2024 Volvo XC40 Owner Complaints

This submittal is concerning the backup camera viewing area and the 360 degree camera view. The backup camera doesn't provide the same view as did our 2021 XC-40 R-Design rear back up camera view. The 360 degree view is very confusing when there are other cars or objects around the car. When going into the garage the surrounding objects give a distracting and distorted view.

1/14/2024

My wife pulled into a neighbor's driveway and put the car in Park. The car stopped. She reached over to the passenger's seat to pick up an item and the car lurched forward, crashing into the closed garage door before she could stop it. There were no warning lights alerting her that this would happen. She later told me, though, there had been previous instances of the car "bucking" after she had put it into park. The incident clearly posed a safety risk to my wife and others. Had someone been standing in front of the car when this happened, they could have been seriously injured or killed. Had the car not stopped after hitting the garage door, my wife, too, could have been seriously injured or killed. Had this happened in an area such as a parking lot, others also might have been injured. Volvo advised me not to file a police report at this time. The vehicle was inspected at Wallace Volvo in Stuart, Florida, and would be available for additional inspection. Volvo claims to have found liquid on internal parts. The larger, and more important question, though, is how the vehicle’s design could have allowed that to happen. Facts clearly point to a design flaw. The vehicle design clearly allows liquid to reach the parts in question and create the problem we experienced. If Volvo had designed the vehicle with a “tight” interior – a design that would have protected internal parts and not left them vulnerable – no amount of liquid in any amount from any source under any circumstance would have ended up in the vehicle’s internal parts. In my claim to Volvo, I asked that they make repairs to assure that this never happens again. They conceded that they did perform "repairs" to the vehicle but called it a "one-time good will gesture." I also asked Volvo to pay for the body damage to my vehicle and the damage ($2,364) caused to my neighbor's garage door by the malfunctioning vehicle. Volvo has refused to compensate me for the damage caused by their malfunctioning vehicle.

9/14/2024

My wife pulled into a neighbor's driveway and put the car in Park. The car stopped. She reached over to the passenger's seat to pick up an item and the car lurched forward, crashing into the closed garage door before she could stop it. There were no warning lights alerting her that this would happen. She later told me, though, there had been previous instances of the car "bucking" after she had put it into park. The incident clearly posed a safety risk to my wife and others. Had someone been standing in front of the car when this happened, they could have been seriously injured or killed. Had the car not stopped after hitting the garage door, my wife, too, could have been seriously injured or killed. Had this happened in an area such as a parking lot, others also might have been injured. Volvo advised me not to file a police report at this time. The vehicle was inspected at Wallace Volvo in Stuart, Florida, and would be available for additional inspection. Volvo claims to have found liquid on internal parts. The larger, and more important question, though, is how the vehicle’s design could have allowed that to happen. Facts clearly point to a design flaw. The vehicle design clearly allows liquid to reach the parts in question and create the problem we experienced. If Volvo had designed the vehicle with a “tight” interior – a design that would have protected internal parts and not left them vulnerable – no amount of liquid in any amount from any source under any circumstance would have ended up in the vehicle’s internal parts. In my claim to Volvo, I asked that they make repairs to assure that this never happens again. They conceded that they did perform "repairs" to the vehicle but called it a "one-time good will gesture." I also asked Volvo to pay for the body damage to my vehicle and the damage ($2,364) caused to my neighbor's garage door by the malfunctioning vehicle. Volvo has refused to compensate me for the damage caused by their malfunctioning vehicle.

9/14/2024

I am a new leasee of a Volvo XC40 Recharge (leased September 13, 2024). When starting my car from a decline on my driveway, or in a parking spot on a decline, after putting the car in reverse, the car immediately surges forward 20 inches before I have to hit the brakes again to make it stop from hitting a car in front of me. The same behavior occurs if I am parked on an incline and put the car in drive - it immediately surges backwards and I have to hit the brakes to make the car stop. This issue puts my and other cars parked in front or behind me at risk of being hit when trying to leave a parking spot. This issue was confirmed by the dealer (see attachment) and replicated on another XC40 Recharge that the dealer tested it on. The service rep stated that "As far as Volvo is concerned at this time the vehicle is working as designed and this is a normal characteristic of the vehicle." I am not sure why they would say this as a car should not surge forward when it reverse or backward when in drive. No other car in the history of my driving cars has ever done this.

10/15/2024

My wife pulled into a neighbor's driveway and put the car in Park. The car stopped. She reached over to the passenger's seat to pick up an item and the car lurched forward, crashing into the closed garage door before she could stop it. There were no warning lights alerting her that this would happen. She later told me, though, there had been previous instances of the car "bucking" after she had put it into park. The incident clearly posed a safety risk to my wife and others. Had someone been standing in front of the car when this happened, they could have been seriously injured or killed. Had the car not stopped after hitting the garage door, my wife, too, could have been seriously injured or killed. Had this happened in an area such as a parking lot, others also might have been injured. Volvo advised me not to file a police report at this time. The vehicle was inspected at Wallace Volvo in Stuart, Florida, and would be available for additional inspection. Volvo claims to have found liquid on internal parts. The larger, and more important question, though, is how the vehicle’s design could have allowed that to happen. Facts clearly point to a design flaw. The vehicle design clearly allows liquid to reach the parts in question and create the problem we experienced. If Volvo had designed the vehicle with a “tight” interior – a design that would have protected internal parts and not left them vulnerable – no amount of liquid in any amount from any source under any circumstance would have ended up in the vehicle’s internal parts. In my claim to Volvo, I asked that they make repairs to assure that this never happens again. They conceded that they did perform "repairs" to the vehicle but called it a "one-time good will gesture." I also asked Volvo to pay for the body damage to my vehicle and the damage ($2,364) caused to my neighbor's garage door by the malfunctioning vehicle. Volvo has refused to compensate me for the damage caused by their malfunctioning vehicle.

9/14/2024

This issue has happened multiple times while owning this vehicle. Sometimes the car does engage into Park after pushing the park button. Sometimes we have to push the Park button 2-3 times just for it to move from Drive to Park. We have been into some close calls with the car not engaging in Park and coming close to crashing into either light pole or another vehicle. Could cause injury even anyone was present in front of the vehicle

10/19/2024

There have been several times when slowly backing up when monitoring the mirrors and backup camera that the car had a very violent stop. I wasn't going fast at all and was within two feet of objects that I'm very familiar with. My old car handled backing up fine and didn't stop so violently. The warning on the old car got quicker as I got closer. This Volvo does have an increasingly rapid beep too but as you monitor the space it jerks so hard before it's really close enough to hit. This week I was backing up in a parking lot with NOTHING around me. I was still going slowly but the backup camera picked up an asphalt strip in between two cement pads and jerked so hard I have had whiplash like symptoms right after and ever since. The car stopped so hard my neck snapped back and I hit my head on the headrest. This incident was the most violent but there have been others that are too harsh for the slow moving conditions and insignificance of the objects.

4/4/2024

Car suddenly accelerated/stuck accelerator in the parking lot hitting several vehicles. Issues: sudden acceleration AND the car did not apply the emergency braking system.

4/17/2025

The Infotainment system in this automobile freezes frequently denying access to critical auto controls such as, one pedal EV driving, air conditioning/heating controls and many other controls. I have received a message that the, "Camera is Unavailable" and the screen goes dark. The dealer has attempted to reload the software and update the software multiple times all without any remedy.

6/14/2025

Volvo xc40 recharge back up camera views Front, Left and right side, rear Views don’t show any video view. Instead I get a black screen with 4 yellow circles with a camera in the center of the circle and a diagonal line through the circle…signifying an inoperative camera

7/15/2025

I pulled over right side of street to park behind a parked vehicle to a visit house across the street. Was too far out from curb so I backed up about 12-15 feet or so. Put car in drive and slowly started to drive toward curb when car suddenly accelerated very hard. I turned steering to left to avoid hitting the car in front, straightened car out but could not stop it until it stopped about 20-30 feet down the road. Brake was not stopping my car. The acceleration was something like being on a ramp to get on highway and pressing pedal down to get to highway speed. It was a very hard acceleration. Very frightening. I got an appointment tomorrow for volvo service to look at this. Drove the car after this happened and today without any incident. I bought the car new in Mar 2024 and have NEVER experience this.

8/11/2025

2024 Volvo xc40 with 10,000 miles suddenly became completely disabled on the express lane of a highway. The flashers were inoperable. The windows could not be opened. Road ranger was called. Nothing was wrong with the battery. Car was towed to a safe spot. Car was taken to Volvo dealership. Volvo determine that serpentine belt came apart and the tensioner was the cause - a manufacturer defect. This was very dangerous situation for the driver and unusual for a car with such low miles to have such a break in the serpentine belt. Fortunately there was an accident ahead and cars were traveling slowly in the express lane.

9/22/2025

The contact owns a 2024 Volvo XC40. The contact stated while attempting to park the vehicle, the camera image was barely visible. The contact stated that the display screen was very dim. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had been diagnosed; however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and determined that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 40.

10/16/2023

SUA Sudden unintended acceleration while making a U-turn to park in front of our home my wife, [XXX] was driving when the vehicle suddenly accelerated rapidly jumping the curb onto the sidewalk onto grassy front lawn then stopped. This was a ‘loaner’ vehicle from Volvo whom I called to have it towed back to them. Luckily there were no injuries or damages. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

1/5/2024

SUA Sudden unintended acceleration while making a U-turn to park in front of our home my wife, [XXX] was driving when the vehicle suddenly accelerated rapidly jumping the curb onto the sidewalk onto grassy front lawn then stopped. This was a ‘loaner’ vehicle from Volvo whom I called to have it towed back to them. Luckily there were no injuries or damages. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

1/5/2024

There have been several times when slowly backing up when monitoring the mirrors and backup camera that the car had a very violent stop. I wasn't going fast at all and was within two feet of objects that I'm very familiar with. My old car handled backing up fine and didn't stop so violently. The warning on the old car got quicker as I got closer. This Volvo does have an increasingly rapid beep too but as you monitor the space it jerks so hard before it's really close enough to hit. This week I was backing up in a parking lot with NOTHING around me. I was still going slowly but the backup camera picked up an asphalt strip in between two cement pads and jerked so hard I have had whiplash like symptoms right after and ever since. The car stopped so hard my neck snapped back and I hit my head on the headrest. This incident was the most violent but there have been others that are too harsh for the slow moving conditions and insignificance of the objects.

4/4/2024

The reverse lights are not bright enough when backing up at night. When using the backup camera, the driver is unable to see anything behind the car, as the lights do not shine bright enough to illuminate the area of the camera. There is no way to adjust the brightness of the camera or the lights.

8/27/2024

Brake failure. I was slowing to stop at traffic light when “brake failure” warning came on. I then stepped on the brake and it was not working. I turned on a side street just bf the traffic light and coasted to a stop amd turned car off. Airbag not operative light came on and seatbelts were tightening then loosening. I could have hit cars stopped at the light.

6/6/2025

Brake failure. I was slowing to stop at traffic light when “brake failure” warning came on. I then stepped on the brake and it was not working. I turned on a side street just bf the traffic light and coasted to a stop amd turned car off. Airbag not operative light came on and seatbelts were tightening then loosening. I could have hit cars stopped at the light.

6/6/2025

The complaint is for Software Update 7.3 and the previous update for the 2024 Volvo XC40. Those updates modified the rear backup camera view, directing the camera downward. This is a critical problem when backing out of diagonal parking, where an adjacent vehicle blocks the backup view. The revised backup camera setting directs the view downward toward the pavement directly behind the car. The critical view area is in the upper right-hand corner of the lower camera view and occupies a very small area. This format causes two flaws. First, the small area requires a greater focus, which takes the driver's eyes off the exterior surrounding events. Second, the rear view should be positioned above the overhead view, making it easier to check the camera view and double-check for pedestrians and vehicles that are outside the camera's field of view. I contacted the dealer and checked Volvo online, but there is no reporting method for this problem, and no fix to redirect the camera upward. Note the red box in the photo to see the difficulty in early awareness of approaching vehicles.

9/30/2025