The first dealership service department we reached out to is located in the same area as our reader’s mother – Englewood, New Jersey. Speaking with service staff there confirmed that there were many, many customers who had this exact same problem, with the representative reporting they were “inundated with phone calls,” all from Volvo owners who had effectively bricked cars. One of the details that makes this problem more alarming is that this particular software update is one that happened automatically, without owner authorization; the service department we spoke with explained that as of April 4th Volvo intended to send over-the-air software updates in waves, and these updates seemed to be, at least in part, updates to fix some reported infotainment display-related glitches.
Volvo’s owner’s manual notes that while some OTA updates are placed in a Notifications area of the user interface, some — “depending on software version” — may be downloaded automatically. Our customer’s update appears to have fit in this latter category, which means there’s not a lot she could have done to prevent her car from bricking itself. The update seems to have had a problem that puts the owner’s cars in the anti-theft mode, where it does not recognize the owner’s key and as a result can’t be started. The technician we spoke with said performing a battery reset (disconnecting the battery for around 15 minutes and then reconnecting, effectively re-booting the car) seemed to fix the problem in at least a few cases, but they could not confirm this was a universal solution. Understanding how many cars this affected or how widespread the issue is or was has been tricky; we called Volvo service departments all over the country, but only ones in New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York were aware of the problem, which suggests this may have been a regional issue. Service departments in Chicago, Houston, Reno, and Los Angeles, for example, did not seem to be aware of any problem. Volvo representatives stated that they are aware of an “issue relating to software installation,” and that the company’s “quality team is working directly with our retail partners to ensure customer vehicles affected by the issue are remedied promptly,” but declined to give any further information.
What I think is important to consider here is the use of OTA software updates that happen automatically, without user input; is this actually a good idea?
Volvo makes good cars, and everything I’ve ever seen the company do suggests it takes quality very seriously, and yet this still happened, even if only in what appears to be a limited area. If it can happen to Volvo, it can happen to anyone, and I don’t need to remind you that even if they are stuffed full of computers and have software updates and all that, cars are very much not computers, because when cars have problems they can strand you somewhere unpleasant or worse, and not just leave you unable to see the last episode of Severance (which is pretty great).
Knowing that software updates on modern cars have enough interconnections with so many systems that the ability to actually start or drive the car could be impaired by an error of some kind, should there ever be an automatic update?
If you’re driving on a desert camping trip and you know you’ll be somewhere remote, why the hell would you want to risk a full software update, even if the chance of your car becoming immobile is even slight? If it ain’t broke, and all that.
Software is complicated, and so many systems are interconnected on modern cars that you really can’t be certain a software change to one system won’t affect another. For this reason, perhaps all software updates for cars should be voluntary, so people can be sure they’re in a position to comfortably deal with a possible failure, or, if not, wait until they are.
People may have very specific reasons for keeping software that’s not the latest version, and, as long as there’s no crucial safety issue, that should be their right.
Of course, this can make things more complicated, as it means there will always be some percentage of cars out there with older of possibly even buggy software, but I feel like this recent example is an excellent reminder why we still want owners to approve changes to the way their cars work.
My wife and I purchased a 2022 XC60 last October, and it feels like a ticking time bomb. We have only have a fraction of the problems I have been reading about on the Volvo forums. The infotainment software Volvo and Google delivered with the 2022s was absolutely not finished, and it feels like we are beta testers. We were promised Apple CarPlay by the end of 2021, then by end of Q1 2022, now by “summer.” CarPlay is standard on some $20,000 cars. Wife is convinced its never coming. It’s extremely frustrating, spending this much on a car from a reputable, long-time automaker, and having the software running the many of the functions just not work properly. Every time we get in the car, it prompts us to do this software update, and I have to constantly remind my wife to ignore the prompt. The fact that you can accept the update and it will brick the car is shocking. We are an hour from the nearest dealer and can’t take that chance. The fuming on the forums have turned into talk of a class action suit, and some dealers have even bought back cars from people who have had major issues from day 1. It’s odd that everyone seems to have a different level of issues. But thanks again for exposing this issue, which needs wider exposure than the forums to maybe get Volvo to act and fix.
Not dissimilarly, the glitchy-ass infotainment system in our ‘22 Outback often crashes, and takes out
Now just imagine a system-breaking update is received by a self-driving car that’s in motion. One would THINK being parked in off/standby mode would be a requirement before updating, but anyone who’s had their Windows unexpectedly reboot for an update knows better. (yes nowadays there’s almost always a warning/prompt beforehand, but it CAN still happen)
“Ours are bricky in the good way – no 404, try 240”
See Dudley Moore, 1990, Crazy People, Volvo ad.
Also, that’s 32 years ago. I’m getting old.
Not necessarily. It could download the update and then install the update later, while you are away from home.
People deferring safety updates could be an issue, particularly if — as in the case of Tesla — they are a safety issue for those outside of the car.
This of course also ignores the fact that for Tesla, the update that includes the safety fix also changes the car’s user interface for the worse.
Being in IT, you should only be pushing patches to systems you are responsible for. Other people’s equipment isn’t your problem.
IMO there should be a law that OTA updates come with detailed accurate descriptions of what changed so users can choose whether to install an update or not. Fix a security issue or a bug the customer is experiencing? Then users will likely choose to take the update. Update the address to the ad server? Take your update and shove it.
The update was to fix the screen going blank at random times, and we were warned of the navigation sound issue by the dealership before the update even though we found out afterwards it WAS a known issue with multiple cars affected. Land Rover Corporate did not fix it for a year, I think someone tried to start a class action lawsuit last year that never got anywhere.
With all car powertrains having similar specs these days software has been the differentiator and these automakers are proving over and over that they’re not software experts.
I guess the first fundamental engineering flaw is that the critical engine and operational control systems are not isolated from auxiliary systems. Volvo’s chief engineer would have approved the potentially catastrophic systems integration of operational control systems and auxiliary systems and the OTA protocols.
This childish engineering screw-up could be much worse. A fly-by-wire throttle could have been commanded to set full-throttle at speeds over 30 MPH. Fly-by-wire steering could commanded to set full-lock-left at speeds over 60 MPH. If Volvo can brick your car over the air so can a Russian hacker.
What have they done? Turned middle school computer whiz kids loose on auto design and engineering?
I had hoped to own a current gen Volvo in fifteen or twenty years when they become cheap enough for me to afford one!
Most of you 30-somethings will remember the late-90s, early-00’s in video gaming. You know, when you’d slam down $70 on a brandy new game, and the whole game was included. No DLC, lots of easter eggs.
Now we have games with “seasons”, and updates galore.
New cars are the same way. Buy the $40k car, get your DLC and updates.
“Volvo XC90 requires an update, please wait”
Love how my old school cars have minimal electronics…..less to diagnose
My previous cars have all been older manual transmission cars from the 80s and 90s. I got the Volvo as a stop gap before I buy an EV. But I’m really disillusioned with modern cars — OTA updates, infotainment, wi-fi — none of it makes the car any more useful or valuable to me. I don’t need 360° cameras, lane warnings, or auto-pilot features. I live in Boston, so I do like being able to start the car from inside the house. Other than that, these features add thousands to the price of the car and cause headaches for the user.
I’m fortunate enough that only one of our cars a new enough to even offer OTA update, lane warning, advanced cruise control, and remote start and door unlock via an app (yikes!). And, except for the OTA update, they were all optional features, and ours doesn’t have them.
As for the OTA, one of the first things I did when we got it was to disconnect the antenna and replace it with a dummy load (so the unit wouldn’t complain about the missing antenna). Problem solved.
Sony not only doesn’t care about their customers, but seems to want to actively piss them off.
