Volvo XC90 collision warning problems

Filed Oct 31, 2026 · Brakes, Driver assistance · NY

On October 31, 2026, while driving my 2025 Volvo XC90 on a highway at approximately 50 mph, the vehicle's Forward Collision Warning system suddenly activated without any apparent reason. A red collision warning appeared on the instrument panel, accompanied by an audible warning signal. Immediately afterward, the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system applied the brakes extremely forcefully, causing the vehicle to abruptly reduce its speed by approximately 15–20 mph. The highway ahead was completely clear. There were no vehicles, pedestrians, obstacles, or other visible hazards in front of my vehicle. I was driving manually, and neither Adaptive Cruise Control nor Pilot Assist was engaged. Another vehicle was traveling behind me. This sudden and unexpected braking created a serious risk of a rear-end collision. After the abrupt deceleration, the vehicle automatically released the brakes, and normal driving resumed. This was not an isolated incident. The vehicle had previously experienced similar unexpected automatic braking events at lower speeds. However, this was the first occurrence at highway speed. The vehicle currently has approximately 12,800 miles. The cause of the malfunction has not yet been determined, and the vehicle has not yet been inspected by a dealership for this latest incident. The vehicle previously required an extended dealership repair for an airbag system warning caused by an improperly connected electrical connector beneath a seat. That separate safety-related issue was reportedly repaired, but the vehicle remained at the dealership for more than a week. I am seriously concerned that the automatic emergency braking and collision warning systems may activate without an actual collision threat, potentially causing a dangerous traffic accident. I request that the federal safety agency investigate these recurring unintended braking incidents and the potential safety defect.

Filed Sep 20, 2026 · Driver assistance, Seat belts · NC · crash · 1 injury

I was in an accident going about 35mph. I slammed into a vehicle that turned in front of me. His vehicle was totaled with all of his airbags deployed. My issue is NOT with my airbags. My issue is that the seatbelt pretensioner system (which is designed to prevent whiplash) the emergency braking system and the hazard lights ALL did not active during, and/or after the crash. My vehicle is equipped with the safety features and collision avoidance that consists of seatbelt pretension, auto hazard lights and auto braking in the event of or to prevent a collision. Ironically, a few months before my accident, the seatbelt compression system erroneously activated during a right hand turn in my neighborhood that I make multiple times a day. Volvo the manufacturer had been contacted and did a diagnostic on it.

Filed Dec 22, 2025 · Driver assistance · AL

I was driving on the internstate and my blind spot indicator came on and stayed on even though there were no cars in my blind spot. I needed to change lanes and tried to despite the blind spot indicator being on and the automatic collision avoidance system put me back into the lane I was in. I had to fight the vehicle to get over to be able to exit the interstate.

Filed Jan 14, 2025 · Electrical, Lights · NY · crash

Instrument cluster failure and turn signal malfunction while highway driving. No interior sounds, including no lane change warning or near collision warning signals, and no audible confirmation of signal; no exterior blinker activated despite use by driver. Instrument cluster went blank. Safety at risk and accident occurred: approaching car from rear passenger side hit front right side of our car because there was no exterior signal and no audio or visual alerts in our vehicle about lane change or blind spot. Signal and instrument cluster failure: the car is at the manufacturer/dealer for the third time for similar issues with our vehicle (2 prior times they stated the issue was fixed). Manufacturer reports that they're sending a team to investigate given that this most recent episode lead to an accident.

Filed Jan 30, 2023 · Driver assistance · 29,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2017 Volvo XC90. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, a vehicle approximately 50 yards in front of him stopped and caused the Forward Collision Avoidance feature to be activated. The vehicle came to a complete stop with an audible beeping sound and a warning illustration displayed on the instrument panel. The contact contended that he was a safe distance away from the vehicle and that the Forward Collision Avoidance feature should not have activated. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000.

Filed May 19, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · CA

The attached file outlines details - 1.After a recent car wash at a Shell Service Station…..April 5,2021, upon starting the vehicle – the computerized dashboard displayed erratic and incomplete information. It attempted to indicate multiple system failures – eg brakes, suspension, and others too garbled to understand. The entire driver’s console and information center display which were designed to show all of the vehicle operating modes and driver information were compromised and not functioning correctly. The Start/Stop Switch would no longer shut the engine down. I could not get the vehicle to shift out of Park. I found myself quite concerned about a highly computerized vehicle now running with no apparent operator control. I could not be certain whether the engine was being cooled properly from its electrical fans because the cabin was becoming uncomfortably hot. None of the environmental controls worked. Even the electric windows were affected. There were no engine safety indicators of any kind visible working to ensure electrical, engine oil pressure, coolant temperature….none of the other operator information systems were working properly and the engine still could not be shut down. I found myself uncomfortable getting out of the vehicle since it has so many self-driving, collision avoidance steering and braking functions that could be affected. I did not want to risk being run over by my own car. Nor, could I allow the vehicle to move, possibly on its own…so I sat in it for about 3 hours sweating while waiting for a Volvo Tow Service to arrive. The Tow operator was somehow able to get the gear shift to move and was able to back the vehicle out to the street and onto his truck. He was also unable to shut the engine down and towed it to the Neillo Volvo Dealership about 3.5 miles away, here in Sacramento CA. I had deep concerns about safety with this vehicle being towed with the engine still running. All of the instrumentation remained unusable. The consumer stated after the sunroof clogged d

Filed May 11, 2021 · Driver assistance · 140,000 miles · KY

My roof is leaking, it was coming out the front cabin light. This problem can be found noted on many websites with pictures for my year/model. Then we started getting errors with suspension and my wife got a warning she should stop the car. She got it home and we found the water had now leaked into the rear right quarter panel where at least 1 computer is stored. That area had at least 1' of water in it. I had to pull a drain plug to drain it. The dealership confirmed the computer was fried ($2600) and had previously said our drains were clear and the fix was a new rear seal. While their another person had just gotton that sunroof $2k fix on their car. The computer has disabled the blind spot lights on the side mirrors, front collision warning and assume auto braking, the rear camera is out, and GPS. These are the things that are obvious, I don't know what else is disabled I don't know. The dealer also said they were limited on the fault codes they could get because of the failure as well. In doing more research for 'volvo sunroof leak' I found a site called topclassactions.com with several individual incidences of newer years and others models where the roof leaks into the rear and fries the computer. One noted ' that happened while I was driving! I lost brakes and engine power, the gear box got locked. Eventually I pulled into parking lot. At that point I tried to turned off the engine of the car but it wouldn't let me.' someone else noted brake failure as well. The sunroof issue is not uncommon and volvo is giving consumers the run around when their design leaks and damages the computer controlling key safety features. These are 'new' cars 2016 and up. There are also instances where the consumer pays to get the leak 'fixed' and it continues to leak therefore increasing the chance of the safety computer failing.

Filed Oct 21, 2019 · Seat belts · 37,400 miles · TX · 2 injuries

When the vehicle collision avoidance system is activated, the seatbelt tensions become so tight he can cause injury.

Filed Apr 15, 2019 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 17,000 miles · MO

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

Filed Sep 6, 2018 · Driver assistance · 10,000 miles · ID · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 volvo xc90. While driving 15 MPH, the contact rear ended another vehicle because the low speed auto emergency braking/forward collision avoidance indicator did not illuminate. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to lowe pearson volvo boise (7805 w gratz dr, boise, id 83709, 208‑377‑3900) where it was diagnosed, but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that nothing could be done to assist. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.