The vehicle's Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) safety network experienced a total electrical blackout, resulting in complete airbag non-deployment during a severe unibody-deforming hit-and-run collision. The vehicle was stationary when a high-speed car rammed the passenger side and front profile. Kinetic forces split the cast aluminum steering rack housing completely in half, fractured front CV axle joint cages, and shifted the engine subframe mounts (creating physical gaps and shiny mechanical abrasions beneath the rust layer). Despite catastrophic structural distortion—which twisted the greenhouse safety cage and cracked the windshield directly beneath the laser cluster—zero front, side, or curtain airbags deployed. No dashboard SRS warning lights illuminated prior to or after the crash.A post-crash scan by a Master Mechanic confirms high-speed CAN-bus fragmentation, storing module timeouts U016700, U042268, and steering column resistance deployment inhibitors B1C0224, B1CO424, B1C0524. Additional codes include P134600, P134613, P261086, P0A0F68, C006468, B109B15, B116415, and B108467.Teardown reveals extensive, pre-existing saltwater intrusion residue inside passenger footwell fuse blocks (Centers B/C) and the under-hood relay box, plus green cupric carbonate oxidation on chassis grounds. This induced extreme electrical resistance, blinding the SRS module's ability to read the crash pulse. Occupant safety was heavily compromised; the driver sustained a severe concussion, whiplash, and active neurological time-loss blackouts after being struck by flying cabin cargo during the pulse. Both front seatbelt receiver buckles permanently bound and locked. The vehicle was inspected by local police under an active criminal hit-and-run report. Diagnostic logs are preserved and available for federal review.
NHTSA complaint #11755236 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Multiple times, with the Pilot Assist system engaged, the vehicle has pulled me out of my intended travel lane when on a curve, near an on / off ramp, and generally tends to drift from the left to right of the intended lane of travel on straight sections of road. It will drift to the rumble strip and sometimes into the next lane with both hands firmly on the wheel. I find myself fighting the system at these times. When it gets confused, with corners or merges, and on / off ramps, it will abruptly change lanes which is very dangerous. Twice it almost caused an accident. I have had it looked at many times now by Gengras Volvo in East Hartford where I bought the car. I was provided a loaner each time but the car has been in their shop for close to a month over these visits. It happend on one test drive with their repair tech driving the car, so the issue has been verified and recorded by Gengras. Multiple components of the system have been changed out and Volvo has downloaded and reviewed the telemetry twice. Volvo's stance is that the system is functioning correctly, and in times if inclement weather it may not work as intended. Most of my incidents happened on dry roads. Upon researching this on the internet, there are many other owners of Volvos of my year and others complaining of the exact same issues and behavior of the car. I feel it may be a design flaw but in my opinion the system is not safe to use. Volvo went to a completely different system soon after 2021. This was a very expensive option to purchase on the vehicle. We have a similar system in our Acura that works flawlessly on the same roads in any weather condition. I bought this vehicle certified by Volvo with roughly 15K miles for my son to drive when he had just gotten his license as Volvo has an incredible reputation for safely. I do not feel safe with him driving this vehicle as was intended. Latest diagnosis attached, Remainder available from Gengras Volvo, East Hartford CT.
NHTSA complaint #11731535 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2019 Volvo XC60 with approximately 65,000 miles, experienced a sudden failure of the electric power steering rack. The vehicle became unable to steer and unsafe to drive. The dealership confirmed that the entire steering rack must be replaced at a cost of nearly $7,000. I was told by an independent second opinion that this kind of steering rack failure is highly unusual at this mileage and may indicate a premature component failure. This is a serious safety risk for drivers. I filed a claim with Volvo’s Goodwill program on October 15, 2025, and after five weeks of no communication from Volvo Corporate (despite endless attempts to reach them on my behalf), the only information I have received is a secondary text from my service rep that Volvo is offering a small portion of coverage — with no explanation or written decision. The lack of transparency, combined with the unusual nature of the failure, raises concern that this could be part of a wider pattern of steering failures on similar Volvo vehicles.
NHTSA complaint #11699397 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Driving the car at under 20 mph making a left turn into my cul-de-sac which has an upward slope. Car system thought it would crash into the tree straight ahead and started emergency braking making loud noise and then the steering wheels locked. Ended up hitting the parked car in front of neighbors house due to brake and steering malfunction. Heard from other Volvo owners that this has been a problem. Even backing out of garage where there is no object behind the car the car emergency braking system engages causing whiplash. No longer feel safe driving this car.
NHTSA complaint #11694759 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2021 Volvo XC60. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds and turning, the front end of the vehicle made an abnormal grinding sound. Additionally, the contact stated that the steering wheel seized after turning, which required the contact to jam the steering wheel for the steering wheel to return to the center. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the steering rack had failed internally and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V001000 (Steering); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
NHTSA complaint #11688891 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Rotor seems to have worn out much quicker than expected. When I break, I can feel certain vibration / bumps. When breaking while going down on a hill, front break also has made screeching noise. Steering feels stiff at times. generally, I have always been topping up gas more than the advertised mileage performance / EPA
NHTSA complaint #11684241 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Any switch on the right side of the steering wheel - Up/down/Left/Right/Center switches not functioning or intermittently functioning. It is available for inspection upon request As the buttons are not warning, any signs or anything which comes on the center display cannot be removed or moved The vehicle or component has not been inspected but the technical journal (REF NO: TJ 32033.5.0) for the same was issued - [XXX] There are other forums who have brought the same issue as well [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11631210 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While slowing down and just about to make a turn into a private residence off of a highway, multiple indicator lights illuminated and audio warning "dinging" occurred for approximately 3 seconds. As I had already been slowly applying the brakes and starting to slightly turn the wheel towards the driveway when those warnings briefly came up, the moment the lights and sounds stopped, vehicle then maintained speed (while still on the brakes) and locked steering position it was at simultaneously. Having no control at that point, it continued until crashing into a wooden fence. Once at a complete stop, cabin lights and "dinging" activated as it acknowledged the impact. And although it was only going about 15 mph, seemingly to only have damage to the front passenger side bumper/headlight area, it would not shift into any gear or turn off. Not to mention that the front passenger side airbag(s), or any of them, deploy- seriously raised even more concerns as the main reason I purchased a Volvo was for their well known status of safety standards. Had this obvious electrical malfunction happened moments before at higher speed/steering straight ahead, it would've resulted in very serious injuries to myself and others while it speed through 2 intersections at a highway ramp just down the hill. Was towed to a local collision repair & auto body shop until Progressive Insurance took it to their damage assessor where it was declared a total loss. I've owned it for almost 3 years and always had weird inconsistent electrical "quirks"- nothing ever of serious concern though. Has spent a total of 4-5 months in the past 3 years at different Volvo dealerships and mechanics but no one could ever explain why different warnings would be displayed randomly for days-weeks, off/on for no apparent diagnostic reason, 12V power socket was the same way... Please investigate the electrical components that directly affect the operational use and control! Extremely common & dangerous issue with these!
NHTSA complaint #11595428 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
At approximately 55,000 miles I started to experience intermittent heavy vibration at Highway speeds. According to the Volvo technical journal this is a known issue called the Ghost Shaker. There we no warning lamps or car messages that displayed while the shaking occurred. Typically, the car would shake when above 45 MPH, especially on interstate. While the Ghost Shaker is happening, it was very hard to control the vehicle and the only way to cease the shaking is to pull over and come to a complete stop. Sometimes this was not very safe, especially when you were on an interstate with limited shoulder space. This appears to be a known issue of Volvo, but since I was out of warranty, I had to cover the cost for the repair. I took my XC60 into an Independent Repair shop and a new Volvo Brand brake booster was installed. This appears to have rectified the situation and the shaking has stopped.
NHTSA complaint #11533995 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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.
NHTSA complaint #11474508 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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.
NHTSA complaint #11474232 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle pulls to the right consistently. Volvo San Diego has attempted to correct this on six different occasions, including sending it to an alignment specialist, and swapping wheels and tires. After this, they tried to explain to me that this was a “safety feature” that pulls the vehicle to the right, sometimes leaving the lane, so the vehicle would not go in to oncoming traffic on a two lane road. They also explained that this is standard for all vehicles in this class. Even though it does not happen on any of the courtesy vehicles they have loaned me during the six visits. Also having issue with the main computer not connecting to the internet, or radio, and sometimes not allowing for back up sensor alarms, or blinker sounds.
NHTSA complaint #11460509 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving on the inside lane next to the median of a 4-lane road and without warning or any other vehicles in my vicinity, any debris or objects in the road, and while I was maintaining the vehicle in my lane, the car swerved to the right. It felt as though someone in the passenger seat (I was alone) grabbed the steering wheel and forcefully yanked it to the right. At this time the words Collision Avoidance Assistance or something similar appeared on the dashboard screen. Thankfully there was not a vehicle in the lane to my right and I was able to correct the vehicle back into the appropriate lane. I turned left at the next opening in the median, pulled into a vacant parking lot, and called the Volvo service department. I described what happened to the woman taking my information and made arrangements to leave the car that evening for it to be repaired the following morning. I missed a voicemail from the technician on February 8th stating that the car was inspected and test driven and the issues reported could not be duplicated but that the software had been updated. Several phone calls occurred between myself and the dealer and it was established that the problems reported (this one as well as the ones described in a previous report regarding rear auto braking intervention) could not be duplicated. Had a vehicle been to the right of me, had I been in the right lane and a person been on the sidewalk, had I been in a neighborhood in which a child was riding a bike or a parent was pushing a child in a stroller, the results could have been tragic. There was no warning prior to the swerve and the words on the dashboard.
NHTSA complaint #11453665 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I purchased a brand new Volvo XC60 T5 AWD Inscription 7/04/2021. On 9/22/2021 I was driving in the middle lane on interstate 20 located in DFW TX and entering a curve when suddenly and without warning the steering wheel went stiff (as if I had NO power steering). I almost got into an accident, had I not been an experienced driver. A warning then displayed in the driver's information center "Power Steering Service Urgent, Drive To Workshop". The steering wheel continued to function as if I had no power steering until I arrived at work. I immediately called the dealership where I purchased the my SUV and they got me scheduled with a loaner. It was a traumatic incident that caused me great deal of concern since my SUV in brand new. Apparently Volvo put out an advisory notice that the sub-battery attached to the power steering pump is having issues and the dealership replaced it. I have not had a similar experience since...
NHTSA complaint #11440071 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Distracting Dash warnings “POWER STEERING ASSISTANCE TEMPORARILY REDUCED”, auto parking warning come on while driving and engine pause during stops working intermittently. Wife refuses to drive vehicle due to warnings that involve steering issues.
NHTSA complaint #11431329 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I purchased a brand new Volvo XC60 T6 on 7/18/2021. On 8/14/2021 I was driving on the far left lane on the 280S freeway and wanted to merge one lane to the right and as I was merging the steering wheel went stiff and caused me to lose control of the car. I almost get into a big accident with a Tesla. Then I heard a sound and notice on the dash display "Power Steering service urgent drive to a workshop" sign. The steering wheel continue being stiff and I experienced pain in my left arm due to the steering wheel incident. I immediately called the dealership where I purchased the car from and unfortunately the service department is closed on weekends. I managed to drive slowly and drove back home with very limited control on the steering wheel. I used Volvo On Call and had the car towed to be brought back to the dealership. It was a quite traumatic incident that make me feel not confident to drive the car anymore. Is there any recall that I am not aware of for this car model? I emailed Volvo customer care regarding this issue on 8/15/2021.
NHTSA complaint #11429186 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SINCE PURCHASING IN MAY 2019, MY BRAKE PADS WERE REPLACED ONCE AND MY ROTORS NOW THREE TIMES. I HAVE LESS THAN 20,000MI ON MY VOLVO. THE REASON IS BECAUSE OF PULSATIONS WHEN I APPLY THE BRAKES AND IT CAN BE FELT IN THE STEERING WHEEL, AT TIMES. MY DEALER HAS BEEN STELLAR IN ADDRESSING MY CONCERNS EACH TIME I HAVE HAD TO HAVE IT SERVICED. I HAVE SEEN ON VARIOUS BLOGS AND CONSUMER SITES THAT THIS IS A RATHER COMMON OCCURRENCE. I BELIEVE THE ROTORS EITHER ARE NOT EQUIPPED FOR THIS VEHICLE OR THE QUALITY OF THE ROTORS ARE SUBPAR. IF A REMEDY OR RECALL IS NOT SUBSTANTIATED, THE OWNERS SHOULD BE ASSURED BRAKES AND ROTORS WILL BE COVERED BY VOLVO, INDEFINITELY.
NHTSA complaint #11386345 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
OVER A PERIOD OF THE LAST 45 DAYS ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS,IN RAIN, AT HIGHWAY SPEED OF 55MPH+, THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THE DRIVER INPUTS FAILED TO FUNCTION. WHEN DRIVING, TURNING THE WHEEL TO LEFT/RIGHT TO CHANGE LANES OR PULL TO THE SLOW LANE; MADE THE CAR FEEL AS IT WANTED TO SPIN OUT UNCONTROLLABLY.TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL LEFT, THE CAR WANTED TO GO RIGHT. WHEN GOING STRAIGHT THERE WAS A WOBBLY UNSTABLE FEELING, AND WAS NOTICEABLE TO PASSENGERS IN THE CAR. THE ISSUE DID NOT OCCUR AT LOWER SPEEDS AND CAR PERFORM NORMALLY. THE SENSATION WAS SIMILAR TO THE INPUT ON A BOAT. THE ONLY CORRECTION WHICH WORKED WAS TO SLOW DOWN TO 40-45 AND TAKE SIDE ROADS. AT LOWER SPEEDS BRAKE TESTING AND OTHER MANEUVERS WERE PERFORMED WITHOUT ISSUE.
NHTSA complaint #11289227 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 VOLVO XC60. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL FAILED TO TURN. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SMOLISH VOLVO (20360 GRANDVIEW DRIVE BEND, OREGON 97701, (541)-639-3005) TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE DEALER REPLACED THE STEERING WHEEL COMPUTER SENSOR, THE STEERING WHEEL RACK, AND THE STEERING WHEEL FLUID RESERVOIR; HOWEVER, THE REPAIRS DID NOT CORRECT THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND PROVIDED CASE NUMBER: 191112-000964. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 20,000.
NHTSA complaint #11288234 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.