2023 Polestar Polestar 2 Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

Incident: October 11, 2026 · Filed: October 29, 2026

The vehicle's "Infotainment System," which includes the displays and the GPS, intermittently fail and black out completely. This also disables the radio and telecommunications. After 30-60 seconds, the system will reboot. However, the last time it occurred, on or about XXX, the audio did not restart and I had to reboot the system again manually. The Polestar service center (Volvo in [XXX]) had reset the Infotainment software earlier, on XXX, in response to my previous complaints. I have tried to schedule a new appointment with the service center, but they claim they cannot provide a loaner car (since they may have to keep my car more than 1 day) for weeks, even though I asserted that this issue creates a driving hazard. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Incident: September 20, 2026 · Filed: September 24, 2026

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, Reverse Lights available for inspection upon request? Yes How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Low visibility at night while backing up. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Not sure. But I've done some research and it's a known issue among other Polestar 2 owners Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? UNKNOWN Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No

Incident: August 21, 2026 · Filed: September 22, 2026

Safety complaint description In August 2026, I experienced a potentially dangerous incident involving my 2023 Polestar 2 AWD Performance while performing a U-turn. During the maneuver, the vehicle unexpectedly stopped or hesitated and did not move forward when I expected it to, leaving me exposed in the roadway and creating a risk of a collision with approaching traffic. I do not know what caused this behavior. I am concerned that it may involve an unexpected interruption of vehicle propulsion, a driver-assistance system or another electronic or mechanical malfunction. I have not received a diagnosis confirming the cause. I have also experienced other concerning vehicle symptoms, including clicking, popping and creaking noises during low-speed turns, a clunk from the front-left area and a tendency for the vehicle to pull slightly to the left despite equalized tire pressures. I do not know whether these symptoms are related to the U-turn incident. I reported these concerns in August 2026 and scheduled the earliest available service appointment at Dyer & Dyer, the authorized Polestar service location in Georgia, for September 18, 2026. I delivered the vehicle for that appointment on September 18. On September 22, I was informed that the vehicle had not yet been inspected or diagnosed and that the next anticipated opportunity for an initial inspection was October 13, 2026, unless an earlier opening became available. As of September 22, 2026, the cause of the unexpected vehicle behavior has not been identified, and I have not received confirmation that the vehicle is safe to operate. I am submitting this complaint because the unexpected failure to respond during a U-turn created a potentially serious traffic hazard. I am requesting that NHTSA document and evaluate this incident as a possible vehicle safety defect.

Incident: March 11, 2026 · Filed: July 8, 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Polestar Polestar 2. The contact received notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V615000 (Back Over Prevention). The vehicle was taken to the dealer for the recall repair; however, the dealer informed the contact that the recall remedy could not be completed because previous software updates were not completed. The contact stated that the dealer would only complete the recall if the previous software updates were completed, and the updates were not covered under the recall. The contact stated that the dealer failed to complete the software updates previously. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact had not experienced a failure.

Incident: March 10, 2026 · Filed: May 8, 2026

Over the last 1.5 months, the liftgate system on the vehicle has failed to fully close and latch. The vehicle shows the liftgate as unsecured and the liftgate has play despite being partially latched. Investigation of the vehicle shows that the tailgate damper drive unit wiring harness is designed in a way that the wires pinch and short to ground. This design flaw causes the vehicle to lose communication with the position sensors in the tailgate damper drive unit and prevents the tailgate from closing fully.

Incident: March 31, 2026 · Filed: March 31, 2026

Polestar 2 software version 4.2.13. While reversing out of a parking spot the rear camera briefly turned on, but after a second, the infotainment system crashed, with the screen shutting off. The infotainment system automatically rebooted after ~1min of driving. This system crash also temporarily disabled rear cross traffic alert and the parking sensors. Backup cameras are a federally mandated safety feature which reduce the risk of collisions when reversing. Without this safety feature, the risk of a collision increases.

Incident: March 29, 2026 · Filed: March 30, 2026

The backup camera consistently fails and displays a "Backup Camera is Temporarily Unavailable" message. Polestar is only issuing a software fix for this on model year 2026 Polestar 2s and a solution has not been offered for over 8 months now.

Incident: March 31, 2024 · Filed: March 18, 2026

the rear camera on this car has been having issues for well over a year. The dealership says they are well aware of the issues and that it's common but there is nothing they can do about it and that I just need to wait for an update to eventually come. They do not know when the update is coming. This has been an ongoing issue that is a big safety issue. The rear visibility on these cars is bad to begin with, so the rear camera is essential for safety. it either doesn't go on at all every other time I try to go in reverse, or it will just cut off mid-reverse driving. This is just on top of all the rest of the infotainment system issues this car has.

Incident: March 16, 2026 · Filed: March 16, 2026

Rear‑view camera intermittently fails to provide a usable image when shifting into reverse. Symptoms include delayed activation, black screen, frozen frame, or extremely choppy video. This results in intermittent loss of rear visibility and does not comply with FMVSS 111. The defect has persisted for several years despite multiple Polestar software updates and multiple NHTSA recall campaigns intended to correct the issue. The failure is reproducible and appears strongly load‑dependent. It occurs most often immediately after vehicle startup or when the infotainment system is busy with background activity such as app initialization, updates, or UI redraws. Under these conditions, shifting into reverse frequently produces no usable camera image. If I wait several seconds for the system to stabilize before shifting into reverse, the camera usually works, which indicates a resource‑contention or performance‑limitation issue within the Intel Atom–based infotainment head unit used in earlier Polestar 2 vehicles. The recall remedies have not resolved the defect, and the failure continues to occur under predictable, real‑world conditions. Because rear‑view camera activation is time‑critical for detecting pedestrians, children, pets, and obstacles, this ongoing defect presents an unreasonable safety risk. The repeated failure of software‑only remedies suggests the underlying cause may be hardware‑related. Newer Polestar and Volvo vehicles equipped with the Snapdragon‑based infotainment unit do not exhibit this behavior, which further supports the possibility of a hardware limitation in the original head unit. I request that NHTSA re‑evaluate the effectiveness of the current recall remedies and determine whether a hardware‑based fix is required to bring the vehicle into full compliance with FMVSS 111. This defect remains active despite multiple attempts to correct it and continues to compromise rear visibility and overall safety.

Incident: February 12, 2026 · Filed: February 12, 2026

When put into reverse, display just shows Camera is temporarily unavailable. This is after the OTA update 4.2.13 that was supposed to fix the issue. Rear cross traffic braking is also unavailable at this time.