AutoUtility currently tracks 40 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2021 Volvo XC40. Electrical System issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 12 complaints (30% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 2 filings cite a crash, 1 reports one or more injuries.
Factual proportion of owner complaints categorized by automotive subsystem in NHTSA records
12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"1. OBC failure. Stranded unable to charge. Situational could be dangerous. 2. Rt side mirror defaults to extreme angle after locking car evert time. Dealership could not troubleshoot solution."
"I was driving this car on Highway 99 on 7/11/2025. The dashboard flashed the message " Stop safely The vehicle will stop Propulsion system failure." I cut the lane and stopped my car on the Highway 99 shoulder. Just right, my car stopped on the Highway shoulder; it disabled itself and couldn't move..."
"The contact owns a 2021 Volvo XC40. The contact stated that while reversing, the back over prevention screen image malfunctioned and started flickering before displaying a blank screen. During the failure, the message "Camera Unavailable" was displayed. The cause of the failure was not yet..."
"After having the rear camera software update to address the safety recall on 05/28, the “camera unavailable” problem persists. This vehicle has underpowered chipset in the IHU and the entire IHU should be subject to recall."
"Turning out of parking lot , car started pulsing, and stopped. Propulsion failure box popped up. Thankfully no cars behind us (young daughter in car seat)or was not attempting to merge on highway. Tow truck manually pulled car as no electric (cannot unlock or open trunk), completely shut down."
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2019–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Volvo XC40 | 30 | 4 | 4 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Volvo XC40 | 12 | 1 | 1 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Volvo XC40 Current Page | 40 | 2 | 5 | Current |
| 2022 Volvo XC40 | 0 | 0 | 3 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Volvo XC40 | 43 | 7 | 4 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Volvo XC40 | 28 | 5 | 4 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Volvo XC40 | 11 | 1 | 2 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Volvo XC40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | View 2026 Problems → |
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 23 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Injury Entries | Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SEAT BELTS,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,VISIBILITY/WIPER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cross-reference safety recalls, crash test safety ratings, and EPA fuel economy for this model year
Key performance indicators, EPA fuel economy specs, powertrain variants, and summary ratings.
Official recall campaigns, safety defect descriptions, and manufacturer free remedy instructions.
NHTSA 5-Star NCAP crash test results, driver assistance systems, and rollover resistance ratings.
EPA fuel economy ratings, electric range, and annual energy cost benchmarks.
Direct, deterministic answers synthesized from verified United States government databases for the 2021 Volvo XC40
In official NHTSA consumer records, the most frequently cited issue area for the 2021 Volvo XC40 is Electrical System, appearing in 12 records (30% of submitted filings).
Secondary reported categories include Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (12) and Fuel & Propulsion System (7).
AutoUtility does not issue subjective reliability scores or commercial ratings. In official United States government records, NHTSA tracks 40 consumer defect complaints and 5 safety recall campaigns for the 2021 Volvo XC40.
Reviewing documented component complaint distributions, recall remedy notices, and active federal investigations provides an objective, evidence-based view of the vehicle's historical safety and defect record.
Among consumer complaint records on file with NHTSA for the 2021 Volvo XC40, 2 filings cite a crash, 0 cite smoke or fire, and 1 report one or more injuries.
Incident entries represent consumer descriptions at the time of submission to federal authorities and do not establish mechanical causation or legal liability.
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database under 49 CFR Part 576.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.