Used Volvo S60, XC60 and XC90: the years to avoid

Of the three Volvos in this guide, only the Volvo S60 has years to avoid, and they are 2012, with 121 complaints and a score of 36, and 2013, with 85 complaints and a score of 46. The 2015 S60 is CAUTION at 65. The years to buy are the 2014 S60, at 84 on 25 complaints, and 2016 to 2018, with the 2018 car the best at 91 on 4 complaints. The Volvo XC60 is BUY in all eleven of its scored years, from a low of 72 in 2013 to a high of 89 in 2014, and the Volvo XC90 is BUY in all nine of its, on a total of 37 complaints across the whole table. The trouble on the S60 is the engine, and the record says so in numbers.

The 2012 and 2013 S60

The 2012 S60 has 121 complaints, 8.6 per year on the road, against 5 for the 2011 car and 25 for the 2014. Engine accounts for 61 of them, half the year's total, with Electrical System a distant second at 17, then Unknown Or Other at 15, Seat Belts at 9 and Steering at 8. The 2013 car has the same shape at a lower level: 85 complaints, 6.5 per year, Engine 35, Unknown Or Other 13, and Electrical System and Air Bags at 7 each. Engine stays on top of the S60 list through 2016, at 12 in 2014, 22 in 2015 and 8 in 2016, but only in 2012 and 2013 does it push the year below BUY.

The recall list for 2012 is the longest on the S60 table, eight campaigns with four safety-critical. The one that touches the engine is 13V592000, issued 22 November 2013, which covers 2011 and 2012 S60s built with the five-cylinder B5254T5 engine. Two fuel campaigns were issued before most 2012 cars had been sold: 11V303000, on 1 June 2011, for fuel pump software that may not be compatible with all pumps, and 11V311000, on 6 June 2011, for a fuel line quick connector made out of specification. Then 12V075000, for a wire harness under the front seats that may not have been attached, and 12V101000, for underbody coating applied so thickly that rigid, icicle-like areas hung from the car. The 2013 car has 12V439000, issued 10 September 2012, safety-critical, for a restraint control unit that may deploy the seat belt pretensioner or the inflatable curtain without a crash.

The 2015 S60, at 57 complaints and 5.2 per year, is CAUTION at 65 with Engine at 22, and it carries only two campaigns. Its neighbours are clean: the 2014 car has 25 complaints and scores 84, the 2016 car 26 and scores 78, the 2017 car 15 and scores 80, and the 2018 car 4 and scores 91. The 2019 to 2021 S60s have no complaints on record and scores of 83 to 85 on low evidence, and their campaigns are the ones shared across the range in those years: 21V414000 for a low-pressure fuel pump that can blow a fuse, 20V144000 for automatic emergency braking that may not detect obstacles, 23V780000 for a passenger air bag that may not be secured properly on 2019 to 2024 cars, and 25V179000 for the plug-in hybrid battery.

The XC60: wipers, then engines

The XC60 has no bad year, but it has a pattern worth knowing. In 2012 and 2013 its top complaint component is Visibility/Wiper, at 19 and 27, and no campaign on record addresses wipers in those years; the one wiper-related campaign, 13V377000, is for a central electronic module on 2014 cars with keyless ignition that may run the front wipers continuously, and the 2014 car has just 16 complaints. The 2013 XC60 is the low point of the table at 72, on 66 complaints and 5.1 per year, with medium evidence; every other XC60 year is low evidence. From 2015 the top component shifts to Engine, at 12 in 2015 and 15 in 2016, on totals of 47 and 38.

The 2018 to 2021 XC60s show zero complaints and scores of 77 to 86, with the recall count rising to eight campaigns on the 2019 car, four safety-critical. Those include 23V001000, issued 5 January 2023, for steering gears assembled with a screw that may fall into the housing on 2019 to 2021 cars; 21V716000 for an improperly welded rotor and shaft in the integrated brake system on 2020 and 2021 cars; 19V046000 for tailgate lifting arms that may freeze and separate on 2018 and 2019 cars; 20V503000 for front wiper nuts not tightened on 2018 to 2020 cars; and 25V818000, issued 25 November 2025, for loose front seat bolts on 2018 cars. The 2021 car has 21V001000, for a restraint control unit that may not have been attached to the body.

The XC90: a record made of recalls

The XC90's complaint record is close to empty. The 2011 car has 19 complaints, the 2012 car 3, the 2013 car 11, the 2014 car 4, and every year from 2016 to 2020 has none, so the site marks the evidence low throughout and lists no component breakdown at all. The scores, from 74 in 2017 and 2020 to 94 in 2012 and 2014, follow the recall column. The first-generation cars have one campaign, 11V286000, for power steering fluid that may leak at the steering gear on 2011 cars. The second generation, from 2016, has eight campaigns in its first year, five safety-critical: 15V342000 and 15V497000 for side air bags, 16V690000 for an air conditioning drain hose that may leak into the cabin, 19V308000 for a coolant bleeder hose that may crack, 16V268000 for a sunroof switch, 16V798000 for a seat belt buckle, 21V273000 for the Excellence trim's rear display, and 23V827000, issued 7 December 2023, for second-row seat belt bolts that may not be tightened on 2016 to 2020 cars. The 2017 car has seven, six safety-critical, including 17V104000 for curtain air bag bolts that may break and 17V370000 for a third-row seat belt retractor part that may detach. The 2019 and 2020 cars share the fuel pump fuse, steering gear, brake and emergency braking campaigns with the XC60. There is no 2015 XC90 in the record and 2021 is DATA PENDING.

Ranking the three

The XC60 ranks first: eleven scored years, none below 72, one of them with medium evidence and the rest with low complaint counts that give the low-evidence label some support. The XC90 ranks second on score and third on knowledge; 37 complaints across nine years is too few to say anything about how the car ages, and its verdicts rest on the recall record alone. The S60 ranks third, because it is the only one with a documented failure pattern, but its 2014 and 2016 to 2018 cars are as clean as anything the other two offer. On fuel, the EPA rates the 2017 S60 at 26 miles per gallon combined on regular petrol and the 2018 car at 26 on premium.

What to check before you buy

• On a 2011 or 2012 S60 with the five-cylinder engine, ask for 13V592000 by number and for the full engine service history; Engine is 61 of the 2012 car's 121 complaints.
• On a 2012 S60, confirm 11V303000, 11V311000 and 12V075000 are closed, and check for a fuel smell after a hot run.
• On a 2013 S60 or XC60, confirm 12V439000 for the restraint control unit.
• On any 2011 to 2018 S60 or 2011 to 2016 XC60, confirm 20V378000 for the front seat belt cable, and on 2011 to 2017 S60s, 19V849000 for the door latches.
• On a 2012 or 2013 XC60, run the wipers and washers through every mode.
• On a 2019 to 2021 XC60 or 2019 to 2020 XC90, confirm 23V001000 for the steering gear, 21V414000 for the fuel pump fuse and, on 2020 to 2021 cars, 21V716000 for the brakes.

Summary

Avoid the 2012 S60 (121 complaints, score 36) and the 2013 S60 (85, score 46), and treat the 2015 S60 as CAUTION. Buy a 2014 or 2016 to 2018 S60, any XC60 with the 2013 car the least good of them, or a second-generation XC90 with its recall list confirmed on the VIN. The XC90's 37 complaints are too few to judge it on anything else.