2022 Volvo XC90

The electrical/infotainment display failure causes the factory rearview camera image not to display when the vehicle is shifted into reverse. The center infotainment display on my 2022 Volvo XC90 intermittently goes completely black and remains inoperable for days at a time. When the screen is black, the factory rearview camera image does not display when the vehicle is shifted into reverse. All sound, including warning signals, is inoperable. Climate controls are also inaccessible through the screen, and inoperable. This has happened repeatedly: the screen goes dark for several days, returns temporarily, then goes dark again. The failure affects rear visibility during backing events and creates a safety risk because the driver cannot see the rear camera image. I brought the vehicle to a Volvo dealer. The dealer stated that the infotainment head unit must be replaced and quoted approximately $4,000 to replace it with the same non-Google system. Volvo corporate denied assistance. I believe this is a safety-related defect because the failed infotainment display disables the rearview camera function.

Volvo's Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) lends itself to unsafe conditions. This is true for the many drivers who are used to driving cars that are smilarly equipped. For nearly 15 years I have been driving cars that were similarly equipped and when activating the turn signal in the direction where the system indicated another vehicle in the "blind spot" an audible warning sounded until the trun signal was extinguished or the danger passed. Volvo fails to provide the audible signal and thus, if there is a failed LED in the mirror, there is no indication of a vehicle in the blind spot and no redundancy. Further, habits are hard to break and after driving cars with the audible warning, and relying on it, it is difficult to get used to not having it. In addition, all the cars that I personally drove with HUD (head up dispay), vehicles in the blind spots were displayed on the HUD. Volvo cars are equipped in terms of hardware to enable these functions (audible warning & HUD display) with simple software patches. One additionl point, the lights on the mirrors can be practically invisible during the day with sunlight behind the car and at night with bright lights illuminating the mirrors from behind. I feel it is imperative that Volvo is compelled to incorporate the proposed changes as those would certainly mitigate potenial accidents.