There are 3 owner-reported visibility & wipers complaints for the 2023 Volvo XC60in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
On Wednesday December 3, 2025 the front windshield wipers stopped working on my wife's 2023 Volvo XC60. The stalk to control the wipers was operating as normal. It was able to spray the windshield wiper fluid and operate the rear window wiper as expected. This happened that day that we received unexpected lake effect snow in our area. We immediately scheduled an appointment at dealership we purchased the vehicle from and dropped it off on Friday December 5, 2025. A few moments ago we received a call from the service department that there is an internal service bulletin regarding this issue. They explained that there is a process where they have to go back and forth with Volvo to diagnose the issue. They could not estimate when the issue would be resolved or what was the cause. The dealership was out of loaners, so they gave us an option to either wait or drive the vehicle and hope we don't get caught in bad weather until they can identify what is wrong with the wipers. This puts us in a very unsafe vehicle with no recourse. The safety of my wife, myself, and our child are put at risk because of this issue. There was a message that stated that the wipers failed initially on 12-3-2025, but that message never appeared again. This in itself is a safety issue. What if someone was renting the same vehicle when this occurred. The rental car company wouldn't know and they could rent the vehicle to a drive who wouldn't know.
My Volvo XC60 rear windows turns blurry in the heat. For long I didn't bothered, but recently I have noticed that there are more people facing the same issue with 23 & 25 models. Please see the attached picture. Volvo America is aware about the issue but they have not taken any action.
I am writing to address a recurring safety issue with my 2023 Volvo XC60 B5 AWD related to the windshield wipers. I believe this issue poses a serious safety risk. Specifically, when snow accumulates in the area where the wiper arms retract—hidden behind the hood for aerodynamic and stylistic reasons—the wipers stop functioning until the snow is cleared. This has happened to me twice during the winter of 2022-2023 and once during the winter of 2023-2024. While driving in heavy snow, the wipers would suddenly cease movement when sufficient snow accumulated in that “well”. There were no warning lights of any kind. This was sometimes triggered by braking, which caused snow to slide off the roof into that area. Once the snow accumulates to a certain level, the wipers become inoperable, resulting in zero visibility. This situation demands immediate action, regardless of my surroundings. Fortunately, on all occasions, I was on quiet roads, allowing me to stop safely. However, during the first incident, I was caught off guard and collided with a snowbank at low speed, causing no damage. Clearing the snow from the wiper well is not straightforward. The wiper arms must be placed in service mode to access that area, but they will not do so once they have stopped functioning. After the initial incidents in 2022-2023, I took my vehicle to the dealer, who evaluated the issue and “reset” the wipers. Unfortunately, this was after the snow season, so I couldn't determine if it made a difference until the following winter. Although the winter of 2023-2024 was relatively mild, the problem resurfaced during a late-season storm. I am particularly concerned about the potential consequences if these incidents were to occur at higher speeds on a busy highway. The risk of a serious crash involving myself and my passengers is significant.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026