I have a 6,000 mile B5 Inscription. Suddenly after a day of normal driving, the car wouldn’t start. The dashboard had normal functionality but no ignition. I used Volvo OnCall and followed their tips (lock/unlock, etc.) but not change.

The car had towed to the dealer who is inspecting now, saying it could be a software and / or the mild hybrid battery issue. I’ll update the post when I know more, but crazy to think what would happen in a remote area with no dealer or tow service - shocking that a new car can simply die without warning.

 

there's a concept in manufacturing quality called "infant mortality" where the probability of a device's failure is highest when its new and then the probability declines logarithmically. This plays out as follow - 1 out of 1,000 devices fail after 100 hours, then the next 1 after 1000 hours then 1 after 10,000 hours... Point here is this this is why you get a warranty :-) You just got some bad luck on the numbers but you should be covered. To note, software systems don't really follow this rule directly but the number and nature of bugs do...

 

Yep same happened to me a few weeks ago. The car is so new that the roadside assistance guy didn't know what to do and the tow truck driver refused to tow the car because we could not get it out of park or get the handbrake off and he feared he might ruin the AWD system otherwise. They were both disgusted with me that this could happen to such a new car and Volvo should hang their head in shame. Luckily the tow truck driver who left advised to check online where I found that a main battery disconnect for 10 mins (so the battery located in the well under the spare wheel) and reconnect generally solves the issue. And it did.

​​​​​After calling my local Vovlo dealer the next day and letting them know what happened, they said it would be 2 weeks before they could see my car. After arguing the point that this was too long to be potentially stranded by a brand new vehicle, they advised to bring the car in a few days later. They did the software upgrade to V2.1 where they advised this would solve their problem. A known issue they said. So far so good but let's see.

 

Volvo informed me the issue is with the ‘TCM’ and quite common in their cars equipped with the Google OS. It can only be addressed via software updates and a system reset, but they don’t have a total solution yet.

Hopefully updating to 2.1 will help you avoid what happened to me.

 

Had mine sitting for 4 days while away…. Batteries completely dead. Got it jump started though warnings on dash and wouldn’t go faster than 25 mph. Got it towed to Volvo dealer and 5 days, new computer unit installed and several problems upstaging software have it back now. Gotta love having a brand new car you have no trust in actually functioning.

 

I posted in another area but no tow truck or Uber on A Sunday in Western NC, I watched them drag it onto tow truck next day, closest Volvo dealer was so busy took over a week to look at it.

ran for a week. Now heading back again as supposedly both key fobs are now dead.

 

We experienced the same problem a little bit after the 2.0 software update, and of course it occurred on a Sunday when the dealership is closed. We tried everything suggested in the manual and nothing worked to start the vehicle although the dash lit up, so there was battery power available. It seemed that the car did not recognize the key. We called Volvo assistance and were asked to put the gearshift in neutral. When I explained that couldn't be done because it was a totally shift by wire transmission that required the key being recognized by the vehicle, I was immediately told they were calling a special tow truck (flat bed) and Uber so that the car could be taken to the closed dealership and we could get a ride home. Fortunately the service department got it back and running by doing a reset (cold reboot) by taking off one of the 12V battery terminals and, waiting and then reattaching it. Apparently that worked and a full software diagnostic evaluation was made and they made sure the software was operating properly. We have had no issues since that happened nearly two months ago.

 

So I guess that one recommendation from this thread is to never try downloading/installing new over-the-air software on a weekend or holiday, in case something goes wrong and you need immediate help from your dealership...

 

I have had same issue 3 times till now, between 3 months. First time was only 900km in ODO. The software upgrade they made didnt help, after 6000 km it happened again. And then after 1000 km again. Last time i didnt call anybody, just opened myself packroom's left side cover and disconnected 12V battery for a while (V60 B5 mild hybrid 2022 has battery there on the left) - got solution with 5 minutes. But... is this normal???

 

I took my Volvo out yesterday the car started loosing power then died up with the bonnet turbo glowing then no start got in running today but not revving up idling very bad

 

My 2024 XC60 was towed yesterday for the same issue. I bought the car used on 4/30/2025, and it died 6/27/25. It has happened again less than 3 months later. The first time, they said it was a software glitch, which fried the accessory battery. I am assuming they will say the same thing. I park the car in my garage, and have not been locking it. I will start locking it, so systems shut down with less battery drain. Hoping that will help, but why don’t we get a warning to lock your car to prevent this? I did not download the latest software (3.7) because I heard there were issues afterward.

 

It happens again till you dont have software update (to some 2.0 version). Doesn't depend on locking the car, it can happen even you stop for 10 minutes.
If wont start happens now again, you can disconnect the small 12V battery terminal for 1 minute and after connecting again, you can start the car normally - it works like "software reset".

 

Thank you! That is good advice.