Service Brakes Problems of Volvo XC90 - part 1

The button to initiate the parking brake frequently does not work. With my foot firmly on the brake, I have had to push the park button many times to put the vehicle in park. I have video of this incident. Other times, when not expecting it or recording video I have pressed the park button and not realized the vehicle didn’t go into park. When I released my foot on the brake the vehicle rolled forward. Thankfully no one or other vehicle was directly in front of the car.

See all problems of the 2023 Volvo XC90 🔎.

The contact owns a 2025 Volvo Xc90. The contact stated that while driving downhill at 15 mph, while depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle would not come to a complete stop as intended. No warning light illuminated. The contact stated that he drove up a hill in order to come to a stop. The vehicle was towed to a local independent mechanic, where it was left for further diagnosis. The local dealer was not contacted. The air bags were deployed. No injuries were sustained, and no medical attention was sought. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact related to the failure to an NHTSA campaign number: 25v282000 (back over prevention) that was repaired prior to the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

The first incidence occurred around December 20, 2023. I was traveling south on I-85 in north carolina about an hour north of charlotte. I pulled into a rest area and, upon pressing the brake pedal, heard a bit of a hissing noise and suddenly the brake pedal was extremely hard and the car was very difficult to bring to a stop. I did an online search for what might be wrong and discovered it was likely a brake booster failure. I drove the car onto charlotte, carefully and with extreme difficulty, and took it to the swedish connection, a local Volvo specialist. They confirm the diagnosis and replaced the brake booster. Last night, April 14, 2025, I drove the car down to pickens south carolina for work. When I got in to return to charlotte late at night, I turned the ignition, put the car in reverse, and, with my foot on the brake and waiting to back out of the parking space, I heard that hissing noise again. Sure enough, the brake booster had evidently failed again. I drove the car back to charlotte, mostly on interstate 85, and the electronic braking seemed to work ok under cruise control maintaining speed and distance between other cars in traffic. Of course, driving the vehicle on local roads, through stoplights, and turns was extremely difficult and dangerous. I have returned the car to the same mechanic that repaired the last brake booster. I will be reporting this to Volvo as well, as this is a serious safety issue and defect with my vehicle. The mechanic has confirmed that this has happened in other Volvo xc 90s. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer.

See all problems of the 2018 Volvo XC90 🔎.

To whom it may concern, I am filing a complaint against Volvo car USA for unresolved defects in my 2023 Volvo Xc90 t8 recharge, purchased in indiana. The vehicle’s control systems—infotainment, climate control, navigation, backup camera, and reverse braking—are defective, impairing its use, value, and safety, despite maintenance and updates. Study and searches on owner forums and social media discovered that those issues are widespread among the 2023 model year of Volvo xc-90 t8. Issues: backup camera often shows “unavailable” when reversing, posing safety risks. -Volvo did a software recall in may, 2025. The issue seemed largely resolved. Automatic reverse braking (arb) falsely triggers, causing abrupt stops. No permanent adjustment exists. -the issue persists even after multiple software updates including the recall mentioned above. The false arb activations made drivers and passengers traumatized and panicked for "hitting or being hit by other vehicles or objects. Infotainment and climate control system lags (5+ minutes to respond), displays errors, and is unreliable. That became a bigger problem during inclement weather that driver and passengers may suffer injury from the extreme cold or hot conditions for a long period of time. This is even more dangerous when there are elderlies, pregnant women, or children in the vehicle. This issue was not resolved even after multiple software updates. Further research indicated the issue was not only from software but also from hardware (including but not limited to the cpu chips, ram, etc. Lte connection is unstable 50% of the time, affecting navigation or emergency assistance. Volvo uses safety and emergency assistance as one of the selling points for its vehicles. However, the instability of its lte connection makes the "sos call" unreliable or not functional when customers are in danger. Even after multiple visits of Volvo dealer and contact of Volvo customer care, there is no solution.

Complete brake failure. Vehicle would no slow at all. Brake failure warning on dash. Now multitude of warnings.

While driving a warning sign came on indicating break failure. The breaks were not working at all. Car was able to be slowed down to a stop. It was towed to a dealership who stated there was a remote software update done that causes break failure.

The contact owns a 2016 Volvo Xc90. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the oil light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA campaign number: 19v308000 (engine and engine cooling). The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that an oil change was needed. The vehicle was repaired. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer, who informed the contact that the vehicle was consuming oil and informed the contact about an oil consumption test. The contact was informed that a spark plug had exploded in the engine. The engine was replaced. The contact noticed that water was entering inside the vehicle. There was water dripping on the entertainment center, and the pixels were half out. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the infotainment screen needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. While driving at unknown speeds, the brakes became inoperable. While at a car wash, the fenders detached. After driving for several hours, the turn off engine message was displayed. The contact added additional coolant, but the coolant depleted quickly. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine line had split open. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and opened a case but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

See all problems of the 2016 Volvo XC90 🔎.

The brakes did not work when the automatic emergency braking turned on. When I pressed the brakes all the way down, the brakes didn’t respond because it was still in automatic mode. I was able to swerve into the next lane to not hit the vehicle in front of me. The automatic emergency braking also turned on when I was reversing from a parked location when there was a vehicle waiting to park behind me and my vehicle stoped and didn’t come off of brake/park mode. I had to turn my vehicle on and off again to get it to move again. I have taken my vehicle in twice for shaking. My back rotors were replaced 2 weeks ago but my vehicle still shakes. This car only has around 21,000 miles to have so many issues already with rotors and shaking.

See all problems of the 2021 Volvo XC90 🔎.

While driving, the brakes completely failed without any warning. There were no signs, alerts, or symptoms prior to the failure. The braking ability was suddenly and entirely lost, creating an extremely dangerous situation. Upon inspection, it was determined that the brake booster had failed. This component failure directly caused the complete loss of braking power. Because this occurred without warning or prior indication and such an unexpected failure not only poses a significant safety risk to the driver and passengers but endangers everyone on the road, and it represents a severe safety hazard. A sudden brake booster failure can easily lead to loss of vehicle control, accidents, injury, or even fatalities. Immediate action is required to address this serious issue that threatens public safety.

See all problems of the 2019 Volvo XC90 🔎.

Pressing p button does not engage the parking brake 100% of the time. Multiple times I have pressed the p button when concluding a drive and pulling into a spot with the normal friction brakes engaged, and nevertheless the car keeps rolling once the brake pedal is released, until the p button is pressed again in a much more deliberate fashion. This is a big safety issue. Pressing the p button with normal force should cause the parking brake to engage. At this point I now bypass the p button and switch the car off, which I know works 100% of the time to auto-engage the parking brake. Volvo needs to address the failure of the p button to perform its function.

See all problems of the 2024 Volvo XC90 🔎.

Brake vacuum booster: p/q brake booster. P/q brake fluid $3271. 36 other]: p/q engine vacuum pump seal kit front suspension vibration and while vibration.

See all problems of the 2014 Volvo XC90 🔎.

During cold weather, and when backing up, the vehicle makes a loud knocking noise as if an accident has occurred. This is an intermittent problem. The vehicle is equipped with auto-hold brakes. The dealership stated that this might be the issue where the auto-hold is engaging without warring. The dealership tested the brakes and stated that it was operating per manufacturing specs. This issue happened several times so far since 2022. It is a scary moment when feeling as if I had hit some one or some thing.

See all problems of the 2022 Volvo XC90 🔎.

While parking my vehicle in the garage, I pressed the p (park) button on my center console and proceeded to exit my vehicle. As I was exiting, the car began to roll backwards. I was knocked to the ground by the open driver’s door, unable to reenter the vehicle. The vehicle began rolling causing me injury to my legs, elbow and feet because I was essentially trapped under the side of the vehicle as it was moving. The vehicle continued to roll. Hitting items on my garage, including my second vehicle parked in the driveway, before coming to a stop by hitting a neighboring chain link fence. The vehicle sustained damage to driver’s door, rear end, and front left panel. I’ve looked online and have seen several forums of similar issues with the Volvo p button not engaging, and vehicles rolling/lurching unexpectedly.

The infotainment system has locked up and has shut completely off while driving. When it shuts down (screen goes black) or glitches, the car actually loses power. Luckily it powered right back on but it was scary and could happen again and be much worse. The screen/ infotainment system has had this issue for awhile. We’ve even told Volvo of tulsa about it when it was in for service but they said they couldn’t do anything about it because they couldn’t reproduce the issue. We have also had the brakes and rotors replaced twice at the dealership because they seem to be lemons or faulty. We are currently dealing with vibration once again (conveniently now the warranty is out).

The contact owns a 2019 Volvo Xc90. The contact stated that while stopped and attempting to accelerate, the brake became inoperable. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed two times and taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed three times that the brake booster had failed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.

My Xc90 is shuttering at interstate speeds as well as below. When I purchased, they had to machine the rotors and said they balanced the front tires. It did not help much. The brakes shake less. I'm sure the entire rotors are warped. All this with 12k miles on the vehicle.

On 23rd July 2022 my son went underneath a reversing Xc90 2019 vehicle. The front wheel went over his leg and arm. He miraculously survived and the event was close to taking his life. The vehicle was my wife's car. We are in possession of the surveillance video which shows that the vehicles safety features failed. Although the vehicle was left in the reverse gear, the car was stationary, after having been in a forward motion. This sequence automatically engages the park brake and only deactivated when the pedal is pressed. The pedal was not pressed. In addition the video shows the door was open when the brake was deactivated. Another safety feature which failed to prevent the event. My wife was outside of the car and pushing on the rear of the car, trying to stop it driving over my son. Both my wife at the rear bumper and my son on the floor behind the vehicle on the floor, failed to activate the reverse sensors safety feature. Although a small post did after the vehicle drove over my son. I have a video I can email but is too big for the upload feature. Please let me know how to send the video: be warned the video is not very pleasant. After the event I had the vehicle codes read at the local Volvo dealership. Multiple codes related to failures in the parking brake were identified. I contact Volvo and have been assisting them over the last two weeks with their investigation. They have had the car for 4 hours to run this investigation and I am aware the engineers in sweden are involved. They have now come back to me and asked to see the vehicle again to read more codes. I have been very disappointed in Volvo through this process. The video clearly shows an "event". And they keep referencing back to the car being fine at the point of the inspection; failing to reference or acknowledge the event timing itself. I am at the point I need to make sure their investigation is being done correctly, since I feel they are playing with words and not telling me the truth.

The issue started a few months ago. The brake sensor light on the dash turned on and stayed on. We took it to the dealer and they said that they will not fix it because they can see coffee stains on the sensor. Basically they have brake sensors right under the center console where people drink coffee and the brake sensors are exposed so this can happen to any customer. Now they want to charge us 1600 dollars even though the SUV is about 2 years old and under full warranty. They want to screw their customers and don't care about their safety. This is the brake system of the car and now it's having issues with the adaptive cruise control inwhich the system turns off while in use. We are concerned about our safty and don't know what to do.

See all problems of the 2020 Volvo XC90 🔎.

I need new rear brakes and rotors at 26,296. I have leased cars for the past twenty plus years and never had to replace brakes/rotors after a year and a half.

Electrical, brake lights suddenly stopped working on both sides at once. I checked the fuse only to be told a relay may be the issue. The location of said relay is vague and not serviceable by owner. Risk of rear end collision. Of following traffic.

See all problems of the 2011 Volvo XC90 🔎.

I have installed a sprintdrive installed in my Volvo. Since the installation, I have had several safety and security issues occur that stop once the device is removed. The following issues have occurred: 1) whilst driving on the muskogee turnpike, the cruising control system would disengage. This occurred at least three times during the drive. On the third time, the cruising control system disengaged and the braking system engaged causing the vehicle to go from 85 mph to 45 mph. 2) I was driving on c-470. The transmission system would not transition between the gears automatically. The vehicle remained in a low gear until I removed the device. 3) I was driving on I-70 when all of the warning lights went and an alarm sounded. The message console read all system failure. The engine shut down. Once the device was removed, I was able to restart the vehicle.

See all problems of the 2009 Volvo XC90 🔎.

Electric parking brake engaging violently at highway speeds at least. 3 times. Resulting in abrupt stop in moveing traffic! dealer in no hurry to repair suggesting bring back when they are able! am notifying Volvo, dealer , they will assume all liability for injury or death for this defect and lack of concern in repairing ( told a software problem , but also told caused damage to other components due to violent and abrupt stops! very uncomfortable especially since repair mgr is so arrogant!.

On February 5, 2020 I was involved in a minor fender bender which resulted when I drove off alight and the car in front of me did not take off and I hit it in the rear at a very low rate of speed. The auto brake did not engage. I was no more than one and a half car lengths behind and the car was moving at one to two miles per hour. When I hit the rear of the car in front of me the air bags deployed which caused me to have a slight concussion and certainly scared me. There was little if no physical damage to the vehicle. I contacted Volvo customer care a few days after advising that auto brake system did not engage and the airbag deployed. The report was taken. I was advised that there were no prior reports of this issue. Volvo repair was not willing to acknowledge my concern and would not confirm that prior to the repair there-would be a repair. Candidly they were not going to do anything except accept insurance check and fix it. I now have received a recall notice for this exact issue which I had reported. I advised then I was afraid of the car because I was afraid the airbag would deploy unnecessarily again. How do I address the fact that I will not use this car any longer.

The controls on steering intermittently disabled. I take it to the dealer they updated the software and it was fixed for while, but it reappeared again! many Volvo owners has the similar issues most of them ended up replacing the control module part on the steering wheel. This is a dangerous symptom since most drivers like me rely heavily on these controls to select vehicle system options and cruise control. Also dealer asking me to change the break components very frequently sometimes just 20000 miles. I am ended paying hefty price of these parts to keep the breaks safe.

When driving the vehicle at a speed of 15-40 mph, the SUV is activating the crash imminent braking "city crash avoidance" without anything in the path of the vehicle. This action is locking up the vehicle and seat belts lock up squeeze my wife unexpectedly. Dealor cannot find anything wrong when running diagnostics and will not replace the modules that control this feature without them showing bad. This has happended on the same road on multiple occasions.

The collision avoidance system was engaged, I was driving during a rain storm at night at 45 mph, and the collision avoidance alarm went off without anything in front of my car, then the brakes slammed on by themselves and the car behind me had to swerve onto the shoulder to avoid hitting me in the rear.

See all problems of the 2017 Volvo XC90 🔎.

Steering often shakes and is hard to control going over 50 miles per hour. Steering column sticks at times and then is very wobbly.

See all problems of the 2010 Volvo XC90 🔎.

Front end, wheels begin to bounce and vibrate unexpectedly at various speeds above 45 mph. The bounce/vibration/wobble affects steering and can be felt in the accelerator pedal and steering wheel. Steering wheel vibrates side to side affecting handling. When braking during this event the steering becomes worse and steering wheel jerks left/right with harder force making handling and stopping difficult. Problems temporarily resolved when vehicle stops but can return within minutes. Problem not persistent but frequent especially at high speeds 60+ mph and the problem is unexpected. Problem occurs at about 1. 5 hours of driving, but can occur at longer intervals. Once the issue starts it generally continues until the vehicle has been parked for several hours.

Brakes continously squeak. The dealer has inspected the break system twice and made one attempted repair. One week later the brakes are backing to squeaking. I have owned the vehicle less than 90 days, I've had issues with the brakes for more than half that time. The center display computer screens freezes constantly, but recently freezes and will not restart until after the car is stopped and restarted.

On 22 Dec 2017, while driving my Volvo Xc90 hybrid r-design, I received an error light that stated 12 volt battery had an issue. I called the Volvo dealership in sarasota and spoke to the service manager, joe rice to let him know about this issue. While on the phone, an additional error light "abs" and then a few seconds later a car with a squiggly lanes error light came on. I immediately lost the ability to brake, I lost the ability to steer, I lost the ability to put the SUV into neutral, I lost the ability to put on my hazard blinking light. All I could do is take my foot of the gas pedal but because I was not able to put the SUV in neutral, and had no brakes, I continued to move. The screen on my front console went black and the middle console went black. If I was on any busy road or expressway, I would have immediately been in an accident. Luckly after miles of forced driving, and with the help of the service manager, apply manual brakes by flooring the brake pedal as hard as possible to the floor and tap, not pump. This electrical failure defect is so detrimental that it will cause accidents resulting in death. Volvo has kept my car since 22 Dec and they stated that they are changing out the computer that caused this issue. I'm afraid that Volvo might not disclose this defect to NHTSA and that someone or someone else's family with be in an accident resulting in death. This is a very serious problem and beg NHTSA to look into the matter expeditiously to recall Volvos with these defects. If NHTSA moves quickly, they have the ability to prevent accidents and death. I'm available to provide a sworn statement to the incident and willing to help anyway I can. Thank you for your consideration, very respectfully, peter kazil.

Brakes squeak badly. Vehicle has been in multiple times to be repaired. It sounds like gremlins are in the car when you brake. It is a know issue on these vehicles according to the dealer and to Volvo. They sprayed stop squeak on the brake bad which is now all over my car and the brakes still squeak.

Volvo Xc90 2016 hybrid -safety issues and terrible customer service. I started the car and my brakes suddenly made this weird noise and I could feel a shift in the brake pedal. Up popped a notice on the screen by the odometer saying "brake pedal characteristics changed service required. " I started to drive my kids home, thinking it was just a service notice and not a tow situation. As I drove on town roads (not hwy), the brake made a grinding sound (could also feel it in the pedal) when lightly depressed and when I fully pressed the brake to slow or stop, it wouldn't do anything at first and then it would suddenly engage in a jolting and jerky stop motion it was very scary to drive the car like this. I wasn't sure if the brakes were going to work well enough to get me and my two children home. Fortunately, we did make it home but the car is not safe to drive like this. Volvo towed the car out of my driveway this am. The westport service dept claimed they have "never heard of the issue," despite my finding of countless similar complaints online and a notation about it in the manual. I've only had this vehicle for 6mo. It was new off the lot.

On 7 different occasions, the vehicle automatically and aggressively braked on its own. The collision avoidance system sensed that I was about to get into an accident even though there was absolutely nothing in front of me. The collision avoidance system is defective on this model. It was a miracle that I didn't get rear ended as the 7 instances all happened on highways. Many other people have had the same problem. Volvo has agreed to repurchase my vehicle. This is a major safety problem that needs to be fixed before someone gets killed.

When traveling at high rates of speed (on the highway) the car completely shuts off. The dashboard and all electrical shuts off, the hazards do not seem to work or the turn indicators, abs does not work so it is a very slow heavy stop. This happened to me in this car one other time in 2010, and there was an immediate computer module upgrade issued.

See all problems of the 2004 Volvo XC90 🔎.

While driving any distance over 60 minutes the car warning comes on saying sudden loss of brakes, stop safely. Airbag check light comes on. Within a few seconds all the electronics shuts down; all dash, stereo, lights, wipers, windows and lack of power to engine but car stays running. This was almost a deadly crash while driving in pouring rain and there were cars everywhere. No way to signal or flashers, I honestly thought me and my family were gonna get in an accident. I have read other stories online so my question is, what is the cause of this? how do I fix it before some gets hurt or even worse killed!.