I am a new leasee of a Volvo XC40 Recharge (leased September 13, 2024). When starting my car from a decline on my driveway, or in a parking spot on a decline, after putting the car in reverse, the car immediately surges forward 20 inches before I have to hit the brakes again to make it stop from hitting a car in front of me. The same behavior occurs if I am parked on an incline and put the car in drive - it immediately surges backwards and I have to hit the brakes to make the car stop. This issue puts my and other cars parked in front or behind me at risk of being hit when trying to leave a parking spot. This issue was confirmed by the dealer (see attachment) and replicated on another XC40 Recharge that the dealer tested it on. The service rep stated that "As far as Volvo is concerned at this time the vehicle is working as designed and this is a normal characteristic of the vehicle." I am not sure why they would say this as a car should not surge forward when it reverse or backward when in drive. No other car in the history of my driving cars has ever done this.

- Kensington, CA, USA

My wife pulled into a neighbor's driveway and put the car in Park. The car stopped. She reached over to the passenger's seat to pick up an item and the car lurched forward, crashing into the closed garage door before she could stop it. There were no warning lights alerting her that this would happen. She later told me, though, there had been previous instances of the car "bucking" after she had put it into park. The incident clearly posed a safety risk to my wife and others. Had someone been standing in front of the car when this happened, they could have been seriously injured or killed. Had the car not stopped after hitting the garage door, my wife, too, could have been seriously injured or killed. Had this happened in an area such as a parking lot, others also might have been injured. Volvo advised me not to file a police report at this time. The vehicle was inspected at Wallace Volvo in Stuart, Florida, and would be available for additional inspection. Volvo claims to have found liquid on internal parts. The larger, and more important question, though, is how the vehicle-??s design could have allowed that to happen. Facts clearly point to a design flaw. The vehicle design clearly allows liquid to reach the parts in question and create the problem we experienced. If Volvo had designed the vehicle with a -??tight-?? interior -?" a design that would have protected internal parts and not left them vulnerable -?" no amount of liquid in any amount from any source under any circumstance would have ended up in the vehicle-??s internal parts. In my claim to Volvo, I asked that they make repairs to assure that this never happens again. They conceded that they did perform "repairs" to the vehicle but called it a "one-time good will gesture." I also asked Volvo to pay for the body damage to my vehicle and the damage ($2,364) caused to my neighbor's garage door by the malfunctioning vehicle. Volvo has refused to compensate me for the damage caused by their malfunctioning vehicle.

- Port St. Lucie, FL, USA