9 recalls covering model years 2021, 2023. To check whether your vehicle is affected, look up your 17-character VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls — a recall may apply only to some vehicles of a given year.
The gears inside the windshield wiper motor can wear down sooner than they should. Once they do, the motor stops turning and the wipers stop moving. In rain, snow, or road spray you would be left looking through a blurred or covered windshield with no way to clear it, and that can happen suddenly while you are driving. The dealer swaps in a whole new wiper motor assembly at no charge to you.
On certain 2020-2024 Volvo VNR Electric trucks, a coolant line inside the high-voltage battery pack may not be pushed all the way in and locked. If it is loose, coolant can leak out of the pack. That leak can cause an electrical short inside the battery, and a short in a large battery pack can lead to a fire. Volvo Trucks is working with the battery maker, Akasol, to inspect the batteries and replace them if needed.
Some Volvo VNR Electric trucks built for model years 2020 through 2023 have adaptive cruise control, the feature that slows the truck automatically to keep space from traffic ahead. When the truck is running light, that system can grab the brakes far harder than it should. The sudden hard braking can make the rear wheels skid or the brakes lock up, and the driver can lose control. Dealers will remove the radar parts and turn the feature off.
A spring inside the hubcap presses against it in a way that can let the hubcap work loose and fly off the wheel while the truck is moving. A hubcap that comes off becomes a loose object in the road, which other drivers can hit or swerve to avoid. The repair is simple: the dealer takes the hubcap off and does not put it back, at no cost to you. The recall covers certain 2021-2022 Volvo VAH, VDH, VNL and VNR trucks.
The air lines that work the truck's brakes plug into a pass-through plate using small brass fittings. On these trucks, the gripping jaws inside some fittings may have been damaged during factory leak testing. A damaged fitting can let go of the pressurized air line entirely. If that happens on the parking brake line, the air pressure that holds the parking brakes off is lost, and the parking brakes clamp down on their own, possibly while you are driving.
The metal plate that holds the brake pedal in place is made of cast metal, and it can crack at one of the points where it bolts on. If that happens, the brake pedal can come loose from its mounting. A pedal that has come loose will not work, so pressing it would not slow or stop the truck. Volvo says these trucks do not meet the federal safety rule for air brake systems.
When the front axle was put together, a large nut that holds the steering knuckle onto the axle may have been left off or not tightened enough. The steering knuckle is the part the front wheel turns on. If that nut is missing or loose, the knuckle can come apart from the axle. If that happens while the truck is moving, the driver could suddenly lose control, and a crash could follow.
The certification sticker on these vehicles lists how much weight the rear drive axles are allowed to carry, and the number printed there is higher than what the wheel hubs can actually handle. If someone loads the vehicle up to the weight shown on that label, the rear wheel hubs can wear out and fail earlier than they should, which could lead to a crash. Volvo is mailing a corrected sticker; nothing on the vehicle itself needs to be repaired.
The bolts that hold the steering gear in place may not have been tightened enough at the factory. The steering gear is the part that turns your steering wheel movement into the wheels turning. If those bolts work loose, the driver can lose control of the truck. A Volvo Trucks dealer will tighten the steering gear bolts to the correct specification, free of charge. The recall started May 20, 2020.
Complaints owners have filed with NHTSA about the Volvo VNR. These are unverified reports; better-selling years collect more.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Fires | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Recalls and complaint record for one model year at a time: