Below is a list of the issues, annoyances and enhancement requests I put together based on my first couple weeks and 500 miles worth of ownership. Given all of the features that are to be delivered “in a future software update” and all of the issues I’ve personally encountered, I feel like I unknowingly signed up to be a beta tester while purchasing this car. If anyone has solutions to any of these issues please let me know, I’m sure others are experiencing the same issues.
My first impression of a car is heavily dependent on the infotainment functionality. My trust in this car has waned significantly because I have very little faith in the current state of the software. If Volvo can’t get the little things right, how am I to trust Volvo to get the major safety features correct? At this point, I would say I have about 70% faith that this car won’t leave me stranded on the side of the road because of some failure.
It should also be noted that I really do like this car, I want to love this car but there are a lot of annoyances that I’m having a hard time getting past. I’m only listing the issues that are problematic, I would probably have a list just as long if I listed everything that I liked about this car.
First off, my build specs:
Level: Twin Motor, Plus 7s
Exterior: Denim Blue
Interior: Dawn Quilted Nordico in Dawn interior
Wheels: 20″ 5-spoke Aero Wheel
Software Version: 1.1.23
In order of severity, high to low…
- After about a week of ownership, I got a “Major system failure” message in the Car Status menu along with a “Lane keeping aid fault” symbol in the driver’s display. Because of this, cruise control did not work either. As I was already taking the car into the dealership the next day to get the front windows tinted, I didn’t schedule an additional service appointment. The next morning the messages were gone.
- Within two days of driving it, I got a “driver support system fault” that went away the next day. It came back a few days later but then disappeared again. I have no idea what caused this, if anything. Nothing was obstructing the center dashboard sensors.
- On my way back from dinner one evening, all three displays (HUD, center and steering) were completely off. I wasn’t far from home so I still drove home but that was very disconcerting. Turns out you can reset the displays by pressing and holding the play button on the console for 45 seconds. I found out later that the quick guide mentions this which makes me wonder if this will happen often. Otherwise, why mention it? The dealerships should probably be advised to tell new owners about this “feature” to prevent the sense of helplessness that I experienced that night. My confidence in the car dropped significantly that night. I thought I made a huge mistake in purchasing this car.
- The sensor(s) that monitor hand position during Pilot Assist are way too sensitive. I constantly get reminded to “keep hands on the wheel” even though they are where they are supposed to be. The sensors tend to want my hands at 10 and 2 o’clock but the current driver safety guidelines recommend 9 and 3 o’clock to avoid blocking the airbag.
- The sensor(s) that monitor hand position appear to be impacted by the steering wheel heating system. This could be related to the issue above. On my way home from my in-laws house on Christmas, the “keep hands on wheel” message came on several times even though my hands were firmly on the wheel. The only way to get the message to go away was to take both hands off of the wheel and re-apply. By trying to keep me safe, the car is making me do something entirely unsafe. This did not happen on my way to my in-laws house but I also didn’t have the steering wheel heater on at that time which is why I think it might be related to the steering wheel heater. This happened again while driving to/from my in-laws and I’m now convinced the heater is the cause.
- The “exterior lights malfunction” alert came on for about a day and then went away.
- The “propulsion system malfunction” came on but soon went away after a power cycle.
- The frunk does not detect when it is not closed completely. After having a clear bra installed by the dealership, I drove all the way home before I noticed that the frunk was not fully latched. With all the other sensors on this car, I’m surprised this isn’t monitored.
- The 3rd row seats should not warn about seat belts being unlatched when they are in the folded-down position. On my way home from my in-laws on Christmas, I’m thinking maybe a bag shifted and fell onto the cargo area. The seat belt warning system came on alerting me (very loudly) of one of the 3rd row seats not having the seat belt on. Both seats were in the downward, folded position. I had to pull over to the side of a very busy street and restart the car to get the alert to shut up. This happened again when there were no bags in the cargo area. Faulty seat belt sensor? This time I found out that if you wait long enough (maybe 30 seconds?) the annoying chiming does go away.
- The red light at the center of the dash was blinking while I was driving the car. It is my understanding that this light is to warn potential thieves that the car’s alarm system is armed but isn’t supposed to be on when the car is disarmed. This was very distracting while driving my car at night. After a few days it went away on its own. To avoid this potential issue in the future, I 3D designed a cap that fits over the top of it to block out the light.
- The speed limit indicators are rarely correct. This was quite a surprise as my 2017 Volvo XC90 was always spot on. I don’t trust what I’m being shown in the HUD.
- The seat position, side view mirror position and other settings are saved for the other, non-owner profiles but not mine.
- The interior lighting brightness setting always resets back to the default level even though the slider bar shows it in the desired position. Let’s say the default level is 50% but my preferred level is 30%. When I start the car, the lights are at 50% but the slider says they are at 30%. I move the slider up then back to 30% and then the light level is at 30%.
- The key tag profile assignment is forgotten once the car is turned off. I can add the key tag and associate it with my profile. Once the car restarts, there is no key tag associated with my profile. I performed a factory reset and the key tag appeared to stay assigned but disappeared within a few days.
- If, while in reverse, I switch to drive but then switch back to reverse while the cameras are still shown in the display, the reverse camera view is no longer shown, only the 360 degree view.
- The power liftgate rarely engages with a foot gesture.
- The climate system does not always work. On one occasion within a few days of ownership, it was about 35 degrees out and I had the climate temperature set at 76 degrees but the system continued blowing cold air. After about 10 minutes I turned off the climate system because I was getting too cold. The next morning the climate control acted normally again.
- The remote start does not always cause the climate system to heat the car. This may be related to the issue above but after dinner out a few nights ago, I remotely activated the climate using my watch. About 10 minutes later as I got in the car I noticed the climate system was blowing cold air.
- About 50% of the time, the seat and steering wheel heaters show activated but are not heating. I have to turn them off and then back on again to get them to work. This seems to happen most often when the car starts up with the seat and/or steering wheel heaters activated (orange).
- I didn’t realize how much I would miss CarPlay and I find myself unsafely using my iPhone because I don’t have an easy way to do what I need via the current system. I assume the delay in release has something to do with the HUD integration as other Volvo car models have Google’s Android Automotive Operating System (AAOS) but still offer CarPlay. Even if Volvo can only support the main display and/or the driver display at first, please release it. I crossed off certain EV models from my candidate list because they didn’t include CarPlay. The only reason the EX90 stayed on the list was because CarPlay was promised as an update.
- There is no Apple Music app in the Google Play store either, at least not available for the Google Android Automotive OS. So, yeah, no CarPlay and no Apple Music. I’m streaming through bluetooth but feel like I’ve gone backward in technology because of this.
- The steering wheel buttons are not backlit. I really hope someone just forgot to hook up a wire. There aren’t a lot of buttons but that was kind of shocking while driving it home in the dark. Maybe eventually I’ll just know which are which by feel but that will take some time. Forcing me to look at the Driver display to see what button I’m currently touching seems like a distraction. If you lightly touch the buttons you will see which button you’re touching in the Driver Display FWIW.
- The sideview mirrors don’t fold when you lock the vehicle. I was told that this may come with a future software update but that was disappointing. I typically look at the mirrors as a double check when walking away from the car to verify it is locked. Thankfully the handles fold flush with the body of the car when it is locked so I still have a way to verify.
- The turn signal sound is too quiet. If I’m playing any music at all, I can’t hear it.
- I really wish the EX90 allowed control over regenerative braking intensity. While I like the one pedal driving, it is hard to use it along with the cruise control because the instant I tap the brakes, the regenerative braking starts kicking in before I can get my foot back on the accelerator.
- The “increase set speed” button on the left side of the steering wheel should also act as a “resume cruise control” button if cruise control is not currently activated but previously had been. Having this be controlled by the right side stem is hit or miss. I often set a new cruise control speed rather than resume the previous setting because I didn’t hold it down long enough.
- Why does the Qi charger keep turning off? It takes a minimum of FIVE button presses to turn it back on. This setting needs to be “sticky” or it is pretty much worthless to me. After I factory reset the car, it appeared that the setting was staying on but reset to off a few days later.
- The key tag feels VERY cheap and flimsy. In fact, while trying to get a keyring into the very poorly designed keyring hole, I ended up cracking the key tag. I ended up designing a case that has an easier to access key ring hole.
- The key tag keyring hole is poorly designed, especially given the fact that you are supposed to charge said key using the car’s Qi charger. Any keyring you put on it will not allow the key to sit flush. In fact, to associate the key with my profile, I had to take the keyring off so that the key tag was close enough to the RFID reader.
- SOLVED. The phone as a key isn’t working for Apple iPhones right now. I tried once at the dealership and it said it couldn’t communicate with the server. I tried again at home and got a little further but, after scanning the QR code with my phone, the webpage it took me to threw an error. I finally got it working by deleting the car from the Volvo Cars app, factory resetting the car and starting from scratch.
- No homelink. I was told by the dealership service technician that the antenna is in place but the software needs to be updated. Something as simple as no homelink being available is a pretty big disappointment to those of us who no longer have the garage door opener remotes because we haven’t needed them for a decade.
- The “turn on as I approach” feature seems too sensitive. My car, parked in the garage, is constantly turning on as I’m walking around the house.
- The watch app logs me out at least once a week and requires I take my iPhone out to reactivate or try typing on that tiny watch keyboard. Watch apps need to be fast or they are worthless. If I have to re-activate often, I will stop using it entirely. If my watch is unlocked, the app functionality should be available and not require any additional authentication.
- The car battery level is often wrong in the Watch app as is the Locked/Unlocked status.
- Why does the “Tesla Supercharger access in the Volvo Cars app” message keep popping up when I go to the maps section of the Volvo Cars app? I can dismiss it but it will be back next time.
- If I click the Volvo Cars app’s “Car software” button it always complains about not being able to retrieve information about the car’s software. If this button’s function isn’t implemented yet, don’t allow it to be clicked, just list the current software version.
- SOLVED. Why can I not uninstall SiriusXM? I will never use this app and it is taking up space on my car’s hard drive. It also pops up frequently in the Contextual bar taking the place of apps that I actually want to use which requires me to then take my eyes off the road while I click a few buttons trying to find the one I want. I found that I could disable this app deep in the AAOS settings and I’m hoping that addresses my annoyance.
- SOLVED. Why does the Driver Journal app constantly throw notifications? When I see a little blue badge on the alert symbol I assume there is something I need to address. Nope, just the Driver Journal app telling me it is tracking the current trip. The same thing it tells me every time I drive. To make matters worse, I can’t uninstall that app either. I found that I can disallow notifications from this app deep in the AAOS settings.
- Release notes that always say “General stability improvements” are worthless. The webpage that shows the latest versions all have the exact same release notes. For those of us who are actively tracking these issues, please provide some additional details so that we can all celebrate the advancements you are making.
That’s all for now, I’m hoping these will start falling off the list as software updates are released. Looking at this HUGE list, I’m curious if Volvo did ANY testing before releasing this car. Sheesh!