Volvo XC60 2017-2024 Reliability & Common Problems

Is the Volvo XC60 reliable?

Overall, the Volvo XC60 is a well-built family SUV that majors on safety, refinement and practicality. In What Car’s Reliability Survey, Volvo finished in second place out of 24 cars in the large SUV class, with a highly impressive score of 96.5% in petrol/hybrid form. The diesel engine XC60 came ninth with a score of 92.6%.

Listed below are the common issues that can affect the Volvo XC60. Some are more serious than others, but with regular servicing and maintenance, this Scandinavian SUV should serve you well.

Engine: Petrol cars can burn oil. Causes vary from faulty piston rings to worn seals and gaskets, or even a damaged head gasket. Check for blue smoke.

Broken pistons, crank seal leaks and faulty direct injection systems are not uncommon with petrol models and are pretty serious issues. Take a long test drive and check for leaks.

Reduced engine performance in a diesel could point to a clogged diesel particulate filter, which is often caused by a busted oxygen sensor. The T8 PHEV’s supercharger seals can fail and hamper performance.

Brakes: Cars built in 2020 were recalled for an autonomous emergency braking fault. Ensure any required remedial work has been done.

Infotainment: Check the touchscreen is not suffering from any latency issues or software gremlins. A blank screen or laggy Google apps could indicate that it needs a software update.

Electrics: Electrical issues can knock out various different functions like the electric handbrake, which may turn on by itself. Random radio station changes, collision warnings and false alerts also aren’t uncommon, so turn everything on and off and make sure the tech’s all up to date.Early electronic bootlid motors were prone to failure, but there was a recall in 2019.

An owner’s view

Allan Drake: “I bought my 2019 XC60 at the beginning of last year. I didn’t need a car as big as my old Mercedes ML but I still wanted something four-wheel drive. I got a bit of stick from my daughter about it being an ‘old man’s car’ but in my opinion it’s one of the best I’ve owned.

“I’m over six foot and have had issues with leg room in other cars but the Volvo has an excellent driving position. I did a four-hour journey last week and got to the other end without an ache at all.”

Also worth knowing

The 409bhp Polestar Engineered PHEV is a rare gem. It has four-wheel drive, manually adjustable Öhlins dampers and the same suspension configuration as a Polestar 1 – and it will still do 25 miles on a charge.

You can get an XC60 with a six-speed manual gearbox, but we would opt for the more refined and smooth eight-speed auto. The T8 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid became the T8 Recharge from 2021 and has an electric-only range of up to 47 miles.

Core, Plus and Ultimate trims were added in 2022 and the MHEV diesels were phased out by the end of 2023.

Sam Phillips

Title: Staff Writer

Sam joined the Autocar team in summer 2024 and has been a contributor since 2021. He is tasked with writing used reviews and first drives as well as updating top 10s and evergreen content on the Autocar website.

He previously led sister-title Move Electric, which covers the entire spectrum of electric vehicles, from cars to boats – and even trucks. He is an expert in new car news, used cars, electric cars, microbility, classic cars and motorsport.

Sam graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2021 with a BA in Journalism. In his final year he produced an in-depth feature on the automotive industry’s transition to electric cars and interviewed a number of leading experts to assess our readiness for the impending ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars.

Matt Saunders

Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.