2012 VOLVO S60 Electrical System Problems

On June 2, 2023 I went to start my car and the engine would not turn over. The dashboard displayed a number of warning lights and messages (DSTC Service Required, SRS Airbag Service Urgent, Transmission Service Required, Coolant System Service Required). When the tow truck driver arrived later that day, they tried to jumpstart my car but reported the battery was completely dead. I had the car taken to a local shop that specialized in Volvo cars. A few days later the shop called to tell me that not only was the battery dead, but my car key was no longer responding, and that the Engine Control Module "exploded." None of the mechanics at the shop had seen such a thing before. The shop also told me that they could not figure out what had been draining the battery. I was advised to reach out to the dealership. I did...

My wife and I were driving to BWI airport for a 10:30am flight from Virginia Beach in the Express Lane on I-95N going 75mph when all of a sudden at 8:30am the engine seized and I got a message telling me I would experience "Reduced Engine Performance" as my car puttered to a stop with white smoke pouring out of the exhaust. Prior to this message I had no warnings or messages on my dashboard. I got out of my car to check my oil and it was completely evaporated, so I called AAA. While we are 1 hour into waiting (it is now 9:30am) on the narrow shoulder of two Express Lanes for a tow truck to take our car to a shop at 11:40am and for a Lyft driver to figure out how to get to us, two VDOT employees told us we had to move our car...

When I first bought this Volvo there was condensation in both of the headlights then took it for a test drive and I really liked it and when I got back the dealer said if I was to buy it he would take care of both headlights so I assumed that he did but I bought it and left and was driving and then a code came on in the car saying low beam out I was like oh [XXX] so took it back to them they had me go buy $120 light bulb and that wasn't the problem they did some working and testing and said that it was the low beam ballast so I bought 1 for the drivers side and that fixed that problem but then not even a week later the same light came on saying low beam out, took it back and they said that...

SIRIUS RADIO MODULE FAILURE CAUSE CONTROL AND DISPLAY OF BACK UP CAMERA, NAVIGATION, HANDS FREE PHONE, AND RADIO TO STOP WORKING.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 VOLVO S60. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE MAKING A LEFT OR RIGHT TURN, THE LOW OIL LEVEL WARNING LIGHT FLASHED ON THEIR INSTRUMENT PANEL AND DISAPPEARED. THE CONTACT ADDED A QUART OF OIL AND APPROXIMATELY THREE WEEKS LATER WHILE HIS WIFE WAS DRIVING, SHE BECAME AWARE OF A KNOCKING SOUND COMING FROM THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT CHECKED THE VEHICLE AND CONFIRMED THE KNOCKING SOUND. THE CONTACT CHECKED THE DIPSTICK AND NOTICED THAT IT WAS DRY. THE CONTACT HAD NOT CONTACTED A DEALER OR A CERTIFIED MECHANIC. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND REFERRED THE CONTACT THE LOCAL DEALER FOR ASSISTANCE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 103,000.

MY CAR DOESN'T NOTIFY ME THAT THE ENGINE OIL IS LOW. LAST YEAR, I DROVE ALL THE WAY TO MISSISSIPPI WITHOUT IT WARNING THAT THE OIL WAS LO WITH BARELY ANY OIL ON THE DIP STICK. WE STOPPED TO CHECK IT WHEN WE GOT GAS AND THAT IS HOW WE KNEW. IT HAS BEEN LOW SEVERAL TIMES THIS YEAR WITHOUT NOTIFYING ME. I HAVE TO CONSTANTLY CHECK THE OIL TO ENSURE THERE IS ENOUGH IN THERE. IT DOES NOT HAVE AN OIL LEAK AS THERE IS NO OIL ON THE CONCRETE. I HAVE CHECKED WITH THE VOLVO DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS NO RECALL FOR MY CAR IN REFERENCE TO LOW OIL BUT THERE SHOULD BE. I COULD HAVE BLOWN MY ENGINE

THE SENSUS/NAVIGATION SYSTEM IS PLAGUED WITH BUGS. FREQUENTLY MY BLUETOOTH FAILS TO CONNECT, AUDIO RANDOMLY STOPS WORKING FOR ALL SATNAV/RADIO FUNCTIONS, SOMETIMES THE SCREEN FAILS TO LOAD UP AT ALL. ALL SEEMS TO HAPPEN COMPLETELY RANDOMLY. SOME DAYS RADIO FUNCTIONS GREAT BUT SOME DAYS I CAN NOT LISTEN TO ANY AUDIO AT ALL. SOME DAYS MY PHONE CONNECTS TO BLUETOOTH WITHOUT ME EVEN TRYING TO CONNECT, AND SOME DAYS THE SATNAV RADIO DOES NOT CONNECT AT ALL. I HAVE EVEN GONE AS FAR AS TO RESET ALL NETWORK SETTINGS ON MY IPHONE AND REMOVE THE IPHONE FROM THE RECENT DEVICE LIST; STILL THE PHONE WILL NOT CONNECT TO THE CAR. THE ONLY THING I HAVE EVER SEEN 'FIX' THIS PROBLEM IS TO STOP THE CAR, GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE, WALK MORE THAN 20FT AWAY FROM THE CAR, LOCK THE CAR, AND WAIT A FEW MINUTES; UNLOCK, ENTER AND START...

THE KEYLESS ENTRY FAILED ONE BY ONE. THE RIGHT FRONT FIRST, THEN THE LEFT FRONT DOOR. I WENT TO DEALER, ENDING UP PAYING MORE THAN 500 DOLLARS FOR FIXING IT. THEY SAID THAT IS CAUSED BY THE POOR DESIGN OF THE DOOR HANDLE WHICH ALLOWED THE WATER TO GET INSIDE AND TO DAMAGE THE SENSOR AND WIRES.

CAR DID NOT INDICATE LOW OIL PRESSURE AT ANY TIME. ENGINE SEIZED AND STALLED ON FREEWAY CREATING DRIVING HAZZARD. CAR WAS IN MOTION AT APPROX. 65 MPL, STARTED SHAKING AS IF A TIRE HAD BLOWN. CAR STARTED TO SMELL LIKE BUNED OIL, STALLED AND WOULD NOT RESTART. THE ONLY ALERT THAT CAME ON WAS THE LOW BATTERY ICON AFTER THE MOTOR SEIZED.

WHEN THE CAR IS OUTDOORS, IN TEMPERATURES APPROACHING 100 F, THE REAR (BACKUP) CAMERA FLICKERS OR FAILS ALTOGETHER.

HAVING ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS AND SOFTWARE PROBLEMS. IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING ALL ELECTRONICS WILL GO OFF. ALSO, CAR WONT ALWAYS SHUT DOWN OR START PROPERLY. LOOKED OVER MANY FORUMS AND FOUND THE EXACT COMPLAINTS. THERE HAVE BEEN OTHER RECALLS FOR ELECTRICAL AND SOFTWARE FOR THE S60, BUT APPARENTLY THEY DONT APPLY TO MY VIN, EVEN THOUGH I AM HAVING THE EXACT SAME ISSUE.

MY 2012 VOLVO S60 HAD SERIOUS ENGINE NOISE BROUGHT TO THE SHOP THEY THOUGHT IT MIGHT OF BEEN THE FACT THAT I HAD LOW OIL, BUT I HAD JUST GOTTEN MY OIL CHANGED 12/17/14 AND IT WAS 5/27/15 NOW AND I HAD NOT DRIVEN ANYWHERE CLOSE TO 6 THOUSAND MILES TO DEPLETE ALL THE OIL. THE SHOP TOLD ME TO REALLY FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON THEY WOULD HAVE TO TAKE OUT THE ENGINE TO TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT WAS MAKING THE NOISE. THAT EVENING I GOT A CALL FROM THE SHOP AGAIN TELLING ME THAT THERE WAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM. THEY TOLD ME BECAUSE MY CAR WAS DANGEROUSLY LOW ON OIL IN FACT 3 QUARTS LOW THAT THE ENGINE FOR THAT FACT HAD NOT GOTTEN ANY OIL, THIS IN TURN CASED THE BARRING AND THE CRANK SHAFT THE BE DAMAGED SO BAD THAT THEY SHOP TO ME...

CAR STALLED (2 TIMES ) WHILE DRIVING IT. COULD NOT STEER OR OPERATE ANY PART OF THE CAR. ONCE I ALMOST GOT REAR ENDED MY A TRUCK ON A HIGHWAY. MY VOLVO DEALER'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT COULD NOT FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM. (I RECENTLY READ ABOUT THE GM IGNITION PROBLEMS AND THAT SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH THIS CAR). *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 VOLVO S60. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THERE WAS A LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL AND THE REAR END SPUN UNCONTROLLABLY. THE DYNAMIC TRACTION CONTROL FAILED TO ACTIVATE AND THE VEHICLE CRASHED INTO THE CURBSIDE, CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE FRONT DRIVER AND PASSENGER'S SIDE WHEEL RIMS. IN ADDITION, THE REAR DRIVER'S SIDE RIM AND FRONT BUMPER WAS DAMAGED. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. A TROUBLE CODE WAS DETECTED FOR THE SRS MODULE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 18,991.

THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL IN MY VEHICLE HAS BEEN OCCASIONALLY MALFUNCTIONING (ABOUT 10-15 TIMES SINCE PURCHASING MY VEHICLE IN MAY) CAUSING IT TO APPLY THE PARKING BRAKE AT SPEEDS OF ABOUT 5 MPH. THIS CAUSES MY VEHICLE TO ABRUPTLY STOP WITHOUT THE BRAKE LIGHTS BEING ACTIVATED. I THEN HAVE TO DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL AND RELEASE THE PARKING BRAKE. THEN MY CRUISE CONTROL IS INOPERATIVE UNTIL I RESTART THE VEHICLE. I WAS NEARLY REAR ENDED AFTER THE MOST RECENT OCCURRENCE. I'VE TAKEN MY VEHICLE TO THE NEAREST VOLVO REPAIR CENTER FOUR TIMES TO BE REPAIRED BUT THE MALFUNCTION STILL OCCURS. VOLVO IS UNWILLING TO REPLACE MY CAR UNDER THE LEMON LAW. *TR