2023 Volvo XC40 Problems

The car speeds up from 30mph around a curve when the adaptive speed control loses sight of the vehicle ahead of me. A speed of 55mph on the curve posted at 30mph is dangerous. The dealer says “oh just turn off the crisis control by tapping the brake.” This is true but could be too late, since the car has already increased its speed on the curve. Volvo is unresponsive.

The contact owns a 2023 Volvo XC40. The contact stated that the rearview camera image was directed downward towards the bumper and the ground. The rearview camera image was not displaying within a normal viewing range, making it difficult to park. No warning lights illuminated. A local dealer was contacted, but was unable to determine a related fault code. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was unknown.

While I was driving, the infotainment system turned itself off twice during the same trip. First time was on a highway and was extremely scary. I wasn’t in a place I could easily pull over to assess. Both the main screen in the middle console and the screen behind the steering wheel went dark. Volvo NEEDS to figure it out re infotainment. It shouldn’t be turning itself off mid drive and then ultimately rebooting itself while the car is moving. I have already installed all the updates, but clearly it wasn’t enough/effective.

I pulled into a parking spot with a concrete barrier pole at a pharmacy to pick up my sister. I had my foot on the brake while she was getting into the vehicle when the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward crashing into the pole. I have also had an incident where I tried to start the vehicle and could not get the vehicle to go from park to reverse. This is concerning that there could be some faults in the electrical system, sensors or brakes.

NHTSA Vehicle Safety Complaint – 2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge Plus Vehicle: 2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge Plus BEV VIN: [[XXX]] Date of Incident: [XXX Approximate Mileage: [26,9333] Location: [[XXX]] – occurred while going downhill Component: Service Brakes, Electric; Parking Brake; Vehicle Speed Control Summary: I experienced complete loss of braking while driving my 2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge on a highway. One Pedal Drive was active. After coasting downhill for approximately 1.5-2 minutes with no accelerator or brake pedal input, I applied the brake pedal to slow for traffic and discovered the vehicle had no braking capability. The pedal was firm but the car did not decelerate. There were no warning lights, messages, or alerts before or during the failure. This resulted in a collision with other vehicle Damage to my vehicle to the front left etc.]. Police responded and generated report #[XXX]. Additional Details: 1. Drive mode: One Pedal Drive was ON at the time of incident. This matches the failure mode described in NHTSA Recall 25V-392 for 2020-2026 Volvo BEV/PHEV models, which warns of total brake loss after 1 minute 40 seconds of coasting in One Pedal Drive/B mode. 2. No warnings: No dashboard alerts, sounds, or messages occurred before brake failure, inconsistent with a safe design. 3. After incident: Braking function returned intermittently after the vehicle came to a complete stop, also consistent with 25V-392. 4. Recall status: My VIN currently shows no open recalls on NHTSA’s lookup tool. However, 2023 XC40 BEV is explicitly listed in NHTSA Recall 25V-392. I was never notified to disable One Pedal Drive or that my vehicle was unsafe to operate. Vehicle Status: I still have possession of the vehicle and it has not been repaired. It is available for inspection. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I pulled into a parking spot with a concrete barrier pole at a pharmacy to pick up my sister. I had my foot on the brake while she was getting into the vehicle when the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward crashing into the pole. I have also had an incident where I tried to start the vehicle and could not get the vehicle to go from park to reverse. This is concerning that there could be some faults in the electrical system, sensors or brakes.

I am submitting this complaint to report a persistent safety-related defect in my 2023 Volvo XC40. Since the vehicle was purchased, the infotainment system has repeatedly crashed while the vehicle is in operation, at times as often as every 5 minutes. The condition has existed both before and after completion of the recall/software update, and it was not corrected after presentation to an authorized dealer for inspection and repair. These repeated system failures materially affect the safe operation of the vehicle. When the infotainment system crashes, the rearview camera becomes unavailable. In addition, the windows and windshield may fog up, and I may lose access to the controls needed to restore visibility. The loss of forward visibility, combined with the loss of rear camera functionality, creates a substantial and unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety. Although I suspect the problem may involve inadequate hardware or processing capacity, I am not asserting a definitive technical diagnosis. The critical fact is that the vehicle repeatedly loses important operational and safety-related functions while being driven. Because the defect persists despite the recall update and dealer intervention, I request that NHTSA investigate this condition as a potential safety defect in the 2023 Volvo XC40.

backup camera continues to say 'camera temporarily unavailable' even after software update from recall. latest software update has made the problem worse. Camera frequently fails when backing up

On January 22, 2025 on a clear sunny day (no wind) I was putting groceries in the trunk of my car when the trunk lid came down on my head injuring me. I was leaning from the right side of my car across to the left side. My key was in my pocketbook on my right shoulder. Volvos should be "Mom" cars where one should be safe putting groceries in the trunk. Instead of popping back open with an obstruction, it continued to press down on my head before eventually popping back open. According to Volvo chat boards, this has happened to others. On January 6 my car had its two year servicing at the dealer on my leased vehicle. The service department's initial reaction to this malfunction was to BLAME me for having the key too close to the kick open sensor and to leave the key in the car while loading groceries. When I got the car, we were told (and it was demonstrated) that the kick open feature was on the left side of the trunk under the first "V". It appears that there was an update which electrified the entire back of the trunk without any notice to owners. Even so, I am 5 feet 2 1/2 inches tall. It is extremely difficult for me to kick open the trunk which is why I always open it from the button in the middle of the trunk and close it with the controls on the top right of the trunk lid. Buried in the owners' manual is a statement that you can kick the trunk lid closed, but no one ever told us that or that it can be kicked closed from the right side of the trunk. I did not kick the sensor to activate the trunk lid closing on my head. Only after a second call to the service department did the dealer agree to "look at" my car, but that they were booked up for the next two weeks.

Rear passenger door was unable to be opened via door handles either from inside or outside the vehicle which could trap occupant inside

Driver assist failed and brakes failed when vehicle veered to left on its own..Brakes and steering failed when trying to correct failure.. Overcorrection caused vehicle to veer off road and over a sign and continue for approximately 50 feet. Vehicle is currently at State Farm towing lot. My safety and others were put at risk with "reckless" driving. The problem has not been reproduced. A State Farm claims adjuster will inspect the vehicle today 2/18/26 or tomorrow. No warning lamps or messages appeared.

When traveling down a local and city road traveling at approximately 55 miles per hour, the vehicle is fine. But once I get on the highway and travel over 60 miles per hour (approximately driving 70 miles per hour), there is a horrible click that engages in the steering wheel at around approximately 1° angle (it turns right barely when it happens). While driving in either lane, the steering wheel will automatically lock up and turn the vehicle right. When this happens, you can legitimately feel it in the steering wheel. You have to then turn the steering wheel left in order for the click to disengage, but it causes the vehicle to turn sharply. This is unsafe and I feel it will eventually result in a car accident if this is not fixed. It is my daily drive and I feel 100% unsafe!

Rear passenger door was unable to be opened via door handles either from inside or outside the vehicle which could trap occupant inside

The contact owns a 2023 Volvo XC40. The contact stated that while her son was driving at various highway speeds, the brakes inadvertently activated, causing the vehicle to abruptly stop even though were no other vehicles or objects nearby. Additionally, the vehicle occasionally stalled and hesitated while accelerating. The contact also stated that the display screen occasionally became inoperable, and messages and safety warnings were not available to the driver. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer had replaced unknown sensors, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 13,000.

The contact owns a 2023 Volvo XC40. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the front passenger's side seat belt failed to latch as intended. The contact's mother was attempting to latch the front passenger's side seat belt when the failure occurred. The contact stated that the failure could have occurred while the vehicle was being driven. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, the contact was not provided the result of the diagnostic test. In addition, the contact stated that four months prior to the failure, the front driver's side seat belt failed to latch as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was determined that there was a failure with the latching mechanism. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

The brake systems have failed repeatedly on this vehicle, and have been replaced by the manufacturer TWICE since purchase (April 28, 2023). Brakes continued to intermittently freeze or lose pressure, so car is now classified as a lemon. However, as we have waited months and months for the lemon process to complete, the transmission began to fail. At first, we had incidents of the car seeming to shift into neutral at speeds of 30-40 MPH. The car’s engine would rev and yet forward propulsion would become coasting. Lifting foot from accelerator and then putting fit back on would often result in the gear “catching” and the car lurching into gear. On the most recent and dangerous iteration of this transmission/engine problem, when merging onto an interstate and traveling at 45-50 MPH, I attempted to accelerate and merge. Instead of downshifting to give me more power, the car entered a seeming neutral state (both hands were on the wheel, indicator said I was in Drive). The engine revved and yet the car coasted. I was unable to pull into traffic, on a very short entrance ramp. I pulled my foot off the gas pedal, waited a second, and put it back on. The car lurched into gear and shot forward. We have stopped driving this car while awaiting Volvo’s agreed upon lemon law payout. The dealer will not fix the car, given its lemon status. The buyback company, Sedgwick, takes no responsibility. We are fortunate enough to be able to afford a new car while awaiting the payout. But had we not been able to, these transmission/engine problems could easily have caused an accident. No other person should be in danger from these cars. The service manager at our dealer states that they are in the process of multiple XC40 buybacks right now. Volvo has a problem and it is simply buying back these cars. I will list the date of the most aggregators transmission issue (the merging problem) below.

The contact owns a 2023 Volvo XC40 equipped with Pirelli Tires, Tire Line: Scorpion Zero, Tire Size: 235/45/R20, DOT Number: 1XB1H884J5022. The contact stated that the message "Low Air Pressure" was displayed. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the rear passenger’s side tire was flat. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who replaced the tire. Later, while driving approximately 35 MPH, the front driver’s side tire had a blowout. The cause for the failures was not yet determined. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 3,588.

The vehicle was driving on cruise control at 55 mph approaching an intersection with a stop sign. Attempted to brake to cancel the cruise control, but vehicle sped and continued gathering speed so that the driver lost any control over the speed. Frantic application of the brake did not have any effect on the speed. The vehicle shot across a south bound highway, collided with traffic signs in the center, crossed northbound lanes, jumped a four foot berm and landed in bushes where the air bags deployed.