91 of the
1,678 complaints filed about the Volvo S60
are about the other systems —
5% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2012.
Brakes , and vacuum booster, speed control I experienced a sudden acceleration phenomenon and reached speeds of 100+ mph I manipulated the brakes and the gas in order to safe my life I eventually got my speeds down but it was too late I was ejected from the vehicle and nearly died my brakes scrubbed and I pressed my brakes as hard as I could and my car continued to acceleration. The police has the vehicle and there were no warnings signs . I had just bought the vehicle and was on my way home from the dealership never made it home
NHTSA complaint #11746049 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When parked, the driver side mirror of various SPA Volvos seem to automatically adjust the driver side mirror in random directions after the driver exits the car. Then, on returning to the car, the mirror is not re-adjusted. Thus, if the driver fails to check the position of the mirror before driving off, they may find themselves in a situation where the mirror is unexpectedly out of alignment and they are unable to view behind them and to the left. They then have to re-adjust the mirror to its proper position while driving, which is unsafe. This is a known problem that has been reproduced by countless dealerships. The common fix is to replace the driver door module, however I believe there should be a recall for this as it poses a safety concern and some drivers may not have the means to pay for the replacement.
NHTSA complaint #11743095 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The driver's side seat airbag system failed. Specifically, diagnostic trouble code SRS-B002011 was retrieved, indicating a circuit short to ground in the left side airbag deployment control system. The technician found a broken clip on the airbag connector housing, causing an intermittent connection failure between the connector and the seat airbag itself. The airbag cannot be relied upon to deploy in a crash. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. I purchased this vehicle on May 10, 2026, and drove it as my primary means of transportation. During that time, the driver's side seat airbag was non-functional due to a circuit short to ground and a broken connector housing. Had I been involved in a collision during that period, the driver's side airbag may not have deployed, significantly increasing the risk of serious injury or death. I was not informed of this defect at the time of purchase and had no knowledge that the airbag system was compromised. I drove the vehicle believing it to be equipped with functioning safety systems. The defect was confirmed by Volvo Cars Tacoma (O'Brien Auto Group), a franchised manufacturer-certified Volvo dealership in Tacoma. Technician #2101608 performed a comprehensive inspection using Volvo's proprietary VIDA diagnostic system dated May 16–30, 2026. The inspection retrieved diagnostic trouble code SRS-B002011 confirming a circuit short to ground in the left side airbag deployment control system, and physically identified a broken clip on the airbag connector housing. The technician documented: "There is likely an intermittent failure at the connection between the airbag connector and the seat airbag itself. Need to start with replacement of airbag and repin connector." The check engine light illuminated within days of my purchase. This prompted me to bring the vehicle to Volvo Cars Tacoma on May 16, 2026 — six days after purchase. I personally did not observe an SRS warning light.
NHTSA complaint #11742523 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The crimping on the A/C hose from the firewall to the compressor failed and leaked all the freon from the system. This is a design flaw, the mounting location causes excess vibration in the hose leading to the crimping failure. There are countless forum posts and other complaints filed by owners of the same vehicle for the exact same A/C hose. This should be a recall from Volvo. It is a major safety issue for customers like me who live in a humid environment, without A/C the windshield can fog over and hinder visibility. I contacted Volvo Customer Care for reimbursement and was denied as my car was not under warranty. My car only has 40,000 miles on it and this part shouldnt fail in this manner, especially at my low mileage. I have since purchased their extended warranty as this part will eventually fail again (from the design flaw in A/C system mounting location) and I don't want to pay the large repair costs again. The NHTSA should investigate this with all owners of this year/make/model and they will find Volvo needs to declare a recall and reimburse owners for the repair costs.
NHTSA complaint #11708767 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
2021 Volvo S60 T8 AWD, VIN [XXX] , ~71k miles Component: SUNROOF / DRAINAGE SYSTEM / ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Summary: Water entered the passenger compartment through clogged sunroof drain hoses and accumulated under the front passenger seat, causing catastrophic failure of wide angle module (WAM) and related electronic components (incl. front camera and wipers). Description: After moderate rain, a large amount of water was discovered under the front passenger seat. The vehicle began displaying multiple warning messages (camera faults, wiper faults). The authorized Volvo retailer diagnosed failure of the WAM and other modules due to water intrusion originating from the sunroof drainage system. This is a known, recurring defect acknowledged by Volvo in multiple Technical Service Bulletins: - TJ 31372-2 (Water leakage via sunroof drain hoses) - TJ 35382 (Updated drain hoses - new part number) - TJ 29322-3 (Water ingress passenger footwell / CEM area) The original drain hoses are too narrow and prone to clogging, causing water to overflow into the passenger compartment instead of exiting the vehicle. This creates a serious safety risk: - Potential failure of SRS airbag system - Loss of electronic stability control and ABS - Loss of 360 camera and blind-spot monitoring - Risk of electrical fire or short-circuit - Failure of wipers (mine stopped working when I was driving under the rain) Repair estimate: $17,825 Repair is going to be delayed over 2 months awaiting parts from Sweden. Vehicle was properly maintained; 70,000-mile service performed at authorized Volvo retailer on 9/24/25 - no drainage issues were noted or addresses at that time. This identical failure has been reported by hundreds of owners of 2019-2024 SPA-platform Volvos (S60, V60, XC60, XC90) on NHTSA complaints, Volvo forums, and in ongoing litigation. Despite multiple TSBs and redesigned parts, Volvo has not issued a recall or notified owners of the need for preventive maintenance. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA
NHTSA complaint #11701998 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When slowing to a stop the vehicle is unsmooth and unpredictable, there is also a sudden release when braking downhill (not sure if they are related). There’s been occasions where the car lurched when coming to a stop almost resulting in me rear ending the vehicle in front of me. The unsmooth/unpredictable stopping only happens at speeds under 10mph when approaching a stop like with city driving. I’ve had it to the dealership two times for this. They’ve had trouble reproducing it, but acknowledged it is unsmooth and said that’s just the way the regenerative braking was designed. The holding back and release when braking downhill is completely random.
NHTSA complaint #11693464 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My sunroof glass spontaneously shattered while I was driving on the highway on 10/9/2025. There was no apparent cause. It sounded like an explosion, and glass came down all over me and the seats. Very disturbing!
NHTSA complaint #11692719 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
URGENT SAFETY CONCERN: Intermittent Total Loss of All Vehicle Audio Alerts This issue has occurred multiple times and poses a serious safety concern. While driving, the vehicle intermittently experiences a complete loss of all audio output. This includes: •Turn signal indicators •Hazard warning sounds •Blind spot monitoring alerts •Park distance control tones •Navigation guidance •Audio system playback (music, radio, etc.) •All other safety-related audio warnings and notifications The vehicle becomes completely silent, eliminating essential auditory cues that are critical for safe operation. Temporary Workaround (While Driving): The only way to restore functionality is by performing a forced reboot of the infotainment system. This requires the driver to press and hold the home button until the system power cycles—a distracting and unsafe action that must be done while the vehicle is in motion. Please note that while rebooting does not disable the vehicle’s ability to drive, it temporarily resets multiple core systems, including the climate control and infotainment interface. This creates a significant distraction and impairs the driver’s ability to safely monitor vehicle status and surroundings. This malfunction poses a significant safety risk and must be investigated immediately.
NHTSA complaint #11671010 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
In 2023, the engine of my 2013 Volvo S60 failed completely without prior warning and the vehicle had to be scrapped. Before that, in 2022, I paid $1,500 for a full front-end suspension rebuild due to abnormal wear. These failures were later determined to be consistent with high mileage. I had purchased the vehicle in 2019 believing it had 85,125 miles, but a 2025 VINinspect report based on NMVTIS data revealed the true mileage at sale was over 137,000 — a rollback of more than 50,000 miles. The title is now branded “Not Actual Mileage” by the federal database. This odometer fraud misled me into driving a severely worn vehicle that could have posed a serious safety risk, especially once the engine failed unexpectedly. No warning lights appeared prior to failure, and the engine is no longer available for inspection as the vehicle was sold for scrap. Independent mechanics noted the level of wear was not consistent with the mileage shown at the time of purchase. I have reported this case to NHTSA, the NY DMV, FTC, Attorney General, BBB, and others
NHTSA complaint #11666651 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I reported this issue last year when my car was just barely outside of the extended service plan agreement we had on the car. I had called the dealership with similar issues as well way before hand. My infotainment system which controls all and I mean all of the safety features I paid/am still paying for no longer works. It’s a known issue with Volvo they know and so do other mechanics. Prior to this my instrument panel completely blanked out:went black for a minute while driving. Thankfully the car never shut off but I called them they said see if it happens again and that was that. I only really have my blindspot indicators working everything else doesn’t. With that I lost access to my back up camera, and proximity sensors
NHTSA complaint #11665222 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The indirect measurement TPMS system of this car has misdetected low tire pressure on three occasions. Most recently, on October 3 while driving on the freeway at about 70 MPH the TPMS alert illuminated. I checked the information screen and the display showed low pressure in all four tires. Because I have had misdetection of the right front tire twice before, and that it seemed very unlikely that all four tires would deflate at the same time, I disregarded the alert as a false detection. Later I checked the air pressure in all four tires and found it to be exactly correct. In an earlier episode, as I mentioned the TPMS alerted that the right front tire was low. In this instance, I did not have a history of false detections, so I believed the information to be accurate and immediately exited the freeway and returned home where I had a (very accurate) tire pressure gauge. Of course, the pressure was correct in all tires. I then followed the Volvo recalibration procedure and this completed successfully until later that day when the same tire alerted to low pressure again. I rechecked, again pressure was correct, and re-ran the calibration procedure. I did not have any other false detection again until about a year later when the October 3 incident occurred. The car has had at least one “total system update” to the software to address other issues since the first false detection incident, possibly two (not sure). The problem I am having with this is that Volvo apparently decided to change from direct sensor measurement to indirect wheel speed measurement around 2019 or 2020 as a cost saving measure. That is fine, but the indirect measurement system they are using is causing so many false alarms that now the first thing I think when I see an alert is that it is not a real problem. This is not a good situation. Volvo forums are full of complaints by other owners of similar false alarms. Volvo should fix this problem through software or restore direct measurement.
NHTSA complaint #11618880 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Yesterday I took my one year old granddaughter to North Carolina, which is an hour and a half drive away. We had breakfast with family members and I loaded her into the back seat. When I closed the door it looked as if the door closed, but as I began to drive, the door swung open. I attempted to close the door again, and the latch would not connect to the hook inside of the driver side rear door. I ended up needing to have my son sit in the back seat and hold the door closed the entire ride home (an hour and a half) to make sure that the door would not open again. I am currently driving my "new" car with a ratchet strap going from door to door to hold the door closed so that I can go to work. I found information stating that there was a recall on the Volvo S60 (2017) but when I enter my VIN nothing displays. I just bought the vehicle in February and the dealership is telling me that this will cost me $450 to repair on my MAX CARE warranty. Why? When the vehicle had a recall on it in 2020 that obviously was never addressed, prior to me purchasing it.
NHTSA complaint #11608030 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Backup camera will fail to work, on occasion, when car put into reverse. This problem is known by Volvo and I have been told "they are working on it." Searching the Internet I see that this has been an issue since late 2022. I have brought my car to the dealer two times and the problem remains. The last time this happened was 2 days ago (did not drive the car yesterday). Please see [XXX] for more information. Thank you. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11592804 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The child safety lock is not engaged. The door latches on the rear right passenger door in my car has failed. It fails to unlock when from the inside. In an emergency situation. Passengers won't be able to exit the vehicle quickly. The Problem can be reproduced and there are current door latch recalls in other models but it needs to extend out these models too. It has not been inspected by police but. again there is a recall for similar models. The recall should extend out to these models. No warning signs.
NHTSA complaint #11568364 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.