical, or other. I felt in danger and at risk of injury or collision with my car. Yes, the car is available for inspection. I trust the dealer is trying to help and has been helpful, but I'm still wary of driving it without acknowledgement of issue from Volvo or a fix from Volvo. It feels risky.

On three occasions in September 2021 the car's steering locked up while driving so that I was unable to unwind the wheel, nearly sending me into stationary objects or the opposing lane. After slamming on the brakes, the wheel released. These all happened at low speeds, around 10mph. No signals or warnings popped up on my display. This was very upsetting. The dealer could not reproduce, could find nothing wrong, and advised me to keep all lane keeping aids off. They have since been off. FOUR times last week of July 2022 this happened again, the last time sending me into oncoming traffic with multiple cars in both directions all nearly colliding at speeds in the 30-35mph I was crying and extremely upset, I've been in an accident before and this was triggering. My husband thinks the car is unsafe to drive. I returned to the dealer and cited two posts I found online of this same incident being reported with the same year and model car. The dealer could find nothing wrong again, but did believe me and did replace the sub battery to the power steering as one online public complaint cited a Volvo advisory recommending this fix in this situation. My dealer could not find this advisory from Volvo however. They also said there is nothing to report to Volvo as there are no computer prompts, or something along those lines. At this point if it fails again we'll be pursuing the lemon law. I want to trust the car is fixed, but this is terrifying.

Car will not start because of eCALL and SOS system malfunctioning. Car will only start with key in cupholder (where secondary reader is located). Possible TCAM issue or 12v battery issue.