Braking Noise and Parking Brake issue

[JohnDavo]

John,

I have a 2023 XC40 dark B3P.
I have had a similar problem since day 1.
I would describe the noise as a "whooping" noise when I brake during regenerative braking.
I have recorded the noise and visited 2 main dealers who have not heard of a similar problem. They sent the recording to Volvo technical who said it was caused by the gearbox actuator which is a "characteristic" of the B3P.
I wouldn't except this as the dealer says its only my car that does it so Volvo won't authorise a repair.
Its embarrassing when passengers hear the noise and want to know what's wrong with it.
Customer services have been useless saying it is a feature of my car. (I don't remember ticking the extras box for a noisy brakes gearbox).
I can only see it getting worse before the car breaks.
This is my 2nd xc40 and 3rd Volvo.
I won't ever buy again.

Thanks for this gaughey.

I escalated this to a formal complaint to Volvo, I also sent a recording. After 11 weeks they responded saying that it a characteristic of the regenerative braking system on this model as you were told and they were not prepared to do any more. To be honest I have decided to accept it for now but like you have a niggling feeling that it could be leading to something else. At least knowing others have the same noise actually substantiates their assumption that it is a characteristic rather than a problem....hopefully!!
They also said they are working on a fix that may appear as a software update . How true this is I don't know.
John

[B4Beauty]

Hi all on this forum,
It was with great relief I came across this forum, as I was doing a general Google search on noisy brakes on Volvo XC40's.
I also have experienced many of the issues mentioned here, and also from day 1. (New car 15 September 2022) Not only wierd sounding brakes, but an intermittent grinding when braking. This also has been recorded and sent to Volvo, who are 'working on a fix' - when that will be is anybodies guess.
The pads have been replaced twice and the discs once by the dealership.
I've also had the Parking Brake won't hold the car alert, and told to ensure the foot Brake is pressed down hard before applying the parking brake. Plus a software update, which seems to have worked.
I've also had a 'Engine Management system failure - do not drive the car' alert...2nd day I had the car and just switched the engine off and on and it disappeared for a dew days...software update solved that one...again.
Plus another alert, that my automatic headlight s couldn't function...again back into the dealer for a software update...
I ordered this car in April 2022...B4 Dark auto Ultimate in white...it was supposed to be my dream car. It's not.
I won't be getting another one...not impressed with Volvo, but the dealership have tried their best.

[JohnDavo]

Thanks all. In a strange way it is slightly comforting to know I am not the only one with this problem and hopefully it is not something significant. However, it is clearly is a fault with the regenerative braking system on this model and its not right that Volvo are not prepared to sort it out. Having been through the formal complaint route however I am not sure what else can be done short of handing the car back and asking for my money back.

[Bekster]

I had started a new thread relating to this subject. I have a new XC40 B4 FWD since 3 weeks. I thought there was something wrong with the brakes and contacted the Volvo dealer. I went round the block with the Volvo mechanic and he immediately knew what the source of the noise was when he heard it during breaking. Surprised Volvo allows for this noise. On the positive side, I like how quiet the engine is when it restarts at a traffic light.

[JohnDavo]

Yes the engine restart is so much quicker and quieter than my old XC40.
Just wish the regenerative braking noise would be quiet too! Mine has done 3k now and noise is still the same. Only does it braking in freewheel mode but not all the time.
Seems to me that Volvo need to get their finger out and get this sorted. At the end of the day I am sure they didn't design it to have this noise and in my view is a fault.

[Felindre]

Can you post on here a copy of the recording. I've a '21 B4 and don't have any noise when I'm braking, and I use freewheeling/coasting all the time.

[Spence343]

All sufferers of this problem…..you are definitely not alone. I have a new August 2023 XC40 B4. The car makes a very short grinding or scratching noise when coasting and under light (regenerative) braking. It is very intermittent and sometimes loud / sometimes soft. I cannot predict the parameters to reproduce it.

I have already returned the car to the dealership and they looked but had found nothing. Luckily, I took a mechanic out for a short test drive and couldn’t reproduce the fault initially. However, right at the end of the test the fault reoccurred. He said “wow, what was that. I have never heard that before!”

The car is going back to them for further investigation on 17 August 23, but having read the forum comments I am not hopeful of a resolution. This does appear to be a problem with the car, and it would be nice to think that Volvo would get on top of it.

[ChrisLF]

Do you have to activate coasting?

[JFDIT]

No, does everything automatically. Quite impressive. But I'd still rather have a proper engine without all the electronics and software.

[ChrisLF]

Doh, I was thinking I wouldn't use it if mine made a noise!

Such a joy driving the TT today, manual, handbrake, analogue instruments, no stop/start, no collision avoidance etc!