2021 Polestar Polestar 2 Complaint Log

Polestar has issued two recalls and claims they fixed the reverse camera issues with a software update, but they have not been remedied. When reversing, the camera screen will still often go blank, freeze, or stutter. I am not confident that the picture I'm seeing on the screen is a real time depiction of the view behind me or is simply frozen. This presents safety issues where the screen may have frozen or gone blank just before someone runs behind the vehicle, and the driver is led to believe there is nothing behind the vehicle.

Backup Camera still doesn't function when reversing after multiple recalls.

The vehicle was serviced on 2/13 at the Polestar service center in Seattle. I believe this is when software version 4.2.13 was installed. In the last week, I've noticed a new behavior. When I accelerate from a stop, the vehicle intermittently does not accelerate as it used to. For approximately 2 - 3 seconds, I have no control over acceleration and the vehicle only operates around 5 mph. This put me in a scary situation as I was making a quick turn in front of oncoming traffic, and did not have the acceleration I expected to safely make the turn. It's happened to me about six times in the last week.

The rear view camera fails repeatedly and the rear window is not large enough to safely reverse.

2021 Polestar 2, consistently the rear back up camera fails to display. In my case the issue did not occur until my car was updated past 3.2.8. The issue is caused by extremely dated hardware. The processor, and memory are insufficient for the more modern software that is being released. I also believe this is why my car will slam on the brakes in reverse when there is no object behind the car while I am reversing. Polestar has released a IHU hardware upgrade in other Polestar markets, but has not given any dates or information for this to be released in the US. A further software update is not going to rectify this issue, unless features are removed to fre up resources. Not a safety concern but Media will stop playing in SiriusXM and have to be restarted after 20 minutes of driving. After parking over night the IHU will take 2-3 minutes to fully wake up to be able to set navigation or activeate Apple Car play.

An update was applied last year to fix the reverse camera issue. The issue remains, sometimes the camera is unavailable, it the camera goes in to 360 degree mode. Happens about once a week or every two weeks

The backup camera fails to activate, freezes up, or turns off while backing up. The rear window of this vehicle and the height of the trunk block visual sight lines making the camera essential. I am a software engineer, it is clear to me that the combination information screen has an underpowered processor and memory. Polestar have attempted software updates which have been ineffective. Other aspects of the system also struggle to load and be responsive as well such as switching modes from bluetooth audio to radio or loading the navigation system. I see that there is a second recall but it appears this is a software based update as well. I doubt that software can fix what is very likely a hardware performance issue.

Cameras stopped working when backing out and collision with pole when reversing out

Intermittently, when shifting into reverse, the rear camera does not work, with error stating that the camera is unavailable. Dealer states there is no fix.

Back up camera not available. Again.

When the car is put into reverse the rear camera activates and then goes dead. There is no image from the camera and an error appears on the screen saying camera is temporarily unavailable. There have been multiple recalls on this issue and the updates have not resolved the issue. My car is on software 3.6.4

Rear camera constantly “unavailable”

The back up camera constantly fails to turn on. It appears to be a known defect of the car. Service centers seem to have no fix for the issue.

ever since I bought the vehicle, I would often get an alert when putting into reverse that the rear reverse camera "Camera is Temporarily Unavailable". I did have the recall linked to this issue executed on the car. While the issue occurs less, it still does occur.

When making a sharp left turn at full steering lock the car makes clicking noises. Service center states it is CV joint related and several cars with this performance suspension have this problem. It may be a safety hazard should the CV joint fail and it is a known issue.

The On-Board Charger failed under normal conditions, leaving the car unable to be charged by any AC charger, this is a common issue that I have seen reported on several forums, and should be addressed.

Under regen braking the car has very loud ticking in the rear and feels as if the axles are sheering themselves. Looking into the issues with other owners the culprit is the ERAD motor turns to recoup the energy. It looks like this component is used in a wide variety of Volvo based vehicles like this one and other models report the same issue. The worry comes with failure, as this is a braking component, failure while braking would be highly dangerous.

The backup camera does not function about 50% of the time. Polestar did issue a OTA software update that I have installed several months ago (software version 3.6.4) but the issue has not really improved. I was hoping that another update might be issued but so far, nothing. I should note that it is not just the backup camera, the entire infotainment has been very buggy and laggy as well but the backup camera is a real safety issue while the rest is more of an inconvenience.

Backup camera often doesn’t work when reversing even after previous recall

1 - The rear axles have failed. 2- A rear axle failure while driving presents extreme safety hazards, including sudden loss of vehicle control and stability, potential wheel separation, and abrupt loss of drive power, greatly increasing the risk of a severe accident 3 - Polestar has created a report on 3/4/24 regarding the issue AND IS AWARE OF IT - Technical Journal 36854.1.0 - Ticking noise during deceleration at Low Speeds. My car is 2 months out of Warranty and is a 2021 model and has 48,000 miles and they refuse to cover the cost of the repair Polestar owners have confirmed this online in various Polestar forums. 4- The Polestar dealer inspected it. 5- No warnings

The backup camera has progressively been made worse by software updates. It is often nonfunctional, shows a black screen, or excessively flickers, making it hard or impossible to see.

When vehicle is behind driven, and adaptive cruise and steering assist are active the vehicle regularly falsely interprets road lines. When this happens the vehicle veers quickly. This has happened multiple times veering the vehicle into oncoming traffic, off the road, or onto the shoulder. It can be corrected by driver intervention but the car maneuvers quickly when falsely reading road signs

Car was stopped, battery died

Back up camera intermittently stops working and “camera is temporarily unavailable” displayed on infotainment screen. I have to back up my car 2-3 times a week with no backup camera. Cars software is up to date on 3.6.4

Even after having the vehicle updated to the latest OTA update (3.6.4) I still get an error message warning me that the backup camera is unavailable at least 50% of the time. Sometimes I am able to get the image to appear after putting the car back into park, and waiting 1-2 minutes before shifting back into reverse. Needless to say, this defect continues to present a significant safety issue, especially in a vehicle with such poor outward visibility from the driver's seat.

The rear-view camera fails to activate or remain active when the car is in reverse. Despite applying all available software updates, including for recalls meant to address this problem, it persists. The screen may go blank or indicate "camera unavailable."

On September 7, 2025, I had a total failure of the forward looking radar system in the vehicle. The symptoms were an error "Collision Avoidance system unavailable" and symbol on the driver display after starting the vehicle, and attempting to activate cruise control (which is typically adaptive cruise control) results in an "Unavailable" error. The symptom occurred suddenly after an otherwise unremarkable drive cycle, and the radar sensor appears to be free of any obstructions. This renders an otherwise key safety feature of the vehicle in reducing the chance of a forward collision completely inoperable, and due to service backlogs, I am unable to have the issue addressed by the dealer/service provider for at least a month, meaning the vehicle will remain stuck in this state until then. Prior to this, I have received "Camera temporarily unavailable" errors when in reverse (inhibiting the backup camera feature from operating as intended), even after updating to the latest software version as indicated by the most recent safety recall notice. I've also received very intermittent errors around the blind spot sensor/rear auto-brake/park assist system -- and these three errors occur at the same time -- but I have not seen this error either in the days before or after receiving the collision avoidance system unavailable error.

The backup camera is unavailable when reversing.

This is a follow up to repairs made under previous recall number 25V-280; 'camera is temporarily unavailable' error when the car is operated in reverse. Despite being on the most recent version of the infotainment software (v 3.6.4) this problem persists in my vehicle. On many occasions since the most recent software update the rear view camera displays the error message (as above). This occurs at least as often as it did before the latest software update, several times per week during normal use. I have documented a few of these on 2/27/2025, 7/4/2025, 7/20/2025, 7/24/2025/ 7/27/2025, 7/30/2025, 8/2/2025, 8/30/2025. These are not the only instances but reflect the continuing pattern of cameral issues over the time since the latest software update.

After applying the latest update to fix the recall, the camera and infotainment system performs worsee than before. The rear camera stops displaying almost 95% of the time, the only time it does work is if you get back in the car before the system goes to sleep .

Put the vehicle into reverse and the backup camera was listed as unavailable

The reverse camera continues to fail regularly, especially within the first few minutes of using the vehicle. I shift to reverse, and rather than seeing the video from the reverse camera, I see the message "Camera is temporarily unavailable" or something to that effect. My car is updated to the most recent software (version 3.6.4) which I believe was intended to fix this issue as a recall, but there has been no improvement.

For my MY'21 Polestar 2, post software update 3.6.4 (Recall 25V-280) I experienced another back up camera failure.

Still encountering occasional "Camera temporarily unavailable", camera video feed stutter, and lag even after upgrading to software 3.6.4.

I wanted to bring to your attention an ongoing issue with the backup camera functionality. Despite updating the car software to version 3.6.4 as per the last recall, the backup camera still frequently shows "camera unavailable" when placing the vehicle into reverse. It seems that the problem remains unresolved even after following the recommended update per the recall.

This complaint relates to NHTSA Action Number: RQ25004 The rear view camera image consistently does not appear and reads as unavailable on the driver's view screen even after a recent recall repair.

Most recent firmware fix from Polestar (3.6.4) to resolve backup camera not displaying issue is still non-sufficient. Backup camera still fails regularly after we received the ‘fix’ on June 13, 2025 at a Volve/Polestar dealership. Vehicle is now ‘timed out’ out of the factory warranty, and a call to Volvo/Polestar to schedule service was met with ‘you are out of warranty now, there is nothing we can do’. Vehicle is fully operable and in good repair otherwise.

Despite installing the latest software release intended to resolve the problem, my review camera continues to go out intermittently. This is dangerous as I lose visibility in the midst of backing up.

Backup camera constantly unavailable

Failure of the rearview camera system AFTER the recall software update to 3.7.

In reverse, the backup camera will not appear..often get a “camera is unavailable” during the only time I need it available. Latest software upgrade to 3.6.4 still has not corrected the issue.

Rear camera malfunction while attempting to reverse out of a parking spot on a busy street. The rear camera would not activate and the car displayed the following message: "camera is temporarily unavailable". This issue persisted until I restart the infotainment unit.

I entered the vehicle and placed it into Reverse and the infotainment screen displayed "Camera is temporarily unavailable". The vehicle software is version 3.6.4, the latest version stated to resolve the rear camera issues.

Failure of the rearview camera system AFTER the recall software update to 3.7.

Following the most recent software update, the rear camera continues to fail to activate nearly 50% of the time. Additionally, the safety systems fail regularly when the infotainment system requires a hard reset, thus all safety alerts, front, rear, side do not activate as expected. The reset requires the car to be parked, driver exit, lock, and step far away from the car for up to 10 minutes.

My car has just completed an "over the air" update to address a previous recall regarding the rear camera not working. The problem continues to persist. On more than one occasion the screen will display "camera not available". This recall has not fixed the issue and request that it be looked into.

Back up camera frequently doesn't work correctly. I have to wait up to 30 seconds before it works. Or I have to put it in park and back to reverse to get the camera to work.

The latest recall update to fix the backup camera prove to not work. I still have the same issues as before. You put it in reverse and the camera glitches out… I would say 90 percent of the time.

My vehicle was recently subject to a recall to fix a long-standing issue, where the rear camera fails to display on the centre console screen when the vehicle is placed in reverse. Once the vehicle is placed in reverse, the screen flashes and then displays the message "Camera is temporarily unavailable". I reported this to Polestar when it first occurred, and they advised I update the software. This didn't fix the problem I've since received a recall notice and again updated the software (to version 3.6.4). The problem still persists (daily). The software fixes aren't solving this issue and the recall should be investigated and re-issued with an actual fix.

Rear backup camera being unavailable or flickering was not fixed by latest software update, recall patch. It still flickers occasionally and if it flickers too much then it will say it is unavailable.